Waking the Dead

Horrid Henry #18

by Francesca Simon, Tony Ross (Illustrator)

Horrid Henry finds a surefire way of wielding the remote control to ensure he always watches his programme of choice, vies with Moody Margaret to become the head of the school, shows off his prowess as a magician in the school talent show, and battles it out with Perfect Peter over who gets the green dinosaur and who gets the purple one.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Humor, Kids

98 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Francesca Simon grew up in California and attended both Yale and Oxford Universities, where she specialised in Medieval Studies. How this prepared her to write children’s books she cannot imagine, but it did give her a thorough grounding in alliteration.

She then threw away a lucrative career as a medievalist and worked as a freelance journalist, writing for the Sunday Times, Guardian, Mail on Sunday, Telegraph, and Vogue (US). After her son Joshua was born in 1989, she started writing children’s books full time. One of the UK’s best-selling children’s writers, Francesca has published over 50 books, including the immensely popular HORRID HENRY series, which has now sold over twelve million copies.

Francesca won the Children’s Book of the Year in 2008 at the British Book Awards for Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman. HORRID HENRY is published in 24 countries and is also an animated CITV series. She lives in London with her husband, son, and Tibetan Spaniel, Shanti.

Reviews

[Veronika Pizano · Rating 2 out of 5]

Utrpenia s Gabom pokračuje, nerozumiem, čo sa mojim deťom na tejto sérii páči, ale syn začal knihu čítať aj sám, tak má u mňa dočasnú milosť. Jednu vec musím uznať, že autorka strieda závery kapitol tak, aby to niekedy Gabovi vyšlo a niekedy nie, ale je to malá útecha.

[Reelika Raimet · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://raamaturiiulike.wordpress.com...

[Jim Leech · Rating 4 out of 5]

Horrid Henry wakes the dead is a collection of three stories. The first story focuses on Horrid Henry and Perfect Peter's fight over the TV remote control - something that many children who have a sibling will relate to. The second story is about Henry versus Margaret to become school president while the third returns to Henry and Peter and their fight over a present. Finally, to complete the book is a story about Henry trying to win a talent contest.

The language that is used in this book is quite easy to read and most children will be able to pick this book up when they reach year 3. It is funny and clever and would work well as a series of short stories; just pick one to read to your child and they will be enthralled.

[Karolina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Książki z serii o Karolku dają mi zawsze chwilkę na powrót do dzieciństwa - tym samym z pewnością nie jestem przy nich obiektywna ❤️‍🩹

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book. The funniest part is when ugly toad Peter says he's on strike. (I'm acting like Henry right now!)

[John Naylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 more Horrid Henry stories.

It has been a while since I read anything from this series. So far I haven't found anything too repetitive in the stories. There is also usually some form of moral to each story. Be careful what you wish for was the moral in two of these stories.

Easy to read for nearly any age of reader and suitable for an even younger audience too. Henry is still not horrid. Just in want of attention.

[Zureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 2nd book of Horrid Henry I've read. The first one I read when I was in high school. I would say that the book is funny and also fun to read. At first, I thought it's about ghost and horror but my expectation was wrong. Even though Henry knowned as a horrid and naughty kid but for me, he is a boy that never give up on what he's doing. Will be one of my favourite book and highly recommend to read when the world feel sucks.

[Marcie · Rating 2 out of 5]

While there are definitely people who would enjoy this book, we aren't those people. We stopped reading about halfway through because Henry is just so mean. From an only child perspective, the sibling antics are just a lot to take on. Parents give this one a go before you jump in.

[Mark Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories about horrid Henry. Small book with chapters Around 25 pages long. My son enjoyed them and we finished the book in a few nights for bed time reading. 4/5 but if you child likes horrid Henry they will love it

[Anthony Cheng · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun quick read whilst I was on the train back home from London. I don't remember the plot much than, embarrassingly(?), relating to Henry's brother more than the antagonist/anti-hero(?) himself lol.

[Daniel Lloyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

All four stories in this book are top-notch. Henry hides the TV remote, runs for school president, fights over a toy dinosaur, and puts on a magic act for the school talent show. 3 of the 4 stories are centered on Perfect Peter, and he's my favorite character so this book is an unmitigated banger.

[Saee :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned that:
Hidding remote can get you a new telly.
Purple T Rex are wayyy better than green. ones until they are broken.
Henry was President for the shortest period.
Pretend dead Peter is dead talented.

[Josh Rice - Author · Rating 3 out of 5]

One read with my daughter, and honestly, I'm not sure why Horrid Henry books are so popular. But, then again, I'm not the target audience!

We have a few more Horrid Henry books on the shelf, but we probably won't hurry to them.

It's a fun read, but Henry is, well, Horrid.

[Zammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I was confuse cause the story isnt lining up with the title. But at the last chapter that's when I realized that it was a collection of different scenarios of the characters. Fun, funny at the end, last book in 2025!

[Tazz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very funny

[Omar · Rating 5 out of 5]

it is funny

[Shreyas Avula]

It is a nice and funny book

[Oscar Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Horrid Henry doesn’t actually raise the dead it’s peter dressed as a skeleton for a talent show but over all it was good so I’m giving it a four.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started yesterday but forgot to put it on Goodreads. Enjoyable quick read and I always forgot how annoying Peter is. No wonder Henry gets annoyed with him.

[Raxesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Horrid Henry has been one my favorites. This book too gave good laughs. There is no dull moment when Henry is around.

[Mmeli Hadebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book I would say read it!!!!!😊🙂🙂🙂😊🙂

[Maya Dass · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's really good and funny how Henry makes Peter the SKELETON!!! 😂

[Witchelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I was little, I found these stories hilarious and funny. However re-reading it as an adult, it seems little bit obsessive and weird sometimes.

[Vitor Cunha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A blast from the past.

[Cris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Horrid Henry Wakes the Dead

Poor Henry! I feel he was a good kid who got a lot of attention and then his brother came along and got all the attention. Now Henry just really wants attention and love, in my opinion. The stories are always about the little brother being Perfect Peter and even if he isn’t, the parents favor him. I feel bad for Henry.

[Alia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good

[Robert Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Horrid Henry’s school are hosting a talent show and Horrid Henry is desperate to win. Winning the talent show will ensure Horrid Henry is famous forever as the winner will be featured on the TV show, Tallent Tigers. His plans to ‘rap’ are quickly ruined by Moody Margret as Miss Battle Axe will only allow one rapper in the contest. Horrid Henry finally settles on a magic act however, he needs an assistant to help him raise a dead body. He persuades Perfect Peter to be his magician’s assistant on the condition that Henry will include Perfect Peters name in the title of the act. Will Henry find fame and fortune? Or will his plan be ruined by his unreliable assistant?

I really enjoyed this short story. Horrid Henry, as the name suggests, is no angel but is a cheeky yet likable character that children will easily understand. Simon’s relentless use on alliteration creates an instant sense of character and reinforces the power of such writing techniques. The use of simple illustrations throughout the text clarifies the story and gives the reader a really clear overview of what is happening throughout the story. Writing about events that children can easily relate to enables children access the story. I would happily read this book to almost any age group and I think that the children would really enjoy it. For children to access the book alone they would probably have to be in year 4 or 5. It’s easy to see why Horrid Henry is such a popular series and this book is a definite winner.

[Carol Harlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another delightful book in the series! I had so much fun reading this book to my grandkids. They really like the antics of Henry. This book has 4 stories in it and is a great book for fall reading with the kids.

[Britishapple [megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really good but isnt really for adualts

[Janessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has 4 short stories. They are humorous. There are many Horrid Henry books out there. This one would be great for Halloween.