There's far more to being a good reader for children than putting on silly voices, Black Adder actor Miranda Richardson please note. Her somewhat bored, if breathless "Gosh I am so hilarious, aren't I," rendition of Francesca Simon's overrated Horrid Henry Gets Rich Quick (Orion Audio Books, £4.99 in UK), complete with irritating sound effects, left my Nadia, a discerning six-year-old, unimpressed. "I don't like her reading and the story's not that good either. No one could be as horrible as Henry," she says, to which I have to add, no parent, teacher, other child or career saint could tolerate Henry. He makes Bart Simpson appear a romantic hero.
The Story of Fuzzypeg the Hedgehog, based on The Tales of Little Grey Rabbit, by Alison Uttley and Margaret Tempest, and colourfully read by actor Andrew Sachs (Collins, £3.99 in UK, with book of the text), using an array of clever accents, is a delight. Little Fuzzypeg decides he is as brave as his father and goes off on a jaunt that quickly proves he is not all that tough. A search party is called into action with some clever exchanges en route. Equally charming and atmospheric is Water Rat's Picnic & Other Stories, also by Uttley and Tempest, and beautifully read by the soothing tones of Hannah Gordon (Collins, £5.99). Her approach is simple and understated. The stories, particularly the title piece and the Easter Egg episode are appealing without being soppy, thanks largely to the exuberance of Hare.
Of the 14 narratives included in Fantastic Stories, written and read by Monty Python survivor Terry Jones (Orion Audio Books, £8.99 in UK), several are very good. I have to admit these stories were better than I had expected and also owe a great deal to the traditional European fairy-tale, with flashes of Chaucer. Jones proves a disciplined reader, unafraid of pointing out the moral undercutting most of them. Curiously the first and last are the weakest; in between are some wonderful yarns, including The Star of the Farmyard, featuring a gifted dog who takes to the road under the influence of the cockerel, his greatest fan and would-be manager.
It is very funny, as is The Slow Ogre, who may live in a state of slow motion, taking several hours to even rise from his bed, and is capable of speed when a soup made of human heads is in the offing. Jones has no problem with highlighting the nastiness and greed of kings and queens and such folk feature in a number of pieces, including The Flying King, in which even the Devil has a part. Eyes-All-Over is a graphic study in greed and remorse while The Dancing Horse and The Snow Baby present a gentler side to his storytelling.
Sophie's World author Jostein Gaarder's The Frog Castle (Orion Audio Books, £8.99 in UK) is a bit heavy-handedly moral and drawn out. It too reflects the traditional fairy-tale but in a less inventive way than Jones and its topsy-turvy juggling of dream, reality and nightmare, with variations of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, never quite convinces. Though read by Joss Ackland, one of the most distinctive actors in British screen and theatre, it is a strangely mannered reading. Michael Morpurgo's sea adventure, Kensuke's Kingdom, is a great story but Derek Jacobi, a fine reader, is not quite right on this Collins' tape (£8.99 in UK). He sounds far too still and old to convince as the narrator. It's a great story though.
Should he achieve little else in his career, Stephen Fry has secured his place as the born-to-read Harry Potter reader. He has now set the standard for any voice intending to tackle multi-character narratives. Actor Ursula Jones approaches Fry quality with her faultless characterisations, including that of Mig, the young narrator in Diana Wynne Jones's marvellous Black Maria (Collins, £8.99 in UK). Great Aunt Maria appears frail and helpless but is instead the terrifying leader of the defeated community inhabiting Cranbury-on-Sea. Of all the tapes under review here, this comic thriller, with more twists than a mile of plaited rope, is the absolute winner we immediately listened to a second time.
Eileen Battersby is Literary Correspon- dent of The Irish Times
