Product Description

Unapproved, unendorsed, unofficial, and unstoppable The devious Lord Revolting has split his soul into seven Plot Devices, from the One Ring to Coloring Book of Doom. Destroying the Ministry of Muckups, he launches himself on a campaign of terror and ruthlessness, the likes of which hasn't been seen since the last Wizneyland Princess Beach Week. Can Henry Potty, lousy student and heroic Chosen One, destroy the Plot Devices in time? Or will a paper shortage kill him, as the loudmouthed ghost of Bumbling Bore foresees? Join Henry as he duels unexploded mimes, flying monkeys, telemarketers, and the dreaded Tooth Fairy. It's a race against National Treasures, Legions of Dimness, and Miniclorians, from the Funhouse of Terror to Chickenfeet Academy. But if Henry wants to recoup his fans from Professor Sniffly Snort, he must try. As the epic battle nears, only one thing is certain: Henry Potty's series is numbered.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40271 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 180 pages

Review
An absolutely witty satire: Frankel somehow brings the characters above and beyond what you would expect as you laugh your way through the book. Silly, senseless, and totally nuts: you cannot help but enjoy the ride

 Beverly Pechin, Reader Views

Unless you just crawled out from a cave after hibernating for 20 years you have to have heard about Harry Potter and all his glory. Now pretend that Weird Al Yankovich and J.K. Rowling hooked up to create a book. What would you have? You'd have "Henry Potty and the Pet Rock." 

An absolutely hilarious take on the Harry Potter stories, Frankel takes a stab at recreating a similar story line but with a few wackier characters and events. A parody like no other I've ever seen in literature, you will chuckle and laugh until your belly hurts!

Characters that are just plain silly and fun create a story line that makes one take a second look at the Potter series and say "Hmmm, I wonder if J.K. Rowling ever thought of it that wa

Customer Reviews

A hilarious Harry Potter parody!

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!

The Life of the Potty
Henry Potty and the Deathly Paper Shortage: An Unauthorized Harry Potter Parody

Anything calling itself a parody faces some tough literary challenges. It must, of course, readily bring to mind the original work it seeks to spoof. It should be creative and entertaining in its own right, without depending too much on the reader's knowledge of the original. Finally, it needs to be something of an homage, and not just a silly mockery.
In Henry Potty and the Deathly Paper Shortage: An Unauthorized Harry Potter Parody, author Valerie Estelle Frankel's flying vacuum cleaner clears these literary hurdles with room to spare. If there was a single example of homo sapiens on this planet who was not familiar with the Harry Potter series, he or she could still thoroughly enjoy this book (assuming he or she had a solid command of the subtle nuances of the English language and a strong sense of humor. Academic, really, since this individual does not exist).
Frankel skillfully draws upon many sources to create a story which keeps the reader on his toes, frantically trying to keep track of the book's myriad characters, details and action sequences. In other words, it's not that much different than the original. Her writing style brings to mind a sort of hybrid between J.R.R. Tolkien and Woody Allen, only with fewer references to Kierkegaard.
While it would be overwhelming to try and summarize the plot, Henry Potty and the Deathly Paper Shortage is great fun to read, not least because of Frankel's well-crafted prose. The author clearly takes pleasure in making words do more than their basic job, and knows where and when to insert puns without their becoming the sole points of humor. Thus, the reader is spared page after page of needless punishment.
Very entertaining, and highly recommended.

Reviewed by Joel Bresler

Potty Parodies Potter Perfectly
Like any parody worth its salt this one takes aim at a very popular subject and bit-by-bit it pokes fun at every facet of that subject while at the same time taking the occasional pot shot at a few other related topics. Often times I actually find that I have more fun looking for the these little hidden references than I do with the main plot and this book gave me several little moments like that to enjoy.

I must admit that I did have a little trouble reading this book because at times it struck me as a bit juvenile but then I remembered that the suggested age range was 9-12 and I started trying to read with the eye of a pre-teen and then I found the book much more enjoyable. Many if not most of the gags revolve around things that might literally make the reader gag and it seems that the author has tried at times to be as disgusting as possible. I soon came to the conclusion that the target group really consisted of 9-12 year old boys and since I was once a 9-12 year old boy myself I could easily see the appeal of such humor to that group.

With that I mind I handed the book off to my seven-year-old grandson. He is not really all that familiar with Harry Potter so I didn't know how well he would relate to Henry Potty but he loved it and would sit and laugh hysterically as he came upon descriptions of various disgusting smells and sights. There is no doubt in my mind at all that to my grandson this book rates a solid five stars.

As for me my favorite part of the book came when the author lampooned J. K. Rowling's decision to inject controversy into her series by announcing after the last book came out that one of the main characters was gay. Because this is a parody of the final Potter book that character is already dead but his ghost keeps popping in and asking, "Did I mention that I was gay?" In many ways this lovable ghost comes across as much less silly than Ms. Rowling and her announcement. Parody with a bite, I love it!

I can't say that as a whole this was one of the funniest books that I have ever read but then again I am well beyond my pre-teen years. Still, the writing was crisp and the dialogue was very well done even if some of the jokes did blow past my gross threshold. Most importantly though my grandson really enjoyed this book and it actually kept him interested and that is quite an accomplishment. I might not have given this book five stars but my grandson most assuredly did and on this one I am going to go with the opinion of a true expert.