Henry and the Hidden Treasure by B C R Fegan and Lenny Wen
| Henry and the Hidden Treasure by B C R Fegan and Lenny Wen | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Sue Magee
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| Summary: A gem - an excellent story with some valuable lessons for kids. The bright and cheerful illustrations complement the text perfectly. I loved it! B C R Fegan popped into Bookbag Towers to chat to us. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: August 2017 |
| Publisher: Taleblade | |
| ISBN: 978-0995359253 | |
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Henry is a careful young man. He has a lot of treasure and he keeps it very well hidden. We might not call it 'treasure': like his parents we'd probably call it 'pocket money' and suggest that what he's not going to spend he should put in the bank. But Henry's worried and he knows that only he can keep his treasure safe. But what, or who, is he keeping his treasure safe from? Well, he has a little sister called Lucy and despite the fact that his parents think he should be nicer to Lucy, Henry knows that she's really a secret ninja spy sent to steal his treasure. Isn't that true of all little sisters?
There's a plan, though. Henry has (carefully and very creatively) worked out a strategy to ensure that his treasure will be safe forever. It involves a secret cave, a dark hidey hole, a giant, ferocious pink pig, a maze, booby traps, an army of soldiers, monsters and superheroes, a huge and very scary door, a fire-breathing dragon, gigantic robots - and Henry with a powerful laser gun. Nothing over the top, then. But, even the best laid plans can be defeated by a ninja warri..., er, a determined toddler. What is is that Lucy wants, though, because she doesn't seem in the least bit interested in Henry's treasure?
Oh, I loved this book! I loved the idea that Lucy was a secret ninja spy (there is a passing resemblance, now that you come to mention it) and I was grinning at all the defences which Henry prepared to protect his pocket money and laughing out loud at the way that Lucy dealt with them, particularly the ferocious pink pig. What's this all in aid of? Well, Lucy wanted a hug from Henry. That's all.
I was so pleased to see a book which appears to have a boy as the lead character feature a younger female character so strongly. It was particularly good to see Lucy overcome Henry's defences and for them to be such good friends at the end of the story. That's how it should be.
It's a lovely story which has kids giggling as loudly as the adults, but neatly woven through the narrative are two very important lessons. The first is about appropriate response: Henry could have put his money in the bank (which is what he did eventually) as his parents suggested without going to all that trouble. There's an excellent introduction here to discussing what it is that a child wants to achieve and what's the best, the simplest way of doing it? It's a portable skill which comes in handy throughout life.
The other lesson is about trust. Learning who you should trust isn't easy and it takes a little practice for children to work out where to place people on the trust/mistrust continuum. Gone are the days when you could tell a child that they could automatically trust certain people, such as a policeman, a teacher or a priest - or even a relative. Children need to understand about inappropriate behaviour and what they should do when they encounter it: Henry and the Hidden Treasure provides an ideal opportunity to introduce the subject in a light-hearted manner.
That makes the book sound rather worthy and I don't want you to get that idea. More than anything else it's a good story which has kids grinning from ear to ear. I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.
We've been impressed by B C R Fegan before: have a look at The Grumpface.
You can read more about B C R Fegan here.
B C R Fegan about Henry and the Hidden Treasure was kind enough to be interviewed by Bookbag.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Henry and the Hidden Treasure by B C R Fegan and Lenny Wen at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Henry and the Hidden Treasure by B C R Fegan and Lenny Wen at Amazon.com.
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