Arthur's Teacher Trouble

Arthur Adventure Series

by Marc Brown

On the first day of school Arthur discovers he's got the toughest teacher in the third grade! The pressure is on to study hard for the all-school Spellathon. Can Arthur beat last year's champion speller? Or will he let Mr. Ratburn d-o-w-n?

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

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 30, 1987

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

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arthur finds out that his teacher is a real person. Mr. Ratburn’s house has burned down and Arthur’s family lets him stay at their house. The nephew loved D.W. as she kept calling Mr. Ratburn funny things like Mr. Ratbite or Mr. Ragworm. The nephew cracked up at that each time.

Arthur tries to look really smart and he brings home smart looking books and posters. Mr. Ratburn is cool and he teaches Arthur some magic tricks. The problem happens at school when the kids think Arthur is the teacher’s pet. It’s rough on Arthur.

The nephew wouldn’t want his teacher living with him, but if she did, he wouldn’t pretend to be smart like Arthur. He said he would play tricks on her. haha, he probably would try, but maybe that’s just talk. He loved DW and the names for Mr. Ratburn. He thought this was funny and he gave this 4 stars. We are still Arthur fans here.

[Ronyell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been reading Marc Brown's “Arthur” series ever since I was little and I have never stopped reading this series ever since! “Arthur's Teacher Trouble” is another book from Marc Brown's popular “Arthur” series and it is about how Arthur tries to study really hard for the school's spelling bee. “Arthur's Teacher Trouble” is truly a brilliant book for children who also had their experiences in the school spelling bee!

Wow! Can these “Arthur” series ever stop amazing me? Marc Brown has certainly done a brilliant job at both illustrating and writing this book that details the importance of working hard to be successful. What I really enjoyed about this book was how Marc Brown presented the message in this book about working hard to achieve your goals since this message will help children understand the importance of studying your schoolwork. I also loved the reactions that the students have towards Mr. Ratburn since it seems so real and many children will definitely laugh at the surreal imaginations the students have about Mr. Ratburn (vampire teacher, a classic one!) Marc Brown's illustrations are as usual, cute and creative as he uses his ever popular half-human, half-animal characters and I also loved the facial expressions that each character shows in any situation, such as the students having surprised and downhearted expressions whenever they are given so much homework from Mr. Ratburn.

This is really not a big deal, but I always thought that the title of this book was a little misleading because even though the students do complain about Mr. Ratburn giving them so much homework and that idea sort of relates to Arthur's teacher troubles, it felt like this book was more focused on Arthur trying to win the spelling bee than anything else. I think that this book should have been called “Arthur and the Spelling Bee,” which I think there was an episode on the television series called that and it was based on this book.

Overall, “Arthur's Teacher Trouble” is a truly brilliant book about the importance of working hard to achieve your goals and will remain a favorite among “Arthur” fans for many years! I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

[Josiah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worthy of noting: when Arthur's Teacher Trouble, a book first published in 1986, was adapted a decade later for the Arthur PBS animated television series, it was broken up into two halves of the same episode: "Arthur and the Real Mr. Ratburn" and "Arthur's Spelling Trubble". I think it works better as separate stories. Arthur and his friends are overwhelmed after their first day in Room 13 with their new schoolteacher, Mr. Ratburn. He's a tough teacher, but his students—who work harder than any others—have a decided advantage in the upcoming all-school spellathon. Arthur, the Brain, Muffy, and Francine each want to win this year's trophy for themselves.

Despite other class assignments, and occasional annoyances at home courtesy of his little sister D.W., Arthur squeezes in enough studying to qualify as one of Mr. Ratburn's two representatives to the spellathon. In the weeks before the big event, Arthur hunkers down for some serious study sessions. He isn't a bad student, but does he have any chance of winning a spelling contest versus the Brain? Or how about Prunella, a kid from Mr. Ratburn's class last year and defending spellathon champion? It will take an evening of prolonged excellence—and a bit of luck—for Arthur to walk away with the trophy.

I could rate Arthur's Teacher Trouble two stars, but I'll go one and a half. The book isn't as entertaining as either episode of the PBS series based on it, and the themes are weaker. For example, "Arthur's Spelling Trubble" ties his spellathon success to the hard work Mr. Ratburn imposes on his class; academic accomplishment requires the sort of personal sacrifice Mr. Ratburn asks of his kids on a routine basis. The television episode clearly contrasts this with Miss Sweetwater and Mrs. Fink's classes; their kids have more free time and fun, but will never win an academic contest against a student of Mr. Ratburn's. I love Marc Brown's Arthur Adventure books, but in this particular case, you're better off turning to the television screen.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Love This Story, I first discovered this story from a PC version of it from Living Books.

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arthur gets a new teacher, Mr. Ratburn, and finds him strict. On top of that, Arthur also has to partake in a spelling bee. It seems that Arthur Read can never catch a break; what will he do?

I grew up reading Arthur and I've also viewed the acclaimed PBS series. Besides being a strong story with at least two morals, the art is just superb. As a trained artist, I can appreciate Marc Brown's style and technique. He works in watercolor (not an easy medium to control) and pencil - which renders such vivid images of Arthur, Buster, Sue Ellen, Prunella, Francine, and the rest of the gang. Compared to the earlier books, Marc Brown has really hit his stride by now and it shows with the livid artwork.

My verdict? Arthur's Teacher Trouble is one of the better (if not best) Arthur books and is definitely one to check out!

[Nick James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good book in the popular Arthur series that all kids will love.
Arthur is starting a new grade and is already hating his teacher, Mr. Ratburn, who is rumored to a vampire and eats kids' fingernails for lunch. Later, the kids go to study for the big September Spellathon and it later turns out Arthur and The Brain win and are headed to the all-state spellathon.Arthur studies and studies and like every hero in kids books and kids films, the good guy wins- Arthur.
Just like pretty much every Arthur book, this has a great story, lovable characters, and an author who knows how to appeal to kids. Your kids will definitely love this book as much as I did as a kid.

[Liliana Escamilla]

This short story is about the problems that Arthur faces with his new teacher, Mr. Ratburn. He thinks he is a mean, hard teacher, but in the end he learns that he is learning from him and then wins the spelling bee.

Arthur never realizes he is learning but in the end proves that he has. Showing how his struggles actually helped him out and all the studying that he had to do paid off.

With this book children can learn about how hard work pays off, even when they think that they are not learning they most likely are.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this delightful and humorous tale, Arthur is convinced that he has the meanest teacher in the building however he comes to find that he isn't so mean. This story is also tied in with their spelling and the trouble Arthur gets into as a result. I love the cd that came with this story and while I may be too old to jam out to it, I still do! :)

[Morgan]

Arthur's Teacher Trouble is another transitional book that shows Arthur and his troubles with a teacher he thinks is out to get him. This book is relate-able for children and a great read to have in classrooms.

[Robert Drake · Rating 5 out of 5]

It shows how hard work pays off.

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book

I recall watching this episode on TV. Arthur is in a spelling bee. The TV episode has more detail, but I enjoyed reading the book. Very nostalgic, I'm still a fan of the show and this book was fun to read.

[Christa♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked arthur books, my fav character was buster.

[Jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arthur thinks he's in for a tough school year when he gets stuck in Mr. Ratburn's class.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marc Brown author study... a little boring.

[Ciara · Rating 5 out of 5]

omg best books i ever read

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought it was a cute book for kids.

[Cosette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emmers loved this -

[Jan Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty cute--Arthur has a strict teacher and works hard from the first day of class. And it pays off in the end, with a surprise.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book should have been titled something like Arthur and the spellathon, as that is more the focus of the story than the teacher.

[Stephanie Chiaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm honestly not sure what to think about the story. As a nineties kid, I want to love everything Arthur related. In the book, Arthur finishes his first day of third grade, convinced his teacher is the worst in the school, but by the end of the book and by the end of the month in the story, he realizes he has learned more than all of the other kids. I think the lesson to be taken from here is that hard work always pay off, but if it is, it's not very obvious. The title of the book is "Arthur's Teacher Trouble," so I guess I was expecting the lesson to be focused on Arthur and Mr. Ratburn's relationship.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really good and has another one of the better and not uncanny more polished second designs of Arthur for the children’s book series. So here they combined both the episode Arthur’s tacher trouble and Arthur’s spelling bee. I assume this came out before the cartoon episode so it’s interesting to see those two plots were originally one episode but I’m not too surprised as they always kinds melded in my mind. This actually does have a few of the gags and charms in it older Audience enjoy about the Arthur tv show and it has long paragraphs of text so if you find this at a thrift and are an Arthur fan I can recommend picking it up as it’s from the classic error of Arthur books!

[Melinda Christensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This amusing book about is about Arthur in a new class with a new teacher. Arthur believes what he hears about his teacher, so he studies extra hard to be a good student. Before long, the yearly Spell-athon comes up, and Arthur is in it. We'll see if his studying will pay off! There is a surprise at the end. Why are kid's books so good?

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Ratburn was a strict teacher who gave Arthur homework on the first day of school. I've had a few instructors like him. I think they are more motivating than teachers who don't show up and don't help their students learn. I found it hard to believe that two third-graders in Arthur's class were able to spell 100 words correctly. Now I want to read more Arthur books.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the first day of grade three, Arthur's class got homework from their teacher. He expected his class to study hard. When the school spelling challenge was announced, everyone studied even harder, but Arthur wondered if he could do well at all. He got a surprise! Fun story.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arthur discovers he's got the toughest teacher in the third grade! This was a great book! I had a teacher like Mr. Ratburn--everyone dreaded getting her for English. She turned out to be a great teacher.
I loved the twist at the end:)

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alissa loves Arthur.

[Jazzmin · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful feeling to have nostalgia for childhood and remember reading this book long ago as I shared it with my 2nd grade class this week.

[kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

alright

[Rick Christiansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seems like the focus of this book was on the Spelling Bee, not teacher trouble.

[Rebekah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't think anything was really settled. How did he get over the teacher trouble?