Arthur Meets the President: An Arthur Adventure (Arthur Adventure Series)

Summary: Arthur's teacher instructs the class that they are entering a nationwide contest to win a trip to meet the President. The students need to write about "How I Can Help America Great". Weeks later the principal receives a letter from the President stating that Arthur has won the contest! The whole class gets tot take a trip to Washing D.C. to watch Arthur recite his paper in front of the President. Arthur is very worried that he will not be able to memorize the paper for the President so he makes note cards the night before. His cards end up being blown away by the helicopter that was landing, which held the President inside as well. D.W. helped Arthur get through his speech though.

Evaluation/Argument: Meeting the President was a show more very exciting trip for Arthur, his family, and the rest of his class. Any student would be nervous just like Arthur would and Marc Brown did a wonderful job illustrating these emotions through Arthur's words, actions, and the illustrations. Arthur's emotions are very relatable as well. Even as an adult reader I can relate to the emotion Arthur was feeling leading up to his speech. For example, when I was in high school I won a contest just like Arthur and I too had to recite a speech I had written for a crowd of people. I was very nervous and thankfully I was not reading my speech in front of the President like Arthur. I loved the ending of this book with D.W. coming to Arthur's rescue and helping him get through his speech. It seemed like all of Arthur's classmates and the President enjoyed D.W.'s help as well.
The central message of this book is to always be there for your siblings and do your best at everything. D.W. really helped Arthur make the best of this situation and allowed Arthur to ease his nerves. Arthur tried his best when writing his paper, which ended up winning the contest for him. show less

I like how children who read this book might be able to relate to Arthur and his worries throughout the story. I find that is a really important quality that children's books should have. Considering how a reader could relate to Arthur's situation, I think that the author could have had Arthur demonstrate more ways to cope with his anxiety. Arthur could have listened to music to calm down, or squeezed a stress ball, etc. This could give the reader an opportunity find something to really help relax them in a stressful situation. For example, Arthur's dad suggests note cards; this seems like a reasonable comfort, but what happens when Arthur loses them? Now what is he to do? This would have been a good opportunity for the author to show more provide other coping mechanisms. Regardless, this book does push readers to think about what they would do, or how they would act, in this type of situation. The point of the story is that family will always be there for you, and to remember that nothing is as bad as it seems. show less

The ARTHUR series by Marc Brown have been a staple book series in my childhood. I never realized, however, that they touched on so many topics. This story is a very good introduction for younger children to the president (as well as the honor and importance it would take to meet him). This was a very cute story that handles meeting the president very realistically, including Arthur's nervousness.

After struggling to write an essay on presidents for Mr. Ratburn, Arthur finds out that he has won the contest to meet the President of the United States. When he finds out he has to memorize and recite his essay before everyone and the President he starts to worry. Fortunately, D.W. helps him out of the awkward situation making everyone laugh and relax. Although it isn't my favorite book, I think it's a great read for any kid that will have to speak in front of an audience.

I love Arthur and his book! They always have great illustrations in the book. We learn about the President and the white house, and students can picture themselves there even though they may have never been. They can learn vocab that they might have never heard before too.

In my opinion this is a good book for older elementary school students. The language in this book is challenging enough that it is not too hard but easy enough they can comprehend the story. For example the words president, memorize, announcer, and monument. Another reason why I like this book is because of the illustrations. I always thought Arthur books have engaging pictures. The pictures are clear as to what’s going on in the story. You can clearly see how the characters are feeling in the pictures and the setting is clearly illustrated. In one of the pictures, you can see how Arthur is nervous while standing in front of the white house. The story is organized; there is a beginning, middle, and end. The main idea of this story is show more to introduce students to the idea of having a president in their country. show less

I like this book because of the plot of the story. I think suspense was built through the character Arthur, as he was nervous preparing for reciting his speech to the President of the United States. The text describes all the excitement that surrounds Arthur, as he is getting ready to meet the President. Arthur has inward feelings of nervousness and is unsure if he is prepared or not. For example, when his sister D.W. told him he as on TV for all of America to see Arthur responded by saying “I feel sick”. There are other times in the book where Arthur is scared and nervous. For example right when he is about to give his speech to the President he begins to freeze up and cannot find the words to complete his speech. The reader can show more relate to Arthur if they were ever put in a situation where they had to speak in front of a crowd or do something that was out of their comfort zone. I think the main idea of the story is to not worry, have confidence, and over come challenges such as, stage freight. show less