Horrid Henry
Horrid Henry is a children's book series by Francesca Simon and illustrated by Tony Ross. It has been adapted for television, film and the theatre.
Books
The first Horrid Henry book was written and published in 1994 by Orion Books. As of 2019, there are 25 titles published. The series has sold more than 21 million copies worldwide.The books are a slice-of-life series featuring the titular Henry, a self-centered, naughty boy who will typically be faced with a problem and then will often retaliate in interesting ways that involve trickery, rule-breaking and elaborate practical jokes. Henry has a younger brother, Perfect Peter, who is the exact opposite. Almost every character is known by an alliterative nickname with a few exemptions:
The Horrid Henry stories are read on audiobook by the actress Miranda Richardson and published by Orion Audio.
Horrid Henry is published in twenty five languages around the world. In April 2009, the US Sourcebooks' Jabberwocky imprint released four Horrid Henry paperbacks nationwide which included "Horrid Henry," "Horrid Henry's Stinkbomb," "Horrid Henry and the Mega-Mean Time Machine," and "Horrid Henry Tricks the Tooth Fairy." Sourcebooks has released additional Horrid Henry titles including activity pages, event kits and a teacher's guide.
- Horrid Henry
- Horrid Henry and the Secret Club
- Horrid Henry Tricks the Tooth Fairy
- Horrid Henry’s Nits
- Horrid Henry Gets Rich Quick
- Horrid Henry: The Haunted House
- Horrid Henry: The Mummy's Curse
- Horrid Henry: Perfect Revenge
- Horrid Henry: Bogey Babysitter
- Horrid Henry: Stinkbombs
- Horrid Henry: Underpants Panic
- Horrid Henry: The Queen's Visit
- Horrid Henry: Mega-Mean Time Machine
- Horrid Henry: Football Fiend
- Horrid Henry: Christmas Cracker
- Horrid Henry: Abominable Snowman
- Horrid Henry: Bank Robber
- Horrid Henry: Waking the Dead
- Horrid Henry: Rock Star
- Horrid Henry: Zombie Vampire
- Horrid Henry: Monster Movie
- Horrid Henry: Nightmare
- Horrid Henry: Krazy Ketchup
- Horrid Henry: Cannibal Curse
- Horrid Henry: Up, Up and Away!
Early Readers
- Don't Be Horrid, Henry!
- Birthday
- Holiday
- Horrid Henry's Underpants
- Horrid Henry Gets Rich Quick
- Horrid Henry and the Football Fiend
- Horrid Henry's Nits
- Horrid Henry and Moody Margaret
- Horrid Henry's Thank You Letter
- Horrid Henry Reads a Book
- Horrid Henry's Car Journey
- Moody Margaret's School
- Horrid Henry Tricks and Treats
- Horrid Henry's Christmas Play
- Horrid Henry's Rainy Day
- Horrid Henry Meets the Queen
- Horrid Henry's Sports Day
- Horrid Henry's Christmas Presents
- Moody Margaret's Makeover
- Horrid Henry Tricks the Tooth Fairy
- Horrid Henry's Homework
- Horrid Henry and the Bogey Babysitter
- Horrid Henry's Sleepover
- Horrid Henry's Wedding
- Horrid Henry's Haunted House
- Horrid Henry's Christmas Lunch
- Horrid Henry's Mother's Day
- Horrid Henry and the Comfy Black Chair
- Horrid Henry and the Mummy's Curse
- Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman
- Horrid Henry and the Mega-Mean Time Machine
- Horrid Henry and the Fangmangler
- Horrid Henry's Christmas Ambush
- Horrid Henry's Swimming Lesson
- Horrid Henry's Christmas
- Horrid Henry's School Fair
- Horrid Henry's Stinkbomb
- Horrid Henry and the Zombie Vampire
- Horrid Henry's Hike
- Horrid Henry's Injection
Broadcast adaptations
Television adaptation
In May 2006, CITV announced that an animated TV series of 52 episodes based on the Horrid Henry books had been commissioned from Novel Entertainment. The show officially launched in October 2006, for Halloween. The series subsequently launched on television in: Germany, France, Ireland, Iceland, Portugal, Scandinavia, Singapore, Poland, South Africa, Turkey & Korea.The series quickly became CITV's most successful series ever. Horrid Henry was on CITV every weekday, and on ITV at the weekends. A second series of a further 52, all new episodes of Horrid Henry was launched in February 2009, and a third series began on 22 July 2011, and started being broadcast onwards from 3 September 2011. A fourth series started on 11 October 2014. It aired every weekend at 8:15/8:20/8:25am on CITV and reruns on weekend daytime or weekdays.
In May 2018, Novel Entertainment announced that Nickelodeon UK had acquired all the seasons to the show, and that they would air on Nicktoons later on during the month. They also announced a new fifth season that would also air on Nicktoons. Season 5 premiered 7 October 2018. All five seasons of Horrid Henry is also aired on Netflix.
Radio adaptation
During August & December 2009, Henry took to the airwaves with his own radio show on Fun Kids Radio, hosting a weekly show of comedy and music.Theatre adaptation
Horrid Henry - Live and Horrid! opened at Sheffield's Lyceum Theatre on 28 August until September 13, 2008. The theatre adaptation toured the UK which included High Wycombe, Bromley, Newcastle, Hull, Liverpool and Bradford.Film adaptation
On 23 June 2010, Vertigo Films announced that a live action 3-D film of Horrid Henry was in production. The film's plot focuses on Henry and The Purple Hand Gang fighting to prevent the closure of their school by an evil private school Headmaster. It is unknown if a sequel will be made.The film was released on 29 July 2011 in the United Kingdom and 11 January 2013 in Australia.
Video game adaptations
A video game titled Horrid Henry: Missions of Mischief was released for the Nintendo DS, Wii, and PC on 30 October 2009. Another video game titled Horrid Henry's slave was released for the Nintendo DS on 5 November 2010. It was negatively reviewed by Nintendo Gamer, who gave it a score of 40%. Horrid Henry: The Good, The Bad, and the Bugly was released for the Nintendo 3DS on 25 November 2011. In 2015, Horrid Henry’s Big Box Of Pranks released as an app which is available for iOS devices.Reception
- In April 2008 "Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman" won the Galaxy Children's book of the Year Award.
- Horrid Henry has twice been nominated for BAFTA's Best Animation; in 2009 and 2010.
- On 23 November 2018, the show's official Twitter account posted a GIF of Henry "flossing” which went viral.