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Or, in the case of the popular Arthur books, aardvarks just like them. Arthur's New Puppy is the eighteenth book in the best-selling series. It follows the misadventures of the lovable aardvark as he attempts to housebreak his bouncy puppy Pal.
Children seem to identify with Arthur as he struggles with everyday problems with the help of his loving parents (and no help from his pesky little sister, D.W.) and friends.
If you have an Arthur fan in the house, or if you have a new puppy in the house, you'll want to check out this book.
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If your little ones are driving you nuts and you feel like you're stuck on an island (like they're starring in Lord of the Flies), this book could save your life! Seriously, it is the best book for children in print today. I spend tons of time and the library and this book is one you must take home to keep.
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The next day at school he talks to his friends about it, and they don't reassure him of anything. In fact they make him even more doubtful than before. Binky tells him that he should get some earplugs,or he'll never sleep because the baby will always be crying in the middle of the night.
Buster tells him that he can forget about playing afterschool because he'll have to go home and babysit everyday.
Muffy tells him that he'll have to change all the dirty diapers that the baby makes.
Francine tells him that he will probably start talking like the baby does.
For the next few months all Arthur sees are babies everywhere they are all he thinks about and not in a good way.
One day after school Arthur comes home and Arthur's mom shows him their baby photo album. He sees different pictures of him and D.W. when they were babies.
The next Saturday morning Arthur sees his mom packing a suitcase and he asks her where she is going. She tells him that she isn't going anywhere they just have to be ready if the baby decides to come.
Sunday morning Arthur goes down to the kitchen to get some breakfast, but instead of his mom standing at the stove, his Grandma Thora was there. She told Arthur and D.W. that they had a new baby sister and that after they had eaten breakfast they would go to the hospital to see her.
And so they did. They met their dad at the hospital and he took them to the nursery part of the hospital and he shows them Kate, their new baby sister.
On Tuesday Arthur's mom and dad brought Kate home. The doorbell was constantly rinnging and it was always more presents for the baby.
That night they were in Kate's nursery and Arthur's mom asked him if he would like to hold Kate, but he said "I'd rather look." D.W. said that it was for the better because Arthur didn't know beans about babies.
A few days later Arthur's mom needed help and she asked Arthur to watch Kate while she went upstairs. D.W. said that she would take care of everything. The doorbell rang and D.W. opened the door and some of Arthur's friends were there. D.W. told them that Arhtur coulnd't play, but they could come see her baby.
D.W. was very defensive and she told everyone not to get too close to her baby and to be quiet because her baby was sleeping. Then Kate woke up and D.W. said that Kate wanted her bottle. Kate drank her bottle very fast and when she was done she began to cry. D.W. told everyone that she had it under control. She kissed Kate on the head, but that didn't stop the crying, she bounced Kate up and down but Kate wailed louder,then Arthur picked up Kate and patted her on the back. Kate let out a big burp and Arthur told everyone that everything was all right now.
I thought this was a great book especially for a family that is expecting and already has one or more children. It tells kids that there is no reason to exclude yourself and not be a part of the new baby and it tells them that even if you think you can't you can help with the new baby. I recommend this to any family that is expectin and would urge them to read it to their kids and fully explain what they can do to help when the baby arrives.
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Generally, when you pick up an "Arthur" chapter book, you can rely on an amusing as well as educational story. Any story feature Buster in his detective mode, however, is in a class of it's own.
Buster gets a detective kit and starts looking for a mystery. He even gets really into the role, donning a coat and fedora. At first, though, he can't find a mystery. Then, Arthur is accused of stealing the quarters that he was collecting for the "Buy a Puppy For the Fire Department" project. Arthur knows he's innocent and so do we, so needs somebody to help him, giving Buster his first case. Solving mysteries though, Detective Baxter, soon learns, isn't as easy as it seems.
This book is enjoyable for readers of just about an age, assuming they've reached the reading level to read a 58 page story in chapter book format. For the best effect, watch the TV version of this story first and pay attention to Buster's voice when he's speaking as a detective. Then read the story using that style of voice.
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Used price: $11.59
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Just like Peanuts characters, and others with whom we, or our children, grew up, Arthur's looks have changed over the years. What a great classroom discussion these changes could prompt! I could envision this discussion taking place, with more mature reasoning, from first to sixth grade, and I wouldn't hesitate to use the book as a writing springboard in those same grade levels.
When I first saw Arthur in his present incarnation, I thought he was some sort of a mouse. He's actually an aardvark. He looks more like an aardvark in the earliest book. That's the problem: Arthur doesn't like his long aardvark snout.
His family loves Arthur and his nose. But the kids at school, who are all different types of animals, sometimes make fun of his nose, so Arthur decides to change it. He visits a rhinologist (who is a rhino, of course), and tries out different pictures of noses. Would he be happier with a rabbit's nose? A chicken's? An armadillo's?
Finally, he decides to stick with the nose he's got.
It's a great message for any kid who feels a little different. But, look at Arthur today. What happened to that long snout? No matter, he's still my favorite. As author Marc Brown put it in the first book, "There's more to Arthur than his nose."
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The circus is in town-everybody's excited to go, but when Arthur is sick with chicken pox, D.W. comes home from play group to find Arthur lying on the couch so wishes she was sick so pretends to think Arthur is just pretending to be sick. And as the story continues, D.W. shows how she wishes she was the sick one-and in the end, Arthur is better, but D.W. gets the chicken pox.
This will be a great book to teach about being careful what you wish for even when chicken pox no longer exists.
The end