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Summary
Summary
Boy genius Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent-H for short- is the answer to his rich parents' prayers. He is their dear companion, their fiercest board game adversary, and their frequent guest at parties. But this prodigy's parents don't share his knack at accounting-and they can't imagine ever running out of money. Will Hubert be able to save the Bobton-Trent's fabulous estate - or might they be just as happy without it, after all? With exuberant collage illustrations and a hilarious text, award-winning author and illustrator Lauren Child has created an irreverent story about the true value of money and the dividends of happiness.
Author Notes
Lauren Child (born in 1965 in England) is an English author and illustrator. She is best known for writing the Charlie and Lola books and Clarice Bean novels. Her second book in this series, Clarice Bean Spells Trouble, was shortlisted for the 2005 British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year. A number of spin off books are available based on the scripts of the TV shows, though these were not written or illustrated by Child. Charlie and Lola has been sold throughout the world, and has won many prizes, including BAFTAs in 2007 for Best children's Television Show and Best Script. She writes the Ruby Redfort series. Book six, Blink and You Die, is on the bestseller list.
Lauren Child lives in London. (Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Child?s (the Clarice Bean books) droll tale introduces the ?frightfully, frightfully? rich Mr. and Mrs. Bobton-Trent, who dine out nearly every night and hobnob with ?simply everyone who was anyone.? When they ?[want] to meet someone new,? they have a child. Their clever offspring, Hubert, telephones his parents at the age of one, reads at two and?when he tumbles into the pool at age three?discovers that he is ?a natural swimmer.? The scatterbrained couple is oblivious to their son?s talents?and to the fact that their money has run out. In one spread, the Bobton-Trents and guests sit at a bare dinner table, waiting for an hour and 22 minutes for the maid to serve them, unaware that the staff has left (they ?hadn?t been paid for at least two years?). Hubert and his brainy best friend try moneymaking schemes (enrolling the Bobton-Trents in board game contests and opening their mansion for tours) which, due to the couple?s entrenched ways, fail miserably (they spend all the proceeds). The dismayed tyke realizes that they must sell the family home and move into an apartment; much to his surprise, his no longer frightfully, frightfully rich folks ?have never been so happy!? Child?s amusingly alliterative narrative and whimsical mixed-media art use hyperbole to comic effect; however, her lesson about values and the real root of happiness may be more appreciated by adults than children. Ages 4-7. (June) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Horn Book Review
When his ""frightfully, frightfully rich"" parents run out of money, Hubert Horatio saves the day: he sells the family mansion and they move to an apartment, where they continue to play games and drink cocoa. The arch tone of this messily plotted book is reinforced by vibrant art and by lines of type that bend, bounce, and swirl, tiresomely. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
When the "frightfully, frightfully rich" Bobton-Trents get bored with their set and decide they need to meet someone new, they have a child, the absurdly precocious Hubert Horatio. His parents are daffy but loving, welcoming him every evening in their bedroom for a cup of cocoa--which is always a little cold after he makes the trek through the mansion. When strange things begin to happen--they run out of jelly during a party, they see the butler trading a priceless painting for two pints of milk--Hubert quickly realizes that his parents are no longer frightfully, frightfully rich, and takes charge. When his schemes don't pan out and the family must move to 17b Plankton Heights, they adjust swimmingly--and Hubert's cocoa doesn't get cold after the short walk to his parents' room. Nothing much actually happens, but Hubert's story is given the patented Child touch, with a dynamic typeface swooping around spiky mixed-media collages. If Hubert lacks the verve of a Clarice Bean, this is still a sweetly offbeat tale whose heart is in exactly the right place. (Picture book. 5-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
K-Gr. 3. Better at Twister and board games than at managing finances, Hubert Horatio's socialite parents have little clue that they are fast going from frightfully, frightfully rich to bankrupt. Their son, a child prodigy, secretly begins to charge admission for tours of their mansion, but his parents welcome the visitors with lavish parties; other capital-raising schemes similarly backfire. Finally, Hubert Horatio convinces his parents to move to a modest apartment building (whose cheerful but tenement-like facade is whimsically depicted in a vertical gatefold). He discovers, to his surprise, that his parents prefer the snugger quarters and closer-at-hand neighbors. The satire about the frivolous wealthy is less understated than in Hilary Knight's Eloise books, but, as always, there is substantial appeal in Child's doodled, collage-enhanced imagery and arch text. And the clever cover design--with pale-green ornamentation borrowed from a dollar bill--will entice money-obsessed children, while the story within will remind them that many of life's pleasures cannot be purchased. --Jennifer Mattson Copyright 2005 Booklist