How Harry Riddles Made a Mega-Amazing Zombie Movie (Shoutykid, Book 1)

By Author / Illustrator

Simon Mayle

Genre

Friends and family

Age range(s)

Publisher

HarperCollins Publishers

ISBN

9780007531882

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

05-06-2014

Synopsis

Meet the funniest kid in fiction!

Hi there,

My name is Harry Riddles and I am ten years old which my mum says is too young to have problems but she is WRONG. My dad just lost his job, which means we might have to move house and I need money to make my mega-amazing zombie movie but there is NO WAY I will sell my X-box! I've written to the Queen, Harry Styles, and the people off Dragons' Den who might be able help but I don't know if they'll write back. If you have any bright ideas for making money I'd love to hear them and I can tell you how to get past level 6 on World of Zombies if you like.

Good luck and have fun

Harry Riddles

Follow Harry's hilarious ups and downs told through laugh-out-loud letters, emails, texts and more!

Reviews

Cosmas - Age 9

Harry wants to make a zombie movie to save his family because his dad lost his job, but he doesn't have the money to do it. So he writes to famous people including the Queen and Harry Styles to ask for money. The writing is different - the story includes text messages, emails, letters and web chats.I think the book is really funny because I was laughing so much milk came out my nose!

Elizabeth

Shouty Kid by Simon Mayle is a laugh-out-loud read. 10-year-old Harry is on a mission to rescue his family from impending financial ruin, after the failure of his dads film writing career. Harry plans to write and produce his own zombie movie, Eat the Parents. Meanwhile, he is desperate to impress new girl at school Jessica and gets involved in the school play, promising to invite family friend Sam Mendes to watch the production. However, several people are out to make life difficult for Harry, including his school nemesis Ed Bigstock, also an admirer of Jessicas, not to mention his annoying older sister Charlotte and her smelly musician boyfriend.
The whole story is cleverly told through Harrys emails, texts and letters to various family members and some very famous people (including the Queen) who he contacts for advice and outrageous pleas along the way.
Both girls and boys will love the story and there is definitely something for everyone, with letters to One Directions Harry Styles, begging him to take his sister on tour with him, and details of his gaming success on the Xbox.
This is a perfect read for 9-11 year olds, who will love Harry and tales of his escapades. I would definitely recommend it to the boys in my class who are looking to extend their reading experience, away from their current favourite authors. This is presented as a meaty read but the format of the story makes it manageable for most readers of this age. In class, I would use it as an example of how to manage different narrative structures. Children in year 5 and 6 could experiment by writing their own stories told entirely through emails, text messages and online chats, which would definitely motivate some of the more reluctant writers in my class to get writing!
5 out of 5, I look forward to more of the Shouty Kids tales!