Arthur

This week I looked at Arthur, written by Amanda Graham and illustrated by Donna Gynell. I chose this book because when I was at school we were lucky enough to have a visit from Donna Gynell. She was an amazing speaker and basically told everyone to follow their dreams, be original and don't let anyone change you. When looking at Arthur further, we realized that what Donna had told us was a summary of the underlying message throughout the book.

Arthur is just a very ordinary brown dog in old Mrs Humber's pet shop. He lives with lots of other animals who all seem to find homes extremely quickly, leaving him lonely and longing for someone to love him.Each morning, Mrs Humber put new animals in the shop window. All of these animals seem to find homes too so Arthur tries something new. He tries being a rabbit, a snake, a fish, a frog, a bird and any other animal that seems to get sold to a loving family. Eventually Arthur becomes exhausted, collapses in a corner and tries to come to terms with the fact that no-one wants him. That afternoon, a little girl by the name of Melanie and her grandfather come into the pet shop and ask about the dog who performs clever tricks. Mrs Humber can not believe it, telling them that the only dog she has available is an ordinary brown dog called Arthur. The little girl ran over to Arthur and scoops him up. Straight away Arthur knew he had found a home with a loving family who would love Arthur for just being him.

This book would be excellent to use in the classroom because it can teach students/children that they should not try to be something that they're not and that they will always have someone around them who will love them unconditionally. The message is obviously quite "deep" for young students, however it is important that they begin to understand this and relate it back to real life.

Graham has portrayed this message in a clever way, using animals as a way to engage students. All young children like animals and understand the characteristics of them. The children/students can therefore realize how silly Arthur is for trying to be different animals, rather than just acting like a normal dog.

Gynell's illustrations are also another good technique which would engage the students as they are bright and colourful. If it had to, the pictures could tell the story alone.

Overall, this is a clever picture book which portrays an important message to young students.