Horrid Henry and the Soccer Fiend

Over 15 million copies sold in 27 countries and counting

# 1 chapter book series in the UK

Francesca Simon is the only American author to ever win the Galaxy British Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year (past winners include J.K. Rowling, Philip Pullman, and Eoin Colfer).

“Horrid Henry is a fabulous antihero…
a modern comic classic
.” —
Guardian

“
Wonderfully appealing to girls and boys alike
, a precious rarity at this age.” —Judith Woods,
Times

—Amanda Craig,
Times

“
I love the Horrid Henry books by Francesca Simon
. They have lots of funny bits in. And Henry always gets into trouble!” —Mia, age 6,
BBC Learning Is Fun

“My two boys love this book, and
I have actually had tears running down my face and had to stop reading because of laughing so hard
.” —T. Franklin, Parent

“
It’s easy to see why Horrid Henry is the bestselling character for five- to eight-year-olds
.” —
Liverpool Echo

“Francesca Simon’s truly horrific little boy is
a monstrously enjoyable creation
. Parents love them because Henry makes their own little darlings seem like angels.” —
Guardian Children’s Books Supplement

“I have tried out the Horrid Henry books with groups of children as a parent, as a babysitter, and as a teacher.
Children love to either hear them read aloud or to read them themselves
.” —Danielle Hall, Teacher

“A flicker of recognition must pass through most teachers and parents when they read Horrid Henry.
There’s a tiny bit of him in all of us
.” —Nancy Astee,
Child Education

“
As a teacher…it’s great to get a series of books my class loves
. They go mad for Horrid Henry.” —A teacher

“
Henry is a beguiling hero who has entranced millions of reluctant readers
.” —
Herald

—A parent

“
Laugh-out-loud reading for both adults and children alike
.” —A parent

“
Horrid Henry certainly lives up to his name, and his antics are everything you hope your own child will avoid—which is precisely why younger children so enjoy these tales
.” —
Independent on Sunday

“Henry might be unbelievably naughty, totally wicked, and utterly horrid, but
he is frequently credited with converting the most reluctant readers into enthusiastic ones
…superb in its simplicity.” —
Liverpool Echo

—
Sunday Times

“Parents reading them aloud may be consoled to discover that Henry can always be relied upon to behave worse than any of their own offspring.” —
Independent

“
What is brilliant about the books is that Henry never does anything that is subversive
. She creates an aura of supreme naughtiness (of which children are in awe) but points out that he operates within a safe and secure world…
eminently readable
books.” —Emily Turner,
Angels and Urchins

—
Jewish Chronicle

“Accompanied by fantastic black-and-white drawings, the book is a joy to read.
Horrid Henry has an irresistible appeal to everyone—child and adult alike!
He is the child everyone is familiar with—irritating, annoying, but you still cannot help laughing when he gets into yet another scrape. Not quite a devil in disguise but you cannot help wondering at times! No wonder he is so popular!” —Angela Youngman

Horrid Henry

Horrid Henry Tricks the Tooth Fairy

Horrid Henry and the Mega-Mean Time Machine

Horrid Henry’s Stinkbomb

Horrid Henry and the Mummy’s Curse

Horrid Henry and the Soccer Fiend

Horrid Henry Tricks and Treats

Horrid Henry’s Christmas

Francesca Simon

Illustrated by
Tony Ross

To Elaine and Mark Eisenthal,
and to Alexander, Josh, and Katherine

Text © Francesca Simon 2006
Internal illustrations © Tony Ross 2006
Cover illustrations © Tony Ross 2008
Cover and internal design © 2009 by Sourcebooks, Inc.

Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc.

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

Published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc.
P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567–4410
(630) 961–3900
Fax: (630) 961–2168
www.jabberwockykids.com

Originally published in Great Britain in 2006 by Orion Children’s Books.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Simon, Francesca.
  [Horrid Henry and the football fiend]
  Horrid Henry and the soccer fiend / Francesca Simon ; illustrated by Tony Ross.
    p. cm.

 Originally published: Great Britain : Orion Children’s Books, 2006, under the title Horrid Henry and the football fiend.
 [1. Behavior—Fiction.] I. Ross, Tony, ill. II. Title.
 PZ7.S604Hoaw 2009
 [Fic]—dc22