Arthur's Pet Business

At first glance, I actually thought that this was not a good pick for kids to read because it is so common and old. However, I have learned that sometimes, depending on the kid, they need that familiarity in order to feel comfortable when reading. The book starts out by showing the relationship that Arthur and his little sister D.W. share. Arthur tells her not to tell mom and dad that he wants a puppy and on the very next page, she blurts it out at dinner. This is relateable to little kids because after dinner, while the parents are discussing, the kids are standing out in the hall trying to eavesdrop on the conversation. Arthur has to get a job in order to show that he is responsible enough to have a dog. He comes up with the idea of taking care of people's pets. This is really fun because a lot of little kids think that it would be great to have their own business. To little kids, $10 is a whole lot of money, so they would probably be pretty surprised when they read that Arthur will get that much for watching one dog. It is really silly that Perky is so mean and is always growling, but his owner is so crazy about her that she has pictures of her everywhere and luggage with her name on it. Showing that Arthur is exhausted from taking care of Perky is a really good way to teach kids how much work it is to care for a dog. Then more pets are brought to his business and it is funny to look at the picture of chaos that occurs with each pet. When Arthur cannot even go out and play with friends, the reader might start to realize that having a business and making money isn't all that fun after all. Instead of ending the book with Arthur giving Perky back and receiving his $10, the author puts a spin on things. Perky goes missing and everyone runs around frantically trying to find her before her owner shows up. Perky is found with puppies and Arthur gets his perfect ending of being given one of the puppies to keep.