Why is Arthur Having his Birthday in a Box? wondered the 4 year old##
Written: Sep 01 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Love Arthur and any of his books, cute story, predictable ending, no one gets hurt.
Cons: Can you actually think of anything bad to say about the world's most famous aardvark?
The Bottom Line: This is a great gift for an emerging reader. Cute Arthur book and cute Arthur doll. How could you not want to snuggle with Arthur, bond with Arthur... be Arthur!
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| vbfc's Full Review: Arthur's Birthday Book and Plush Toy Books |
Ooooohhh.... cute! The Gabster yelled as she unwrapped the box containing Arthur's Birthday Book and Plush Toy**. And she was right. The big yellow box contained a 32 page paper back and the cutest little Arthur doll I’ve seen in a long time.
While The Gabster just turned 7 and is way beyond the reading level of this book (suggested for ages 4 - 8) she appreciated the fact that one of her most favorite TV characters could cuddle with her while she reads his story. My five year old does enjoy trying to read this book on her own. There are enough "big" words that she needs "help".
The plush stuffed animal (well, Arthur is an aardvark) included in this set is about ten inches tall and machine washable. It looks exactly like the character pictured in the book. It is made by Eden Toys and they are well known for their super soft and snuggly toys. Arthur sports blue jeans and his trademark yellow v-neck sweater. He has little brown lace-up shoes on and of course, a red bow tie. This Arthur is wearing his glasses and they are actually sewn to his head; attached by his ears and between his eyes. The girlybirds are not fighting over Arthur and Baby Cabana has no interest in him, so he’s cute – but he’s not worth arguing over.
This story is one has been on PBS at least one million times so we were pretty familiar with the plot. Arthur plans his birthday party. Ooops – Muffy scheduled hers for the same day. Which one will all the kids in Elwood City attend?
Normally, one would think Arthur because he is everyone’s favorite aardvark. Then again, Muffy is the richest little girl in Elwood City and her birthday parties are very extravagant. Dilemma for all. My girlies split right down the middle. The Gabster loves Arthur so she’s sticking with him for all celebrations. Princess Pickle says Muffy’s party will have more to do and more to eat so it has to be more fun. Lucky for us author Marc Brown came up with a solution.
What I can tell you without ruining the plot is that Arthur can not change his party because the out of town relatives are all coming. Muffy can’t change the date of her party because, well, ya know… she’s Muffy Crosswire. Besides booking an entire amusement park for your front lawn is time consuming and expensive. Ok it is just a clown and a rock band … but a girl has to do whatever it takes to have the most fabulous party in town. So, the girls decide to go to Muffy’s and the boys side with the aardvark and plan to go to Arthur’s party.
Arthur thinks and thinks (very common for this pre-pu-bescent character) and comes up with an idea. He consults with Francine (his loyal pal and one of Muffy’s friends too) and gets his parents involved in the new plan too. Muffy comes over to Arthur’s house to see her birthday gift that is too big to fit in her mailbox … ok – I am stopping here. If you need to know more… send me an email.
I suppose since this is a children's book I should say something nice about the illustrations. Ok - here goes. There are illustrations. They are nice. There are some on every page. Arthur looks just as cute in the book as he does on the TV screen - except here he is flat. They are drawn with watercolor and pencils (according to my fact checker). Enough said.
Silly Arthur Facts
Marc Brown wrote the first Arthur book, Arthur’s Nose based on a bed time story he told to his son. It was published in 1976.
The character D.W. (Arthur’s little sister) is based on Marc Brown’s real life sister Kim. She tours the country giving presentations about Marc, Arthur and their whole family.
Marc Brown’s wife, Laurie Krasny Brown is also an author. They have written books together, outside of the Arthur series. One of these days I’ll get around to reviewing “When Dinosaurs Die”, a book that helped the girlybirds out when their Auntie S died a few years ago.
There are secret messages in Marc Brown books. He hides the names of his children and places he has visited in illustrations. His children are Eliza, Tucker and Tolon.
Our favorite Arthur related Epinions review:
Wildkin Arthur Plush Backpack http://www.epinions.com/content_62083600004
Our favorite Arthur Links:
pbskids.org/Arthur
http://www.marcbrownstudios.com/index.html
## - yes, another child who was at the opening of the presents (big ceremony at our house) did indeed ask about Arthur being in a box. We think she thought that he was not coming out.
** - PLUSH TOY - fancy generic description for a stuffed animal.
Format: Paperback (ISBN: 0316115886)
Date Published: September 1, 1998
Published by Little Brown & Co
32 pages
©vbfc – 2005
I write ‘em, you read them -
you rate them, I own ‘em!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
vbfc
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: VB
Location: The Rocky Mountains - a long way from NY
Reviews written: 94
Trusted by: 67 members
About Me:
Wacky mom having way too much fun with zany girls and lovable dad. ReadALLAbout it!!!
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