Arthur and the Double Dare by Marc Brown

Arthur Chapter Books #25

by Marc Brown

This new chapter book features a longer Arthur Adventure at a third-grade reading level for fans ready to read on their own. One day, Arthur wishes aloud that he could watch TV instead of doing homework. One thing leads to another, and suddenly Arthur, Buster, Francine, and the Brain have all dared each other to skip school for a whole day! Now they have to take the dare... don't they?

Genres: Childrens

Paperback

First published April 1, 2002

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

[McKinzie Bark]

This short easy read chapter book is about Arthur and his friends (Francine, Brain, and Buster) double dare each other to skip school. One day Arthur and his friends are complaining that Mr. Ratburn had given them too much homework and they wouldn't be able to watch the showdown between the Dark Bunny and the Sixty-Foot Squid. Arthur decided to double dare Francine to skip school. Then before we know it, they all double dared each other to do it and had to follow through with it as that is the rule. Meanwhile, as they are planning Arthur has a vision that things go wrong and they end up in the jungle and cannot get out because they're lost. Arthur gets the vision out of his head and the planning their escape and where to meet begins. At night, each of the friends have a dream about getting digested by a huge clam. Arthur calls Buster and tells him he can't go through with skipping school. Buster tells him he had the same dream as Arthur and Arthur has Buster call everyone and tell them that they are not going through with the plan. They try to get ahold of Francine but she didn't answer so Buster left a message. At school that day they see everyone except Francine. Francine was waiting at their meeting spot for a half an hour and decides to get back to school. Arthur and his friends try to sneak Francine back into school. Their teacher and principal find out and all of them end up getting into trouble. Francine has to stay after school for an entire week and Arthur and Buster have extra assignments to do since they didn't do their assignment from the night before. The book ends with Mr. Ratburn going into the teachers lounge to watch the Dark Bunny and the Sixty-Foot Squid.

[Alexis Hoffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arthur and the Double Dare tells about a dare that could end with trouble. When the “gang” decides to skip school, Arthur and Buster have a dream about clams telling them not to. They decide to call everyone and let them know that they shouldn’t skip school. Francine got out of serious trouble since it was her first time.
I love that I read this and I could hear the show in my head as it moved along the story!

[Deborah Camuglia · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter wanted me to read this chapter book. I enjoyed Arthur as a kid, and still do enjoy it with the kids. I could hear the characters voices as I read it. ☺️ It was a good story that teaches that you don’t have to give into dares. I dropped one star as I believe that the moral and point of the story could have been drawn out a bit more clearly. That is all.

[Mary & · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was really good! My favorite part was when Francine realized that girls can't go in the boys bathroom so she couldn't get up out of the window! It was totally hilarious. Definitely a five/five.

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the general feel of these Stephen Krensky Arthur books, and this one is no exception. Revisiting episodes of the PBS series that I particularly enjoyed watching is fun, especially since the book form of the stories is always somewhat different from the television show.
"Arthur and the Double Dare", which follows Arthur, Francine, Buster and The Brain as they get caught up in a scheme to play hooky from school for a day to escape the fastidious demands of their teacher Mr. Ratburn, is a fun read and a good, humorous introduction to this series of short stories.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this Arthur adventure, Arthur, Buster, Francine, and the Brain get carried away and they all end up being dared...to skip school! On the skip day, Buster, Arthur and the Brain back out, leaving Francine as lone skipper. In the end, Francine gets into trouble with her father, Mr. Ratburn and Mr. Haney, as do Arthur, Buster and Binky Barnes who tried to help Arthur and Binky help Francine "un-skip." Somehow, the Brain didn't get into any trouble...it must be his smarts! There are illustrations throughout this chapter book.

[Jerome Otte · Rating 3 out of 5]

A humorous story of a double-dare among Arthur's friends involving skipping school: Arthur threatens to skip school but Francine doesn't believe him and calls him out on it, using the old "double-dare" ploy. Soon the entire gang is dared.

Fun, entertaining, with a clear lesson.

[Tiffany M · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books because there are many things they solve in the story.At the end of the story I think i thought it was a good story because it has a lot of fun parts.

[Valary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just needed something really light and funny this definitely did the job.

[Alexandria K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Arthur, Francine , Buster, and the Brain dared one another to skip school for a whole day.