Reviews for Arthur's Family Treasury

The average rating for Arthur's Family Treasury based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-01-23 00:00:00 Kenneth Hoffacker This book contains just three out of hundreds of Arthur's adventures that showcase the importance of family in our daily lives. I've done an analysis of each of the three stories from the perspective of an aspiring children's book author and illustrator. Keep in mind that these are more analytical than reviews, and feel free to critique on my style, writing or the like. I also do my best not to spoil anything, but they are children's books and they have been around for a while...so yeah. Arthur's Birthday With a huge build-up right at the start, Arthur begins daily planning for his big day. As the day drew near he would get more and more excited and everything is going smoothly. Then he gets to school. He's handing out invitations to his friends and on the opposite page we can see Muffy doing the exact same thing. Anticipation as they approach each other with their invitations in hand. When Muffy reveals the time and date of her party we see on the faces of her friends that something is wrong. Their parties are on the same day, and we go from anticipation to problem. Now there is a divide between the boys and girls, and you wonder how it can be resolved without anyone getting hurt. Coming from the standpoint of children's books we know that it will get resolved, but what is done well with this story is the how. Arthur and Francine are up to something, but you don't find out right away and it keeps the story fully engaging. I would say love and friendship is the main theme of this story, with a dash of humor that blends well with the atmosphere of the story. Arthur's Family Vacation Arthur shows lack of enthusiasm for his summer vacation. While everyone has something exciting going on, Arthur is going on a family vacation. At his age friends are always more fun than family, and he seems dow through most of the week. Things turn even more sour when it rains for the rest of the week. Instead of wallowing in boredom and being miserable, Arthur decides to make the most of the time they have and plans out the rest of their trip. This story shows a common problem with children being grumpy over the most trivial things rather than choosing to be happy. It also champions patience and learning to have fun no matter what's going on around you. Arthur's Baby There is a new addition to the Read Family on the way, and I really like this one because of how subtle it is when it comes to the idea of a baby. Here we also see how little kids can be full of excitement (as D.W. is), or uncertainty (Arthur) about babies. There is no need to reference how the baby came to be, though with careful illustrations and clues Marc Brown shows the changes that come when a baby is on the way. Their mom is seen eating pickles in her ice cream, wearing bigger clothes and shuffling through old photos of Arthur and D.W. At the very least, we know that babies come from moms, and that's more than enough :) Once the baby arrives the uncertainty builds, but both Arthur and D.W. learn that there's no need to worry too much. If you take the time to listen to babies they will tell you what's wrong, and they will bring happiness if you do good by them.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-07-20 00:00:00 John Sweeney Written by a French author, this book has a bit of a foreign flavor. A young boy searches for the blue of his dreams---far and wide, from the sky to the sea and even into a jazz club. A sweet message, an introduction to many different shades of blue (cerulean!) and beautifully written. This would be fun to pair with Laura Vaccaro Seeger's Green as both demonstrate that "one" color is hold many shades.