Taming Horrible Harry

Linda Ludke is a children’s librarian at the London Public Library.

Horrible Harry delights in scaring humans who wander into his forest.
With one terrible roar he sends them skedaddling. He is perplexed when a
little girl, engrossed in a book, doesn’t respond, and it takes a
second bloodcurdling scream to send her on her way. Believing the book
must be magical, he carries it back to his cave. The beautiful pictures
entrance him and he “[can’t] put it down.” When Delores the Dragon
teaches Harry to read, a whole new world opens up. He shares his love of
literature and soon all the monsters’ heads become so full of
“wonderful stories that they can’t be bothered to do their jobs.”

Rogé’s bold acrylic paintings portray Harry as a red beast with
sharp incisors, a pencil-thin nose, and six hairs sprouting from his
head. Spooky details like jars of eyeballs and a breakfast bowl filled
with a big bad wolf and milk add to the fun. This is a clever tale of
the transformational power of books. Highly recommended.