Horrid Henry and the half-term hols

Francesca Simon wrote her childhood frustrations into a worldwide hit for children. As Horrid Henry arrives in Edinburgh for the October break, she tells Kelly Apter how delighted she is with the live version and the man who adapted it for the

WHEN Francesca Simon was a child, she was plagued by that well-known family equation: too little space plus too many siblings equals untold grumpiness.

It may have bugged her at the time, but the Californian-bred, London-based author clearly found a way to turn her past into a very profitable present. Simon’s phenomenally popular Horrid Henry series has sold more than 12 million copies in 24 countries. Tales of sibling rivalry, it would seem, transcend language and cultural barriers, especially when you don’t skimp on the humour.

“I always felt completely oppressed by having all these siblings,” recalls Simon. “I had to share a tiny room with my sister, who had a completely different personality from me, but I later realised that’s the basis of a lot of comedy. Like the three priests trapped together in Father Ted – that’s what a family is.

“Through no choice of your own, you’re stuck with these people, and often that’s very funny.”

When we met back in August, Simon was in Edinburgh for her sold-out appearance at the International Book Festival. A chance to come face-to-face with some of the adoring readers who lap up her alliterative characters, Horrid Henry, Perfect Peter, Moody Margaret and Weepy William to name but some. The same children who will no doubt be champing at the bit to see those characters come to life on the King's Theatre stage this month.

Horrid Henry – Live and Horrid! takes several of Simon’s original tales and stitches them together in a big bundle of naughtiness, with one John Godber plying the needle. Having just watched the company rehearse in London, Simon was full of admiration for Godber’s adaptation. As far as she’s concerned, the man behind Bouncers, Teechers and the Olivier Award-winning Up’n’Under was the perfect choice.

“The way I’ve always been as a writer,” says Simon, “and this applies to Tony Ross who illustrates the Horrid Henry stories and Miranda Richardson who reads the audio books, is you just choose somebody absolutely fantastic and let them get on with it. I’m a huge fan of John Godber, so I’m genuinely thrilled about this production.”

With more than 20 Horrid Henry stories to choose from, Godber had to cherry-pick those that best lent themselves to the theatre. Spotting the stories as they come along will be part of the fun, of course, but just to whet young appetites, Horrid Henry and the Mega-Mean Time Machine, Horrid Henry and the Football Fiend and Horrid Henry and the Bogey Babysitter all made it into the final cut.

Keen to make the show as much like a pop concert as a play, Godber has inserted song and dance numbers throughout. He’s also taken Simon’s already witty dialogue and made it even funnier, including a section where Henry’s mum and dad audition for the part of his parents, and get rejected because they’re “not right”.

“I would have hated somebody to just take four Henry stories and plonk them on the stage,” says Simon. “But to write a brand new story would have been odd, too. John has managed to get the best of both worlds – to dramatise existing stories in a very theatrical way.”

Getting the thumbs-up from Simon is high praise indeed, because she more than anyone knows how precious Henry is to her readership.

Fourteen years of Horrid Henry books have seen Simon pick up a legion of fans, ranging from four-year-old newcomers to 18-year-olds who can’t quite kick the Henry habit. Not that Simon thinks they should.

“One of the things I feel very passionate about is that parents should let their kids read what they want,” she says, “and not say ‘that’s too easy for you’.

“I read Grazia on the way up to Edinburgh – that was too easy for me, but sometimes you read something challenging, other times you want something lighter – kids are exactly the same.”

The antics of Simon’s loveable rogue may have raised the odd parental eyebrow over the years, but his creator is adamant that there’s a bit of Henry in all of us.

“I’m actually quite careful,” says Simon. “There’s never a book where Henry does something like set fire to the school. The stories are all about his feelings and fantasies, but he doesn’t do anything that every child in the world hasn’t done, or thought about doing. He’s naughty but he’s not sociopathic.”

• Horrid Henry – Live and Horrid!, King's Theatre, 22-25 October, tel: [phone]

TOP FIVE

Things to do with the young ’uns this half-term:

• ROMAN INVASION WEEKEND

FOR budding wee soldiers, the National Museum of Scotland is hosting a craft workshop led by Big Top Glasgow, providing Roman craftwork and fancy dress on 25 October, and a day in the life of the Antonine Guard on 26 October.

• National Museum of Scotland, 25 and 26 October, tel: [phone]

• THE GREAT HALLOWEEN PUPPET WORKSHOP

GLASGOW’S Scottish Mask and Puppet Centre helps children prepare for the evening’s shenanigans by offering guidance on mask making.

• Scottish Mask and Puppet Centre, 25 October, www.scottishmaskandpuppetcentre.co.uk

• AFRICAN STORYTELLING

OGRES, warrior kings and hungry locusts are conjured up by the story-telling powers of Mara Menzies, who tells incredible tales drawn from African culture as part of the Africa in Motion Film Festival at The Filmhouse.

• Filmhouse, Edinburgh, 31 October, tel: [phone]

• CREEPY CRITTERS

FOR those slightly older and braver kids out there, find out if Mum and Dad are brave enough to take you to the zoo… on Halloween… in the dark. Boo at The Zoo offers anyone over 12 the chance to hear some chilling tales about the eerie animals that lurk there, above left.

• Edinburgh Zoo, 31 October, tel: [phone]

• ITCHING FOR TWITCHING

TAKE the family to enjoy the wonderful colours of autumn with a tour around Edinburgh’s Lauriston Castle, left, led by artist Stephanie Walker. She will teach you how to use recycled materials to make an eco-friendly bird feeder.

• Lauriston Castle, 24 October, tel: [phone]