The Hott Heds at No. 87: Book 3

by Kes Gray, Chris Jevons (Illustrator)

Nelly isn't scared of monsters. In fact, she babysits for them. From the bestselling author of the OI FROG! and DAISY books comes the third book in this hilarious, action-packed series for fans of THE BOLDS and BARRY LOSER.'If monsters are real, how come I've never seen one?''Because they never go out.''Why don't monsters ever go out?''Because they can never get a babysitter.'Ever swum with a Water Greep, or played hotscotch with a Hott Hed? Every time Nelly rings on a new monster family's doorbell she's up for a new challenge. Come on her monster-sitting adventures in this laugh-out-loud funny third book in the NELLY THE MONSTER SITTER series. Kes Gray is one of the Independent's top ten children's authors, and winner of the Red House Children's Book Award.This is a brand-new story in the Nelly the Monster Sitter series, never before published, and illustrated by the hugely talented Chris Jevons.

240 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 22, 2019

About the author

Kes Gray is a bestselling, multi award-winning author of more than 70 books for children. He eats Ideaflakes for breakfast, spreads silliness on his toast and lives in a place called Different. Kes was the second bestselling picture book author in 2018.

Reviews

[Mehsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nelly is back and this time she is babysitting a lucifer boy. Yes, really.


This time Nelly has a new babysitting job, at the Hott Heds. As you an see on the cover, yes those are matches. And yes, there hands are like those bbq things you grab food with (sorry, forgot the name).

I really love the Hott Heds, and I definitely loved their house and their love for fire and the colour red. I loved how creative their house was. There were so many fun hints that these guys loved heat, that they were matches. Nelly has a lot of adjusting to do, and not just getting special slippers so she can walk through the house without her feet burning clean off. 😛 She also finds out that her protegee has the WHOEVER (or something like that), which means that if he asks WHO? his head will burst into flames. Yes. Really. And that makes things a bit trickier. Thankfully, the Hott Heds did put some buckets down (though I wonder why there weren’t more buckets or places to get water, I get that they don’t like water, but if your kid is burning up constantly… maybe some more water is handy).

It was so much fun to see Nelly adjust to a new monster to babysit and how she tried her best to find games and fun things to do with a boy who is a match. I loved how fast she could think and how fast she found solutions.

Plus, she even helped out the parents by explaining some things.

However, I wasn’t such a fan of the little kid near the end. I can understand that he asks WHO when he doesn’t know someone… but in the end it was asking about people HE KNEW (police, etc.). And that just didn’t make sense. It was just silly and seemed to be just there because of what happens at the end + that there were no more buckets. I think maybe it would have been better to have WHATEVER or WHYEVER.

I have to say that I am glad that the book mostly focuses on the babysitting, because if I see Asti one more time I would have thrown her in front of one of the monsters if there was one that was in for a human snack. I am sorry, but I just don’t get why the parents don’t do more about things.

But all in all, I just FLEW through this book, it was a delight to read with hilarious and fun illustrations. I hope my library gets Book 2 (yes, really, they add books willynilly at times) and also the next books in the series. Because I want to see what is next in Nelly’s babysitting career.

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/

[KPGINNY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nelly is a monster sitter and has quite a tough challenge with her latest monster family. The Hott -Heds whole house was red, their floor was heated ; Nelly has to wear slippers and their garden was burnt to a crisp; as black as night. May and Bryant's child has hoo-fever and Nelly has to try her best to avoid the red fire buckets. I really liked this book and it was so funny and amusing.

-review written by my 9 year old

[Tim Roast · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Hott Heds at No. 87” is by the author of the “Oi Frog!” books. However whereas the "Oi Frog!" books are short picture books with a lot of rhyme in them (“Oi Frog! Sit on the log!”) this one is a longer, non-rhyming read (albeit I read it in about an hour).

Nelly the Monster Sitter books always see Nelly looking after a child monster. This time it is Vesta the Hott Hed. The Hott Hed's are stick-like creatures with brightly coloured heads making them resemble walking, talking matches. "Hot is [their] favourite temperature in the world". "Under-floor heating is [their] favourite type of heating... in the world". "Timber Inferno is [their] most favourite fragrance in the world". Their house is all red, their garden is all burnt, the doors are all fire doors and so on. And Nelly has to look after Vesta because his parents are going out "to solve a mystery that has been puzzling us for years... the mystery of the fire in the sky!"

The book is funny, especially when Vesta keeps self-combusting after certain triggers that Nelly tries her best to avoid. The fire theme and the link with arson and burning may affect your decision as to whether you think this is the most suitable book for a young one to read, but the book does, I think, promote fire safety too with advice about staying back from fireworks and other things like that.

The artwork is plentiful through the book with nice, simple images that will help kids reading this. Overall I like the book. A nice, gentle and fun read.