Arthur's Really Helpful Word Book - Hardcover

Brown, Marc Tolon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0679887350 ISBN 13: 9780679887355

Publisher: Random House Childrens Books, 1997

Synopsis

Uses labeled illustrations and brief text showing Arthur and his family and friends at the zoo, in the snow, in the kitchen, at Grandpa's farm, and in other settings to present vocabulary words

About this title

Review:

Marc Brown's beloved, bespectacled Arthur, a storybook favourite among young children for more than twenty years, is now a hero to those who watch his regular TV show. To reach this younger audience, Marc Brown has pulled out all the stops and created a word book that truly lives up to its name--it's really helpful! In this big, exciting book Marc Brown has pictured and labelled more than 1,000 everyday words in environments ranging from the zoo to Mum's office. And, as a bonus not found in any other word book, each page makes learning a playful game by exploring the imagination and reinforcing early-learning concepts in a fun way. Here's a book that grows with the child from toddler to first grade--use it first to help develop a baby's spoken vocabulary and later to teach counting, colours, the alphabet, opposites, shapes and other basics. An ideal book to celebrate the start of the school year.

About the Author:

Marc Brown is best known as the author and illustrator who created the beloved aardvark Arthur.  This popular character was born one night over twenty years ago, when Brown was telling his oldest son, Tolon, a bedtime story.  Most of the stories he told were about animals, but that night the story just happened to be about an aardvark.  Brown has written and illustrated more than fifty Arthur and D.W. (Arthur's little sister) books since then.  He has also illustrated twelve other books with his wife--author, illustrator, and psychologist Laurie Krasny Brown.

As a child, Marc Brown's passion for drawing was encouraged by his grandmother Thora, who saved his artwork in the bottom drawer of her bureau.  "I knew it must be special," recalls Brown, "because she didn't save many things."  His grandmother later provided an education fund that helped Brown pay for art school.  He attended the Cleveland Institute of Art from 1964 to 1969.

Grandma Thora is just one person in Marc Brown's life who has afforded the inspiration for one of his characters.  Many other characters are based on children he knew while he was growing up and going to school in Mill Creek, Pennsylvania.  His sisters--Bonnie, Colleen, and Kimberly--have all served as models for his characters D.W. and Francine.  Brown patterned Buster after Terry Johnson, his best friend in elementary school, while Mr. Ratburn is based on "the meanest algebra teacher ever."

Brown was born in 1946 in Erie, Pennsylvania.  Before he created the Arthur series, he worked at a variety of jobs, including stints as a truck driver, short-order cook, college professor, soda jerk, actor, chicken farmer, and television art director.  Now, in addition to developing the Arthur television series on PBS, Brown continues to create new books both for Random House Children's Publishing and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Marc Brown lives in Hingham, Massachusetts, and Martha's Vineyard with Laurie and their young daughter, Eliza.  He also has two grown sons, Tolon and Tucker.  Brown looks to his three children for inspiration and story ideas.  He also gets many suggestions from children he meets in schools, libraries, and bookstores around the country.  "The most interesting--and the funniest--things," Brown says, "happen in real life."

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House Childrens Books
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0679887350
• ISBN 13: 9780679887355
• Binding: Hardcover