Arthur's Chicken Pox

        Arthur’s Chicken Pox (An Arthur Adventure) by Marc Brown

Illustrator: Marc Brown

Publication: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Date of Publication: April 1, 1996

ISBN #: 9780316113847

Pages: 32

Theme: Family, Health

Format: Print, Picture Book, Series, Fiction

Ages: 5 +

Arthur (that infamous and loveable little aardvark) and his family are looking forward to the circus coming to town until he comes down with the chicken pox. His little sister, D.W. pesters and teases Arthur because of all the little red spots covering his body. D.W. realizes all the attention and goodies Arthur gets from being sick and instantly becomes jealous. When the day arrives to go to the circus, Arthur finally fells betters and his family soon realizes, D.W. now has the chicken pox she so badly wanted and now upset she can’t go.

A part of the acclaimed children’s series, many of the adventures of Arthur take place in school, around their town and mostly at home. In this story, most of the setting takes place in Arthur’s family home and centers around him getting the chicken pox when he was so looking forward to going to the circus with his family. His littler sister, D.W. makes fun of all the spots he is covered in but soon realizes she wants them too so she can get more attention from her parents and grandmother.

Many of the stories about Arthur revolve around his family, so family life and growing up is a huge part of the Arthur Adventure Series. In this adventure, Arthur comes down with chicken pox, something all children go through and unfortunately have to learn how to deal with being sick and endure being pestered by his little sister D.W. Arthur’s grandmother comes over and everyone helps take care of Arthur, D.W. is quickly annoyed that all the attention is on Arthur and doesn’t like not being the center of attention. D.W. later gets the chicken pox and realizes, it’s not so fun being sick.

The Arthur Adventures have been popular for nearly twenty years and children still love learning and getting to know Arthur and his friends because his life (family and at school) is very relatable to the reader. Mixing animals for human characters and creating a story that is similar to the readers own life, this is an instant success for young readers. Growing up with Arthur and seeing how he and family have evolved, this series is an excellent story that children and families can enjoy together.

As a child, our personal library was filled with many Arthur adventures and reading his books for bedtime stories seemed to be often. My particular favorite is Arthur’s Valentine and my sister’s is Arthur’s Christmas. Again, illustration plays an important role when reading to kids, I think the illustration and basic storyline is what I love about the Arthur Series. 

(images via google)