Review: The whole family will love Henry!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 5, 2014
Henry is an adorable hedgehog who is looking to change his look. Henry visits his local barber shop one day to see if the barber can help him achieve the look he wants. When the barber provides Henry with a product to help Henry’s quills grow, Henry throws caution to the wind and disobeys the instructions of the barber. The end result? Quills that are just too long and crazy! Henry finds a solution to his problem and learns a valuable lesson in the end: Patience and listening to elders will take you far.Author and illustrator J.J. Beavis hits the nail on the head with Henry. This book reads like a Dr. Seuss story - the rhyming flows beautifully. Henry’s story is very relatable for many children who have been told one thing and then do something else. I’m a fan of stories that use humor to introduce a concept, and Henry’s foibles are just the right amount of funny without being obnoxious. If a child doesn’t quite get the lesson being taught, the story can be used to get the lesson going. The illustrations are simple and cute, and I really appreciate the details of the town scenes that show specific stores. This is a child-friendly story that I would recommend to very early elementary kids and younger. If anything else, it’s a fun story to read out loud. I’ve had the opportunity to read Beavis’s “La La the Ladybug,” and her story-telling skills will be a hit with children.