ARTHUR'S TV TROUBLE an author adventure

Arthur Adventure Series

by Marc Brown

The most recent additions to the Arthur book and tape library--a special treat for Arthur fans, read by author Marc Brown himself! Full color.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Animals, 2nd Grade, Fantasy, School

Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

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

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Many of Marc Brown's Arthur Adventure books were adapted into episodes of the PBS animated television show, but not all. Arthur's TV Trouble, first published in September 1995, fits this category. The story begins with Arthur watching The Bionic Bunny Show in the living room; when a commercial comes on for an automatic dog treat dispenser—the Treat Timer, available for $19.95—Arthur is convinced his dog, Pal, needs it. Arthur lacks the funds to buy the Treat Timer, but surely there's a way if he thinks creatively.

On the way home from school Arthur notices his neighbor, Mr. Sipple, clearing his garage of old newspapers. Would Arthur be willing to help, at a rate of fifty cents per stack? Of course, if it means earning money for the Treat Timer. Arthur returns the next day to do the job, and though it's more tiring and complicated than he expected, by the end he has enough to buy the Treat Timer. Will the device be everything he hoped? Arthur might just learn something about impulse buying.

We all get drawn into frivolous purchases; advertisements are designed to appeal to as wide a band of customers as possible. But when you invest your own resources—time, energy, imagination—into obtaining the object of your affections, it becomes easier to tell when your labor is worth more than the item. This may be life's fundamental lesson. Besides being notable as the book that introduced readers to Mr. Sipple, Arthur's TV Trouble is a sincere, sensible contribution to the Arthur Adventure series, a satisfying read. But then, aren't most Arthur books?

[C. (Don't blank click my reviews, comment please! · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few years ago I bought an “Arthur” storybook second-hand, having vaguely heard of this series. I see “Arthur’s Nose” débuted in 1976, when I was a toddler but missed my notice. I have a niece & nephew to spoil with books. Others, I keep. Spanning until 2011 so far, Marc Brown has created a wonderful smorgasbord. My favourite is “Arthur’s Hallowe’en” of 1982! That review expresses the many elements I praise, like an underestimated woman sharing a beautiful household of cats. In contrast, I graded Marc’s other less profound scenarios with three stars.

“Arthur’s TV Trouble”, 1995, is such a one. It does not approach the emotional tone and atmospheric drawings of the Hallowe’en story, although it is a marvel when authors do both arts. It goes without saying that it offers a good teaching moment like all his stories, on a more trivial scale. It is not a television that has trouble like the witty title proposes. An advertisement sweeps Arthur up in enthusiasm for a dog-feeding gizmo. It comes to light when he buys it, that is of poor manufacturing quality. We share the delight of seeing something we would enjoy playing with, therefore I do not know what message was intended. Is it wrong to like a product presented to us and to take steps to save-up for it?

My favourite part is Arthur’s creativity and energy towards earning money for the feeder. A neighbour lets him clean-up newspaper piles, a chore repeated on a windy day. Another treat is Marc’s detailed artistry. Along city streets, shops and sidewalks stream into the horizon. The family home abounds with plants, beautiful rugs, and cozy matching curtains. The triumphant family store trip yields dry goods and a poster of a lost cat, whom I surely hope got found.

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Arthur story, but really had nothing to do with a tv, as the title implied, so that was both misleading and disappointing. I had hoped it would actually be about a television.

[Courtney Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picture Book: I thought this was a funny book and it will teach kids not to always believe what they see on tv.

[Emily Scanlon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Level: 2.6

Summary: Arthur sees an amazing product on TV, the Treat Timer! Arthur is working hard to earn money so he can purchase his very own Treat Timer. Is the product as good as it appears on television?

Writing Trait: Organization – “Arthur’s TV Trouble” demonstrates how writing a story in chronological order facilitates engagement. Students can use this mentor text to help them brainstorm situations they experienced that they personally learned from. Teachers could also encourage students to reference this mentor text if they are having a difficult time composing a conclusion for the story they are writing.

Reading Component: Comprehension – This story can be the focus of a lesson on media literacy. As a result, students will interact with the text as the teacher poses these questions: Where were ads for the Treat Timer? Where have you heard, or seen ads? Have you ever been disappointed by something you really wanted? Students can further demonstrate their understanding of media by giving three different examples of media that were present in the story.

[Mari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Arthur buys an expensive dog treat featured in a TV ad after earning money and using all his savings.. after realizing it's not that great, he sees an ad for a disappearing box, and although DW implies he shouldn't buy another product because of an ad, he says he can think of a great reason why he would like to get this.

[Sudaporn Obom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Children who read this book will learn not to trust advertisements and understand the value of hard work to earn money for what they want. It’s a brilliant idea to incorporate this kind of deceptive advertising trap into Arthur’s story. This book isn’t just a story—it’s like a vaccine against gullibility for kids!

[Nat Real · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the constant bickering between Arthur and D.W. Hahahaha. The illustrations are awesome! A fun story of anticipating something so much, and then finding that it’s not what you expected/hoped for it to be.

[Nichole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story about not letting ads deceive you, but it's not terribly exciting and I probably won't remember it.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Linc loves all these Arthur books.

[J.B. Mathias · Rating 2 out of 5]

You are not immune to propaganda.

[Kelly Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute book love Arthur

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kiddo enjoyed this. I enjoyed the lessons about silly advertisements being untrustworthy and saving money.

[Janine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐️s

[blair · Rating 5 out of 5]

had to get it because d.w. was on the cover, i love her so much lol

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arthur's TV trouble started with a tempting ad enticing him to purchase a special treat dispenser for his puppy. He gave in an bought one, but it did not work the way it was shown on TV. In fact, it was a disaster! Arthur felt sure he would not fall for another TV ad. Fun story and illustrations.

[Janina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so fun to read. I love the pictures and the use of water color. It's funny and a good read. It's just cute story about Arthur who one night while watching t.v sees an ad for a dog treat dispenser. He just has to get it for his dog Pal. So he scrounges up all his money, but just doesn't have enough. He tries everything to make money. He finally gets a job and when he finally does have enough in the end and buys the dispenser, it doesn't quite turn out the way he thought. It's a great book for young readers.

[Julia Jasztal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mommy's review from 9/12/11 -


A really clear message is sent with this story and it's definitely one that kids need to learn sooner rather than later. It's really simple really, Arthur sees a commercial while watching cartoons and realizes that his pet needs this product. He asks his parents for the money and when they say no he starts trying other things. He looks for money wherever he can and finds a job for a neighbor. The job he does turns out to be a lot harder than he thought but in the end he had his money and he bought the product he wanted.
What happens after this is something that most of us have gone through. Arthur gets his product home (some type of timed treat release thingy) and when he turns it on it goes berserk and doesn't work the way it should have. Arthur is reminded by his younger sister that "all sales are final" and then he retires to his room to be alone.
The ending is worth a chuckle or two because Arthur finally comes down, feeling a little better, to watch t.v. when he sees a new commercial. But the thing that this commercial is selling is something that would help Arthur handle his sometimes-annoying sister.
It's a good story and like I said above already, one that kids definitely need to learn. Even if they won't learn it right away, at the very least this will put it in their minds to think about it all.
I'm not a huge fan of the characters myself but I did like this.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about Arthur and the commercial he saw on TV for a dog treat timer that he was convinced his dog Pal, would love. Since he didn't have enough money yet, he had to find ways to get the money. First he collected change on his way home from school and then his neighbor asked him to clean the newspaper out of his garage. He is offered a quarter for every cluster which he calculates is enough to get the timer. When he finally can buy it he is upset that it ends up not working. This book is a childrens picture book, fiction. Appropriate for ages 4-8.

This one wasn't my favorite of all of his books but I have always been drawn to it for its illustrations and colors. The cover is very bold and bright but the pages inside have a lot of yellows and greens. It tells a sweet little story that any child can learn from or relate to.

[Marissa Reyes · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book Arthurs TV Trouble by Marc Brown was a well written text with child based illustrations. The fact the book is a play off of the children's television show, just in the form of the written word, makes it easier to have the children follow along since they already know what is going to happen next. So instead of watching the show they have the chance to visualize what is being said as they read it aloud. This text also has a great way of exemplifying how naïve children can be when dealing with money and advertisement. It shows children not to believe everything they see on television and in the stores and to save money for something useful. Reading this book brought me back to when I was a child and would watch this television show, which made me enjoy the book even more.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite book from the Arthur series. Arthur sees a commercial for a product called a Treat Timer, and decides that he must have it for his dog, Pal. After working very hard to earn the money, Arthur finds out that the Treat Timer--and commercials--are not all that they are cracked up to be.

Kids (and adults!) love Arthur because he is just a normal kid with common problems. Children can identify with Arthur, and love to read his adventures. Brown is so skilled at crafting plots that children will enjoy, and he handles both fun and tough topics in a genuine manner that resonate with kids. Additionally, the illustrations are bright, detailed, and always accompany the text perfectly. Any Arthur book will be one that children will enjoy!

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I used to really like this series as a kid, but this was not one of the better installments, at least in my opinion. My biggest gripe is that the title is misleading, actually. The main conflict in the book actually involves TV only tangentially, and I get the feeling the title was picked more for its alliterative value than for its value as a description of the plot. Normally, I don't gripe about titles too much, as different people have different styles for picking them, but I know Brown's style, and he generally does pick accurate ones. For whatever reason, though, he chose not to in this case.

[Brooklyn Schamens]

I used to watch Arthur all of the time as a kid. This book was about how Arthur saw an ad on T.V about a Treat Timer for a dog. Arthur thought it would be perfect for his dog, but the only problem was that he did not have enough money. Arthur's sister, mother, and father couldn't help him buy it, so he had to go around town looking for a job. His neighbor offered Arthur twelve dollars to help carry newspapers out of his garage. Arthur then had enough money to buy the Treat Timer, but it ended up breaking and treats flew out everywhere which scared his dog.

[Carman · Rating 4 out of 5]

From a commercial, Arthur sees something that he must have. He works hard to earn the money to get it, but it doesn't seem to be worth it once he sees it. Arthur learns that sometimes things look way better on TV than in real life. Many Arthur books have lessons or morals to them. I think they would be great additions to a class library.

[Brianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grade Levels: 1-3
* Integrates literacy and mathematics by including the concept of money and trading/buying and selling in this book inspired by a popular television series via PBS Kids; a great reading center/class library book for young students; have students read this story in a reading center as a group and create and write about an item/invention that they would like to sell.

[Kristen Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Integrates literacy and mathematics by including the concept of money and trading/buying and selling in this book inspired by a popular television series via PBS Kids; a great reading center/class library book for young students; have students read this story in a reading center as a group and create and write about an item/invention that they would like to sell.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this story Arthur learns the lesson of not everything you see on tv is what it appears to be. He sees a dog treat machine that he feels that he 'has' to have. So he works and saves his money for it and finally gets it but it's not what the commercial says. Helps teach children that commercials aren't always good things.

[Blake · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book could be helpful for teaching lessons about earning money to buy something that you want. Also, for teaching children to beware of the ads that they hear on television. The thing advertised may not be as great as the ad promises. That said, though I liked the book, I don't like it enough to want to buy it.

[Rachel Otting]

Arthur sees an ad on television for a machine that dispenses dog treats but he doesn't have enough money for it. He gets a job cleaning out Mr. Sipple's garage and earns enough money. The machine goes haywire but all sales are final. Arthur sees another ad for a disappearing magic box and visions D.W. in it.

[Molly · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a huge fan of the television series, I was greatly disappointed at the lazy and sub-par writing of the books. The illustrations are very poorly done as well (especially if you have older editions of the books). Not good. just watch the show; it's on at seven on PBS every morning.