Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent

Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent has frightfully, frightfully rich parents who are not very attentive about their son... and about money. He learns to speak and read and swim without any help from them -- and turns out to be a natural at most things (except cake baking and flower arranging, skills he has to work at). His parents are more interested in games like Monopoly and throwing parties. Hubert and his best friend Stanton Harcourt III (also a genius) prefer table tennis and science experiments. Hubert's parents are so oblivious they don't notice when they have run out of money, so Hubert and Stanton try to solve the problem by entering Mr. and Mrs. Bobton-Trent in various board-game contests and opening their house up to tours. show more The final solution is to sell the family mansion and move into an apartment -- which actually suits the parents more as there are always people around to play games with and the rooms are closer together. Besides, Mr. Bobton-Trent had the right social skills to be a doorman. And the lesson Hubert learns is that his parents were never terribly bothered about being frightfully rich. show less

Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent is by Lauren Child, an author best known for her two series: Charlie and Lola, and Clarice Bean. Hubert is the son of wealthy, bored parents who decide what they need to enrich their lives is a child. It sounds shallow but Hubert's parents do genuinely want to be parents.

There's just one problem — their enormous mansion. For instance, it takes too long to go from the kitchen to bed. SO each and every night, Hubert drinks cold hot chocolate even though it's made hot for him.

Then there's the expense of keeping such a house. Obviously Hubert and his parents have to make some changes. What they decide is the true charm of this book — showing that family is more important than all the money in the show more world.

Of course it also has Lauren Child's recognizably charming illustrations. show less

Hubert Horatio's parents were known to be very rich. They lived in such a huge house that whenever Hubert would walk to his parents' room to say goodnight, his cocoa would be cold. However, things started to take a terrible turn when all of Mr. and Mrs. Bobton-Trent's workers started to quit. They were not being paid! Thank goodness that Hubert and his friend were born brilliant children, for they decided to figure out all of their financial issues. However, the Bobton-Trents had to sell their home. They moved into an apartment, and finally, Hubert's cocoa wasn't cold by the time he reached his parents' bedroom to say goodnight. This story is trying to portray the theme that being rich does not make a person happy. The second to last show more page sums up the entire story by saying, "And Hubert relaized that being frightfully, frightfully, rich was not frightfully important to his parents after all." Sometimes losing everything allows us to be able to find happiness. show less

This book starts with same letter word play and continues to use other types of wordplay throughout the story. The story is told using large scale detailed drawings with text arranged in and around the pictures.
Hubert’s biggest challenge is to save his parents expensive lifestyle and mansion.
No matter what he does, he cannot save his parents from themselves. The more they earn the more they spend. Once his biggest fear is realized, he learns that not being frightfully rich is not frightful at all.
The pictures in the book would keep children coming back repeatedly.

This is a charming tale of a young man who is looking to save his parents from turmoil. Hubert realizes his parents are in a financial crisis and tries to help them from falling from grace. Normally, we hear about families going form rags to riches, not vice verse. However, this story has a happy ending when Hubert and his family realize that money isn't everything and sometimes the richest people are those who have just the love of their families.

I would use this book for elementary school on up. It is a wonderful tale about family and sticking together through rough times. I like that it teaches children what is really important in life. It was an enjoyable read and I think many children could benefit from this.

Hubert is the son of the wealthy Bobton's. He is also an incredibly smart boy who loves to do experiments. One day, he finds out that his family isn't rich anymore and after failed attempts to restore his family's wealth, he and his parents realize that they didn't need their huge mansion or maids, and are quite happy with their simpler life.

I loved the illustrations in this book and the message that material possessions do not carry as much happiness as the life you live with the ones you love.

Lauren Child does it again in this book of Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent, a young genius who saves his family from going bankrupt living their lavish lifestyle. The title itself is so typical of Lauren's style in that it is one name, so dramatized. It's usually in the author's fashion to emphasize and dramatize words, sayings, illustrations, and more... so this one is definitely similar to her others in that way. I do recognize that among all of the books that she writes, she usually incorporates some learnable theme into them. Her topics are always directed to relatable situations or teaching lessons to children (finances, recycling, etc.)