Angry Arthur

by Hiawyn Oram, Satoshi Kitamura (Illustrator)

When Arthur's mother won't let him stay up, he becomes angry -- angrier than he's ever been. His anger creates a thunderstorm, a hurricane, a universe-quake! But the storm finally calms, and so does Arthur -- who makes a surprising discovery as he falls asleep.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Emotion, Fiction, Psychology, Humor, Spanish Literature

28 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Hiawyn Oram is a very successful author of children's books in Britain. Her books include the popular Not-So-Grizzly Bear Stories, the Animal Heroes series, and Mona the Vampire. She lives in London.

Reviews

[Cleo Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important book with an endearing and comical description of the deep frustrated rage that every child sometimes feels.

[Asma · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is about a boy called Arthur who gets really angry when he is not allowed to stay up and watch ‘Western’ on TV. He gets so angry that his anger does several things such as lead to an earthquake, a typhoon, leaves the universe and then ends up on Mars. At that point he reflects and then can’t actually remember why he got angry.

This book is particularly good as it has great illustrations it would be more suitable for KS1. This book can be useful when thinking about behavior and different emotions. Furthermore it can also be used in a cross curricular way to explain natural disasters such as typhoons and earthquakes and also science.

[Amy Beckett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic illustrations! It is amazing to see how Satoshi can take such a common event (a child getting angry for not having their way) and create such mastery in vivid and chaotic illustrations to convey Arthur’s emotion. SO appealing and exciting to the eye for children.

[Fran Urriola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muy bueno y divertido. Lecturas de domingo en el trabajo.

[Paty · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Lectura para el curso.

[M. Lauritano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked up this book while my girlfriend was digging through her childhood picture books in storage and I was struck by the shockingly bleak ending—one that surely would not fly in many contemporary picture books! In the course of the story Arthur gets so angry and is so intent on anger (despite warnings) that he destroys his house, city, country, planet, and eventually, the entire universe in a flurry of psychic rage. The illustrations depict a satisfyingly detailed sublime chaos; a personal highlight for me being a moment when objects and pieces of places stretch distorted across the page, as if they’re being sucked into a black hole. Ultimately Arthur is left adrift in space left to deal with the consequences of his anger without remembering what set him off in the first place. He has no way back home. There is no waking from this nightmare. There is no ‘still hot’ dinner waiting a return from this fantastical expression of anger. I have to wonder in what kind of mood a child would find themselves upon finishing this book. Wary? Serious? Kid per kid might vary. I can’t say I have ever felt so angry that this story feels especially relatable to me. But I feel confident I won’t soon forget this one!

[Hypatia's Dream · Rating 5 out of 5]

Está genial, me lo enviaron por PDF y nos pareció muy bueno, las ilustraciones también. Le leeré todo el tiempo a mi peque ya que se pronto parece que explota de ese modo XD, muy recomendado y considero que en cuestiones de inteligencia emocional vale la pena hacer revisión del mismo para analizar. Muy buen material.

[Antony Tills · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I picked this book up, it was purely out of curiosity. The title pulled my interest and the cover image jumped out at me. This book is - as the title says - about a boy called Arthur, who is angry. At the very start of the book the author explains what makes Arthur so angry. Throughout the book you see the boy's anger grow and grow, the author uses very powerful distributive words, including; exploding thunder, hurling rooftops and tipping hole towns. As you read on, you see the imaginative destruction that Arthur's anger is causing. His anger subsequently destroys the entire universe. This leaves him all alone, with nothing left but a question. This brings the reader to the beautiful end of the story, where Arthur realises how things have gone so wrong. The beauty of this ending comes from every person's life as a child - at some point - feeling this strong anger from something.

I love how the book uses repetition to speak to the reader. In addition to this, the illustrations work perfectly, you can tell the darkness and emotion behind them, the rough lines and vast size really adds context to the story. The fact that the author wrote the book from the inspiration of many children going though this, from incidents in their life that are very minor, says to me it was a good cause.

I think this story does best in the KS1-KS2 transition period, however I think it would work well with any child in primary school. I believe that it would be particularly beneficial for self reading or guided reading with children who have SEN/behavior issues, this is because the child can see how being angry is normal and as a teacher/parent you could use this book to instill in a child the ability to stop anger from growing.

In summary, this book is short, sweet and powerful. It is very well written and understandable for many ages.

[Amy Sperrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional book to use for a small group reading session that links to PSHE and Science. Perceptive insight into a 3-year old’s turmoil when told to turn off the TV and go to bed by his mum. The main character Arthur is incredibly relatable to the children in terms of his frustration when he is asked to do something that he does not want to. Encourages group discussion about heightened feelings of anger and frustration. His anger exceeds so much that he blows up the universe. Pictures are highly emotive and show emotions visibly for children to decipher. The didactic message of the book suggests that feelings do not last for long and sometimes the initial reason for anger is typically forgotten. The illustrations use colour and pathetic fallacy to describe Arthur’s anguish.

[Mafaz Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have used this particular book with yearly years and it really helped teach the children to identify their own angry feelings. The pictures really help illustrate exactly how angry the title character, Arthur, feels and how his anger can escalate to enormous proportions. We shared this book at circle time one afternoon and it generated a lot of responses from the children. They easily identified with how Arthur felt when he was angry, and how hard it can be sometimes to calm themselves. It was simple enough for them to understand, well written and illustrated. I highly recommend this book to all parents and educators as well.

[Shandy Htun · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book follows Arthur and his journey of anger. His anger is so grand that it changes things in his world. The use of full bleed illustrations really allow the reader to see the kind of damages Arthur is doing to the setting. The illustrations are also detailed, with many different destroyed objects shown. The story follows a routine, with Arthur's family members telling him "that is enough" and him following up with more anger. However, the end of the story is probably what young kids can relate to the most. If they are angry, sooner or later, they forget about why they were angry in the first place.

[Clemmie Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A powerful representation, in words and illustrations, of a child's experience of anger. Kitamura, in his usual style, uses visual representations of feelings, for example the objects fly around, the windows smash. This book cleverly expresses the internal feeling of anger and helps children who struggle with this emotion ask why they become so angry, and if the devastation caused from it is worth it. Oram likens anger to a typhoon, a storm, a hurricane and an earthquake. A really great tool to use with children for discussion.

[Erika J · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story depicts a sense of the truth for many little kids, I believe. They get angry because of something their mother said or demanded and they get so angry for so long that they forget what they’re angry about, and I know this because I’ve experienced this as a child as well. As for the illustrations however, I liked how the weather worsens throughout the story as Arthur gets angrier and angrier; The weather is so dark like Arthur’s mood.

[Ramona Cantaragiu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genius! Arthur gets angry cause his mom won't let him watch a movie so he ends up destroying the entire planet, figuratively of course, and by the end of it all he has forgotten the reason for his anger. The illustrations are the beest (granny knitting in space is my favorite thing in the whole wide world). The story is short, poignant and has a simple and effective message: sometimes we get angry about stuff that do not really matter.

[Phillip · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought that I might like this. And I did . . .

Arthur gets angry when he doesn’t get his way. Really angry.

If you don’t find this book relatable then we must be very different people. I immediately felt 6. And probably 16. And probably 26. And I probably will do again when I’m 46, or 56. It’s a lesson for people of all ages, a reminder not to sweat the small stuff. But if you do? Well, you’re only human. And so’s Arthur.

[Kylie Katz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had sort of a home away home sense because he got in trouble and started a hurricane that swept everything away, but in the end he was laying back in his bed without remembering why he was angry in the first place. The colors of the book were very dark to help portray the mood of anger presented by Arthur.

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

The smallest member of the household had just had a meltdown so this seemed appropriate. At the end they chuckled and acknowledged that they had been grumpy like Arthur (although they were quick to point out that they remembered the reason for Arthur's anger).

Another evening saved by a goodnight story!

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

O Bernardo faz birra é um livro que faz parte o Plano Nacional de leitura.
A lição é se faz birra durante muito tempo acabamos por nos esquecer do motivo da mesma, estamos tão focados em fazer valer o que queremos que na volta já nem sabemos o que queremos.
Aconselho a sua leitura para miúdos e graudos.

[Zoe Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book helps to illustrate how children (or adults) may feel when they get really angry. Illustrated with comic book style drawings. This book raised more questions than it answers! A brilliant book for discussion.

[Thomas Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting choice of language, to portray the character of Arthur not being able to control his emotions. This makes the reader empathise with the character. Uses speech and some simple and complex word choice.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fast paced book with one line sentences. Makes a strong point on the effects of anger on Arthur and is a good way of starting a conversation based on why anger is not good and what it resulted it. Visual way of showing the impact anger had on Arthur and everything around him

[Adrian Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Award winning book about anger. Provides a safe outlet for children to explore their angry feelings and of course see how trivial they can be. Satoshi Kitamura illustrates this book beautifully you can litterally see the emotion as Arthur gets angrier and angrier.

[Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superior story book with excellent illustrations and theme of destructive anger. Heard of it through Max Porter and his picks over at fivebooks.com.

[Daniel Bosé · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy bonitas ilustraciones. La historia es muy corta pero creo que queda muy bien la forma en la que muestra el tema. Un cuento corto, directo, bien dibujado y muy bonito.

Ahora entiendo porque era mi libro favorito cuando era niño.

[Sigourney · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Why was I so angry?" he thought.
He never did remember.
Can you?

Still relatable over thirty years after it was first published, and over twenty years since I first read it.

[Kest Schwartzman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sweet.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book that is good for discussing anger and emotions.

[James A. Burkhalter · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book as a toddler! Passed it along to my niece as soon as she could read.

[Daniela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Libro que al final hace reflexionar a los niños trabajando su memoria y atención.

[Ella Dovey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Using imagery to describe the feeling of anger- how is can get bigger and bigger and so big that it feels like it's the size of the universe. This can help to develop empathy in children who might relate to how Arthur feels. It ends by suggesting Arthur can't even remember why he was angry to begin with, which teaches that emotions and feeling, though very powerful, are temporary and will pass. A good book for PSHE or circle time for younger learners.