Horrid Henry Robs the Bank

Horrid Henry Robs the Bank by Francesca Simon is four funny stories for 6 year olds about a boy with BIG plans for making money and not much patience for anything else.

What happens

Henry needs a Hip-Hop Robot Dog. Everyone has one, apparently. Everyone but him. Mum says it's too expensive and Dad says it's too noisy.

So when Peter and Tidy Ted start a newspaper to sell at school, Henry spots a business opportunity. He'll write his own! News doesn't have to be true, does it? It just has to be new.

His paper is called the Basher. It reports that Peter has been sent to prison and that the head teacher was spotted in a yellow polka dot bikini. Then a school inspector buys a copy (oh dear).

It's lovely mischief, because you get to read the Basher's headlines along with Henry, and his made-up gossip is very silly indeed.

The other three stories are all about rivals. Henry is dumped at Moody Margaret's house for a Saturday of playing school, with Margaret as head teacher AND teacher. Peter pinches Henry's pirate party idea for his own birthday. And there's a game of Gotcha, all dragon lairs and rubies, against the biggest cheat on the street.

That's where the title comes in. Henry is running low on treasure, so he nips off to the bathroom and comes back with rather more than he left with.

Any child whose little brother or sister has ever copied their idea will feel Henry's pain in the pirate party story. His revenge is a made-up cannibal pirate called Blood Boil Bob, which is a touch gruesome but very Henry.

Henry is outrageous from start to finish. He lies, he sulks and he cheats, and he's never once sorry about it. That's exactly why it's such fun to read aloud.

The library's text is American, so the newspapers cost 25 cents and there's candy rather than sweets.

What to read next

If they enjoy Henry rewriting things that aren't his, Horrid Henry and the Soccer Fiend opens with him finding Peter's diary and making a few "improvements" before Peter reads it out in assembly.