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Arthur's Birthday (Arthur Adventures Series)

Name: Arthur's Birthday (Arthur Adventures Series)
Author: Marc Brown
ISBN: 9780316110747

by Marc Brown, Marc T. Brown, Pfeiffer, McClelland

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Overview

Help Arthur celebrate his birthday! You can play with the reusable stickers of Arthur and his friends and family in four colorful scenes. Design and color Arthur's party invitation, birthday card, and cake. Inside you'll also find a maze, a crossword puzzle, and other fun activities.

Author Biography: Marc Brown is the author and illustrator of the Arthur Adventure series and D.W. titles and codeveloper of the two-time Emmy Award-winning PBS children's television series, Arthur. He lives with his family in Hingham, Massachusetts, and on Martha's Vineyard.

Their friends must decide which party to attend when Francine schedules her birthday party for the same day as Arthur's birthday party.

Synopsis

Arthur can't wait to hand out his birthday party invitations. But it turns out Muffy is having her party on the exact same day! Buster and the boys decide to stick together for Arthur's party, and Muffy's convinced the girls to go to hers. Arthur and Francine agree that it won't be as much fun without all their friends together. So they hatch a clever scheme to make sure Arthur and Muffy have the best birthdays yet!

Publishers Weekly

In Brown's 13th book about Arthur, the bespectacled hero finds out he has scheduled his birthday party at the same time as Muffy's party. Arthur has relatives coming from Ohio; Muffy has already booked a rock band and Pickles the Clown. Neither of them can change the date. Their friends reluctantly take sides, the girls choosing Muffy's party and the boys choosing Arthur's, even though they wish they could go to both. Finally, Arthur and his friend Francine surprise everyone with a fine compromise. ``After all,'' says Arthur, ``what's a birthday party without all your friends!'' Because of the spare text, the resolution of the plot may not be entirely clear to all readers, but the festive watercolor-and-ink drawings are full of the homey details, lovably familiar characters and verve that has come to be associated with this series. Ages 4-8. (May)

About the Author, Marc Brown

Two things suggest that Arthur, the loveable star of children s books and the PBS series, may not be so fictitious after all: 1) Kids are known to call Marc Brown s house looking for their bespectacled friend and 2) Brown s third grade class picture -- according to many, a dead-ringer for the aardvark himself.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

From The Critics

Read a birthday story, enjoy drawing a picture of Arthur, and solve crosswords, mazes, and word-finds in this friendly birthday activity book. Best of all, use the many glossy stickers to create four different scenes! This good busy-hands activity book is sure to perk up even the rainiest birthday! 2001, Little, Brown and Company, $7.95. Ages 3 to 8. Reviewer: A. Braga SOURCE: Parent Council, September 2001 (Vol. 9, No. 1)

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3-- The adventures of Arthur the aardvark continue as he anticipates his birthday party. Excitement builds as he hands out invitations to his friends at school--and then he discovers that Muffy is having a party on Saturday afternoon, too. The dates can't be changed; Arthur's relatives are coming, and Muffy's booked a clown and a rock band. By the next day, the boys have decided to go to Arthur's party, the girls to Muffy's. With his usual wisdom, Arthur saves the day. He and Francine forge Muffy's handwriting on new invitations, changing the location of her party to Arthur's house his parents are included in the plan. The unsuspecting Muffy is lured there by the promise of a present too big to fit in her mailbox. Of course, the gift is a surprise party, heartily enjoyed by both boys and girls. Brown's familiar watercolors have lots of interesting details--kites caught in trees, a male relative wearing a ``Liberated Partner'' apron. Arthur's warm, loving family and his diplomatic approach to problem solving strike just the right note--positive and believable. The ``Arthur'' stories are primary-grade favorites; children will enjoy this latest offering. Other recent birthday stories are Frank Modell's Ice Cream Soup Greenwillow, 1988, in which another joint party turns into a surprise, and the Sick-in-Bed Birthday Book Viking, 1988 by Linda Tyler, about a delayed celebration that turns out fine. --Lucy Young Clem, Evansville Vanderburgh County Public Library, Ind.