Arthur

by Rhoda Levine, Everett Aison (Illustrator)

A wonderful holiday story about a small bird named Arthur, who lives in New York City. After a fine, green summer in Central Park, all the birds are preparing to fly south. Except for Arthur, that is. Arthur is off playing, gazing into a lake, dreaming of wider seas. And so Arthur is left behind. It begins to get cold. The trees are losing their leaves. Arthur feels uneasy and lonely, especially after his nest is scattered to the winds. Arthur must find a new home, and after he does—he settles down in a statue’s open book—he discovers a new city, where he can play hide-and-seek in the steam from a manhole cover and feast with the pigeons on crumbs, and which soon brings other delightful surprises (and challenges): icicles, a great big sweet-smelling evergreen tree that is all lit up with people gathered around it to sing “Gloria” in the cold night, and snow—a whole winter wonderland! And then the trees begin to bud; the birds come back....

With Arthur as their guide through the city, children will find new poetry and beauty on every corner.

Genres: Picture Books, Fiction, Childrens

48 pages, Hardcover

First published October 20, 2015

Reviews

[LindaJ^ · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delightful book! Arthur is a very curious and inquisitive bird and a bit of a loner. He fails to hear the other birds calls when it is time to go South for the winter. When Arthur detects it is getting colder and time to fly South, he finds all the other birds have left. Arthur is alone in New York City and it's getting cold.

We are with Arthur as he finds a place to sleep, finds food, finds warmth, plays games, and discovers snow. It is a wonderful adventure for Arthur and the reader. While full of illustrations, the story is for those children age 3-7. I loved how Arthur found the Rockefeller Center tree and then its lights! And it is fun to imagine a small bird racing with snowballs and sliding on his belly down the snow covered "hills" of Central Park.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I liked it really much.”

Lovely book, message and illustrations.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the drawings and Arthur's beyond-bird bird-ness.
Found this at Honey Moon Coffee.
Grateful for re-prints and coffee shops with books.

[DocNora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming. It's 'dated' verbiage probably being a part of it's charm! Beautifully presented by NYRB.

[Christine Kallner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives a bird's eye view of winter in NYC. Arthur who is left behind when the other birds migrate south, is charming, observant, and resourceful and I thoroughly enjoyed reading his tale.

[Kelly Carey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wordy text and simply old fashioned illustrations make this book seem dated.

[Jody Ro · Rating 5 out of 5]

A charmingly sweet story about a bird who discovers wonderful adventures in New York City after all his friends fly south for the winter. A memorable classic that children of all ages will enjoy.