Who Wants Arthur?

By: Amanda Graham (1983)

This book is about an ordinary, brown dog that lives in a pet store and is trying to find an owner that he can go home to. Arthur sees rabbits, snakes, fish, and all other types of animals find homes, yet he is still at the pet store. Thinking that people are looking for one of these animals, Arthur tries to act like them, only this does not seem to work either. Finally, a man and his daughter come into the pet store looking for a dog that they have heard does tricks and they find Arthur and end up taking him home.

I liked book and I specifically liked Arthur and enjoyed the trouble that he went through to find himself a home. I liked how the book was written because it was somewhat repetitive and predictable by the end that, two things that would really help beginning readers. I also really liked the pictures and thought that they were funny and helped you better understand Arthur's personality and desire to find a home.

As a teacher I think that this book would be great for younger readers because of the message of being yourself and also because of the friendly way in which the story is written. The repetitive nature of many of the pages would help beginning readers become familiar with potentially new words. I also think that many elementary school kids struggle with trying to be someone that they are not and this book does a great job of humorously showing this message.