School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 3School and public librarians know how hard it is to keep Marc Brown's Arthur books on the shelf. The adventures of this comical aardvark have a timeless appeal to children. These book-and-tape packages are read by the author and move along at a good pace. Music and sound effects enhance the stories without being obtrusive. The tapes have page-turn signals on one side and none on the other. Brown occasionally adds a descriptive sentence or two to the text in his reading. Each tape begins with a theme song which is too long and not really catchy enough to encourage singing along. This is a minor drawback to an otherwise well-produced series.-Peggy J. Latkovich, Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
This lively story--Brown's 15th about goggle-eyed Arthur--features the popular aardvark winning a ``How I Can Help Make America Great'' contest. Arthur and his classmates are excited about attending the special ceremony at the White House, but when Arthur learns he has to recite his winning essay on TV ``while all America looks on,'' he is terrified. In the end, when Arthur's notes are blown away by the helicopter's wind, it is his irrepressible sister D.W. who saves the day and underscores Brown's message that ``we can all help to make America great by helping others.'' Brown's attention to visual details provides much of the book's humor, and Arthur fans will delight in deciphering D.W.'s list of ideas about how to run the country. Although the appearance of too many characters makes the text seem needlessly disjointed, Brown's sensitivity to Arthur's frets is right on target. Ages 4-8. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved