Henrietta and the Perfect Night

Henrietta

by Martine Murray

Hello everybody, it's me. Henrietta the Great Go-Getter, and I'm having a big think. Right now I'm thinking I'd like a baby sister, so I can dress her up in different sorts of hats. But Mum says we'll have to wait and see. I'm terrible at waiting. Meanwhile, I'm an explorer of life, and that includes trees, bugs, animals and all mysteries. I'm going to school for the very first time, which means I might have to go as a spy so that I can have a secret peep inside. When Henrietta sees Olive Higgie crying in the classroom, she goes on a rescue mission and finds that you only need one friend in a room full of strangers to feel perfectly happy. Henrietta's stories are full of funny thoughts and discoveries, and maybe the best are the ones that take a long time to come.

Genres: Childrens

96 pages, Hardcover

Published October 1, 2017

About the author

Martine Murray, a native and a current resident of Melbourne, Australia, is an accomplished author with a variety of other talents and interests. She has studied film making at Prahan College, painting at the Victorian College of the Arts, and movement and dance at Melbourne University. She began writing as a method of keeping track of all of her activities. She explains, “I was writing in journals a lot while I was in art school. I also used to write on my canvasses or write on etchings and make tiny stories that weren't really stories, they were more like sketches of moments.”

Soon enough, Martine had authored and illustrated the gentle, funny, and gloriously playful books such as The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley (Who Planned to Live an Unusual Life). In the story of twelve-year old Cedar B. Hartley, the young heroine befriends the son of a circus family and coordinates a local circus to raise money for the community's dog operation. The book has won a number of awards, including NYPL 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, Book Sense 76 Children's Pick, it was shortlisted for Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the year Award, shortlisted for New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, and won the Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Books.

Martine Murray is currently enrolled in Professional Writing at RMIT and plans further study in screen writing and short story.

Reviews

[Jennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An OK story - quiet and predictable recount of a segment of time in young Henrietta's life as she waits for mum's pregnancy to come to term. Covers starting school, making a friend, sleepover, overcoming shyness and concludes with the home birth of the baby (a boy) and heading off to get a puppy. Coloured page backgrounds were a bit off putting - white print on light blue particularly hard to read. Short chapters and illustrations on each page will support newly independent readers. The representation of her new friend's brother is a bit to stereotypical and grates against the more balanced gender roles of others - dad bakes a cake, Henrietta is climbs trees etc.
Shortlisted for the CBCA Book of the Year: Younger Readers

[Stef (Noveltea Corner) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henrietta is a precocious and charming five year old who likes to think about her world. In this collection of five stories, Henrietta is waiting for the birth of her younger brother or sister, and while impatient to meet her new sibling, learns a lot of life truths along the way, as well as starting school and making friends.

I was charmed by this young character who's exuberant and honest and kind. She has big dreams and even when something doesn't quite go to plan, she finds ways to deal with what's happening, making it a great story to help young readers understand what it means to be resilient.

I'll definitely be reading these stories to my Grade One students in the coming weeks.

Henrietta and the Perfect Night was shortlisted for the 2018 Children's Book Council awards in the category Younger Readers.

[Melisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Henrietta is a "BIG THINKER" who is waiting for her mom to have a baby. She has universal childhood adventures such as going to school for the first time and dealing with jealousy and deals with them in almost unbelievable mature way for her age. The illustrations add a lot and it reminds me of a simpler Nicholas by Goscinny. Perfect read-aloud for kindergarteners with a slight foreign flavor (Australian.)

[Anna Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolutely divine little book. Henrietta (the Great Go-Getter) is a gorgeous character, filled with the beautiful, but naive wisdom that only a child can show. Love the hardback book and the simple illustrations (but not the coloured pages, which made reading the text a bit tricky). A must read for all lower primary students.

[Henrietta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give it 5 stars because they get Madge the puppy.

[Mieke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny 😂

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming story of the adventures a charming little girl who is patiently waiting for the arrival of her baby sister. It gave me a giggle.