Arthur's Heart Mix-Up

by Marc Brown

Arthur finishes his science fair project just in time for the fair, but an over-excited Pal scatters Arthur's carefully laid out human heart. Arthur is so desperate to fix his broken heart, it's all he can talk about to his friends. Binky, the Brain, Francine, Muffy, and Buster are baffled as to who mystery girl is who has broken Arthur's heart, and head to Arthur's house to cheer him up. Will Arthur's heart be mended -- and in time for the science fair?

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

24 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Marc Tolon Brown is perhaps best known for his series of children's books about Arthur the aardvark, which was turned into an animated television show on PBS. Brown is a three-time Emmy Award winner, for his role on the television show inspired by his books.

He lives on Martha's Vineyard and in New York City with his wife, Laurie Krasny Brown. He has three children, sons Tolon and Tucker, and daughter Eliza. The names of his two sons have been hidden in all of the Arthur books except for one: Arthur's Tooth.

Reviews

[Katerina Spoonhour · Rating 3 out of 5]

Arthur breaks his heart science project and walks around for some air, along the way, he tells his friend, " He has a broken heart". All his friends assume that a girl broke up with him and immediately plan to surprise him in order to cheer him up though as they find out it was a science project. They assemble their group and together bond while reassembling the heart his dog tore up. The book is part of the Arthur franchise which has many different options for the holidays and various friendship situations.
The book was just humorous overall but didn't really connect with me personally as I have never experienced that kind of thing. Whenever they helped it seemed really interesting to see how each character offered to do something in order to help reassemble the heart. I may not place this one in a classroom as it did not seem to be a relatable book in some way however if a kid was interesting in these sorts of books, it could be placed in a private library.

[Mallie Williams]

-This book is all about Arthur who completes a science project that is a heart, but his dog ends up destroying it. This breaks Arthur's heart and he goes around and sees all of his friends doing fun things but he can't join because his heart is too broken. Towards the end of the story all of his friends come to help mend his broken heart(fix his project) and they finish it and Arthur is happy again.
- I thought this book was super cute and I would definitely use it in my classroom. I would use it as a book to show the power of friendship to my students or just as a fun way to give them a little break in their day.

[Mari]

This was a fun read. Arthur's science project on a human heart breaks and he's sad. His friends ask him if he wants to hang out, and to each friend he says no, because his heart is broken. His friends gather at his home to talk to him and ask who the person is who broke his heart..
when they realize it's a science project, they help make a new/fix the heart.

I liked the book, but I'm just wary of the ending, where Arthur says 'cross my heart'. I know this expression is normalized but for non-Christian parents this can be an issue.

[Rebekah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute

[Holly Chapman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a silly story of a miscommunication between Arthur and his friends. Arthur was working on a project of the human heart and Pal, his dog accidentally knocked it off the table and it broke into many pieces. Arthur took a walk around his neighborhood and kept telling his friends that his heart was broken. His friends all came to the house to cheer him up because they thought a girl had broken his heart. He then showed them his broken heart science project and they all helped him fix it. I think this is g a good book to teach about helping your friends out when they are sad, even if it is a miscommunication you can still be helpful.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice book about friendship, although the idiom of a broken heart may be easier for an older child than 4 to understand.

[Leah Jones Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better for older kids who understand the idiom of a broken heart.

[Miri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Arthur breaks his class project, a heart. His friends all think he has a broken heart and show up to try and cheer him up, together they help him fix his project.

[Deanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arthur books always teach a good lesson.