Free Horrid Henry Shows Who's Boss by Francesca Simon Page A

and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc.
    The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
    Published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567–4410
(630) 961–3900
Fax: (630) 961–2168
www.jabberwockykids.com
    Originally published in Great Britain in 1994 by Orion Children’s Books.
    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
    Simon, Francesca.
  Horrid Henry / Francesca Simon ; illustrated by Tony Ross.
    p. cm.
  Summary: Horrid Henry causes his brother Perfect Peter all sorts of problems when he behaves properly for a change, upstages Peter at a dance recital, plays pirates, and goes on a camping trip.
 [1. Behavior—Fiction. 2. Brothers—Fiction.] I. Ross, Tony, ill. II. Title.
  PZ7.S604Ho 1999
  [Fic]—dc22
    2008047717
     
    Printed and bound in the United States of America.
    VP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Joshua and his friends— Dominic, Eleanor, Freddie, Harry, Joe, Robbie, and Toby, with love



1
HORRID HENRY’S PERFECT DAY
    Henry was horrid.
    Everyone said so, even his mother.
    Henry threw food, Henry grabbed, Henry pushed and shoved and pinched. Even his teddy bear, Mr. Kill, avoided him when possible.
    His parents despaired.
    “What are we going to do about that horrid boy?” sighed Mom.
    “How did two people as nice as us have such a horrid child?” sighed Dad.
    When Horrid Henry’s parents took Henry to school they walked behind him and pretended he was not theirs.
    Children pointed at Henry and whispered to their parents, “That’s Horrid Henry.”
    “He’s the boy who threw my jacket in the mud.”
    “He’s the boy who squashed Billy’s beetle.”
    “He’s the boy who…” Fill in whatever terrible deed you like. Horrid Henry was sure to have done it.

    Horrid Henry had a younger brother. His name was Perfect Peter.
    Perfect Peter always said “Please” and “Thank you.” Perfect Peter loved vegetables.

    Perfect Peter always used a hankie and never, ever picked his nose.
    “Why can’t you be perfect like
    Peter?” said Henry’s mom every day.
    As usual, Henry pretended not to hear. He continued melting Peter’s crayons on the radiator.
    But Horrid Henry started to think. “What if
I
were perfect?” thought Henry. “I wonder what would happen.”
     
    When Henry woke the next morning, he did not wake Peter by pouring water on Peter’s head.
    Peter did not scream.
    This meant Henry’s parents overslept and Henry and Peter were late for Cub Scouts.
    Henry was very happy.
    Peter was very sad to be late for Cub Scouts.
    But because he was perfect, Peter did not whine or complain.

    On the way to Cub Scouts Henry did not squabble with Peter over who sat in front. He did not pinch Peter and he did not shove Peter.
    Back home, when Perfect Peter built a castle, Henry did not knock it down. Instead, Henry sat on the sofa and read a book.
    Mom and Dad ran into the room.

    “It’s awfully quiet in here,” said Mom. “Are you being horrid, Henry?”
    “No,” said Henry.
    “Peter, is Henry knocking your castle down?”
    Peter longed to say “yes.” But that would be a lie.
    “No,” said Peter.

    He wondered why Henry was behaving so strangely.
    “What are you doing, Henry?” said Dad.
    “Reading a wonderful story about some super mice,” said Henry.
    Dad had never seen Henry read a book before. He checked to see if a comic was hidden inside.
    There was no comic. Henry was actually reading a book.
    “Hmmmm,” said Dad.

    * * *
    It was almost time for dinner. Henry was hungry and went into the kitchen where Dad was cooking.
    But instead of shouting, “I’m starving! Where’s my food?” Henry said,