Henry Potty and the Deathly Paper Shortage:
An Unauthorized Harry Potter Parody
Valerie Estelle Frankel
WingSpan Press (2008)
ISBN 9781595942418
Reviewed by Kam Aures for RebeccasReads (7/08)
As you can probably discern from the title of the book, “Henry Potty and the Deathly Paper Shortage,” is a spoof on author J. K. Rowling’s ever-popular Harry Potter series of books. Following in the footsteps of its predecessor, “Henry Potty and the Pet Rock,” this newest book by Valerie Estelle Frankel, chronicles more creative adventures of Henry Potty. In this book, Lord Revolting has divided his soul up into seven Plot Devices and it is up to Henry Potter to find and destroy them. There are many challenges to overcome and creatures to defeat like mimes, extremists, and even the Tooth Fairy. Will he be able to destroy the Plot Devices in time or will he be defeated by a paper shortage?
“Henry Potty and the Deathly Paper Shortage” is a silly, hilarious book that is perfect to read when you want to take a break from reality. Travel to Frankel’s fantasy world, which is full of outrageous characters and funny story lines, and be prepared for a wild ride! Even with loads of wacky characters and crazy situations the plot flows very smoothly. This relatively short book, at 169 pages, flies by and I read it from cover to cover in one afternoon. It is a perfect summer read and is a great book to take to the beach. However, be prepared for questions if you read the book in a public place! At least three times I got asked, “Does that say ‘Henry Potty’ on the cover?”
The book is very creative and the plays on the original Harry Potter series, as well as on other fairy tales and fantasy characters, are ingenious! I have only read a couple of the books in the Harry Potter series and think that if you are an avid fan you will completely appreciate this parody of the series and will understand all of the humor. Even if you can’t stand the original Harry Potter books, I think that you will enjoy this book because of the way it pokes fun at the series. You definitely can’t go wrong in choosing Frankel’s newest parody!
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