Arthur's Halloween: An Arthur Adventure (Arthur Adventure Series) [Hardcover]

Marc Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 1982 | Grade Level: P and up | Series: Arthur Adventure Series

Arthur finds everything about Halloween scary, including his little sister's costume, his morning snack, and the big house on the corner.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2. Sure to be popular due to the success of the new PBS television series, these new additions to the series demonstrate the vocal talent of author/illustrator Marc Brown. Arthur's creator reads the texts, giving each character a distinctive voice. He is able to portray the females, like mother and D.W., while avoiding stereotypical high, squeaky voices. The production values on the recordings are excellent, with background music and helpful sound effects. The slamming of car doors, the sound of rain or footsteps, and other sound effects give the tapes the quality of old radio shows. Each tape opens with the theme song, "Say Hello to Arthur." Both sides of each tape are the same except for the page-turning signal bell on one side. In Arthur's Family Vacation, rain ruins the family's stay at the beach until Arthur thinks of activities they can do. In Arthur's Halloween, Arthur and D.W. learn you can't presume a house is haunted just because the outside looks run down. The artwork in each book features Brown's customary cartoon-like ink and watercolor illustrations that add humor to the stories. The tapes work well even without the books.
Penny Peck, San Leandro Public Library, CA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

About the Author

Marc Brown, who was born in Erie, Pennsylvania in 1946, received great encouragement and support from his grandmother and uncle. Inspired by the books of Maurice Sendak, Brown decided to pursue his ambition of becoming an illustrator. After receiving a B.F.A. in painting from the Cleveland Institute of Art, he worked as a TV art director, a professor of mechanical drawing, and a freelance illustrator, before becoming a writer. In his books, he addresses the fears and problems which children face and events like friendship, family, school and pets. For his illustrations, Brown uses pencil with watercolor on a variety of papers to achieve different visual effects. The "Arthur" series, about the everyday adventures of a lovable aardvark, began in 1976 and continues to this day with 25 titles published. Brown has also created other series such as the "Rhymes" series, and the nonfiction "Dinosaur" series, which conveys messages of do's and don'ts. These series, like the stories of Arthur, hold the attention of young children while transporting their imaginations on magical journeys.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; 1st edition (September 30, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316111163
• ISBN-13: 978-0316111164
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 0.4 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,525,749 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marc Brown is the creator of the bestselling Arthur Adventure book series and co-developer of the children's PBS television series, Arthur. He has also created a second book series, featuring D.W., Arthur's little sister, as well as numerous other books for children. Marc Brown lives with his family in Tisbury, Massachusetts on Martha's Vineyard.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars entertaining offering from Arthur, December 27, 2002

By 

W. K. Miller "kenmiller32" (NC, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Arthur's Halloween: An Arthur Adventure (Paperback)

If you're looking for entertaining Halloween picture books for 3 and 4 year olds, Arthur's Halloween fits the bill.

Arthur and his friends go trick or treating. Arthur is very scared at first, but he learns to overcome his fears along the way. Only D.W. is brave enough to approach the "witch's" house, but then Arthur and D.W. learn that the "witch" is really just a misunderstood elderly lady with a messy house and yard.

Arthur's Halloween is about trick-or-treating, mainly, and there is no mention of Halloween parades, bobbing for apples, or other Halloween traditions. If your children are afraid of trick-or-treating, this book may help them to escape their fear.

Often characters in Arthur videos and books daydream or imagine episodes, and I find that those episodes are presented in a way that my three year old finds confusing. He does not distinguish between the trappings of characters' imaginations and the regular plot. Now I know that I can add commentary so that he understands that certain elements in a book are just the dreams of a character.

For example, in Arthur's Halloween, some of the kids imagine that the "witch" is harming Arthur and D.W. in several different ways. When a toddler sees illustrations of the "witch" doing such things, he believes it just as he believes the rest of the plot. I have learned that I can say "Francine (or The Brain, or Buster, etc.)just THINKS this is happening. It's not really happening, is it?" Then my child doesn't confuse the "real" plot with the characters' fanciful thoughts.

In any case, Arthur's Halloween is not a bad Halloween picture book, and even if you steer your child away from "series" books or books allied with television series, give this one a try.

ken32

5.0 out of 5 stars My 4 year old son loves this!, April 11, 2010

By 

Jen (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Arthur's Halloween: An Arthur Adventure (Paperback)

My son is really into the Arthur books and he especially likes the ones that create suspense. This book does the job great - not scarey, just suspenseful for about 2 pages, then it ends on a great note. I highly recommend this book to encourage the joy of reading. A similar book is "Arthur's First Sleepover".

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for young children to overcome their fear of Halloween!, October 15, 2008

By 

Bebe Belisma "Thepowerof" (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Arthur's Halloween: An Arthur Adventure (Paperback)

Arthur the Aardvark is having trouble falling asleep as it is the night before Halloween and his house is decorated to look incredibly spooky.

When he finally does fall alseep and wakes up the next morning,things get even worse when his annoying little sister D.W scares him as she is dressed in her Halloween costume ready to go trick or treating.

Arthur feels embarrassed and irritated that he has to take D.W trick or treating with him because he'll be "the only one who has to drag my baby sister along".

When Arthur,his friends and D.W eventually go trick or treating,they are all scared to go into 'the Witch's House'.

But D.W breaks her candy bag,Arthur has to pick it up,and when he turns round D.W has gone into the Witch's House...meaning Arthur will have to go in after her!

Arthur's friends worry what has happened to them...'Maybe the Witch put them into an oven just like Hansel and Gretel,maybe she's using them for horrible scientific experiments or maybe she's locked them in a cellar to starve'...

Arthur's Halloween is a really good book to read to young children who are scared of Halloween.

It features colourful illustration and shows Arthur back when he looked more like an aardvark and less like the TV version we all know so well today!