Horrid Henry’s Jumbo Joke Book by Francesca Simon Review

Reviewed by Caroline Grant

I have to admit, I haven’t thoroughly read this book. I haven’t been given the chance! It was whisked away from my clutches by my 10 year old son and he subsequently managed to read a couple of jokes before my eight year old daughter plucked it from under his nose and it has stayed in her prized possession ever since. We are bombarded with jokes from dawn until dusk and on that basis I can verify the laugh out loud funny quality of the gags. Although Henry’s horrid reputation precedes him, the book is anything but; it is good clean, giggle packed fun. From an adults perspective there are plenty of those long forgotten silly jokes from our schools day to groan and grin at. Plenty of Knock, Knocks; Doctor Doctors and a fair few ‘What do you calls’ to name but a few. Lots of the jokes are sent in by Horrid Henry fans, so they are sure to go down well with the readers of this book.

Based on the statistic that children laugh and smile on average 15 times more per day than us morose and glum adults, it has added a welcome touch of hilarity to my mornings and evenings ever since it landed in our house. Whilst I have managed to dip into the book for the odd gem, when she is sleeping, she is reading the book from cover to cover and a bookmark has been used to ensure she doesn’t miss any of the jokes!!

So, this book comes highly recommended by two very smiley and giggly children, who are so pleased with every line they deliver that they don’t even seem to notice if I’m laughing too, or not; but then it does say on the cover that it’s ‘too rude for parents’, so perhaps I’m lucky to be included at all!!

My favourite so far: Which is an astronaut’s favourite place on the keyboard? The Spacebar!

Rating: 5/5

RRP: £6.99

Available to buy from Amazon here.