Arthur's Nose

Arthur the aardvark is two years older than Garfield the cat and he's changed just as much since his debut in 1976. Arthur first appeared in Arthur's Nose by Marc Brown, an appropriate and funny title for a cover sporting a typically shaped aardvark, but a little disturbing in thinking of what Arthur looks like now.

Brushing aside 20-20 hindsight for the moment, I want to look at the first edition book because that's the version I read. It's part of the K12 collection at Holy Names University that I cataloged for my MLIS internship. The book has probably sat there unread since the Education Department brought Sr. June's collection over from wherever they used to keep them to be housed in the main library.

The cover art is typical mid show more 1970s. It's done in browns, oranges and pink. Artistically it's firmly planted in the year it was published.

And there in the middle of the cover, framed in gold (or puke yellow) is a nerdy aardvark in an orange and yellow striped shirt and pocket protector. For fans of the more recent incarnation of Arthur, the only familiar details are the eyes and the rounded ears.

So Arthur's in school with some vaguely familiar looking friends. It's easier to tell through squinted eyes who the are. The entire cast seems to have transformed over the years. He's being teased for his nose and decides to do something about it.

Rather than treat the situation like a no bullying lesson from the get-go, Arthur decides on rhinoplasty to fix his problem. Being an animal in a world of anamorphic animals, Arthur's choices are beaks, trunks, and so forth. As those would all look even more ridiculous on his face than his current nose, he decides against the operation. As it stands by itself in the absence of all other Arthur books, it's a cute story with a solid message.

But wait! Look at modern day Arthur. Where the heck is his nose? By the 1980s, Arthur has morphed into his modern day form. If the moral of the story was be happy with what nature / genetics has given you, then where's his nose?

The disappearance of Arthur's nose in later books and in the PBS series calls into question the ending of Arthur's Nose in the same way that The Magic School Bus: Going Batty makes it clear that Ms. Frizzle is actually a vampire. show less

I get that it's just a hook to the silly premise of trying on different noses, but the rhinoplasty as a viable option for a kid (without any parental input!) always felt weird to me, even with the end message being Arthur accepting his appearance.

Unhappy with his nose, Arthur visits the rhinologist to get a new one.Doctor Louise suggested that Arthur try on pictures of different noses. He could choose the one he liked best on this way. He tried many different kind of animals’ nose such as goat, rabbit, mouse, zebra, alligator, and rhinoceros. But by the end, he comes to term with his nose!

A wonderful book about being yourself and accepting other people’s difference. A great lesson for both children and adults!

The first entry in the venerable Arthur series. Arthur is teased because of his nose, and considers rhinoplasty, but ultimately decides that he's fine just as he is. Not too bad art, decent message. The highlight is Arthur trying on various other animals' noses to see which he likes. Not a bad book, but the series does improve.

I had mixed feelings of the book “Arthur's Nose.” In short, I like this book because of how the author made Arthur's life so relatable to kids. The author includes Arthur's family, sibling, school, teacher, and friends. I also liked how the author wrote the book kind of like a comic book. The author had text for the reader to read, and then the author had the characters in the illustration say more words in bubbles. For example, one illustration shows Arthur at an office with a doctor. There are complete sentences at the left top corner, and then Arthur in the illustration says, “Sniff, Snuff.” I also enjoy the main message of the story. The main message of the story is that one should be proud of how they look and not care what show more others say. The reason why I did not like this book however is because I personally thought that the illustrations looked a bit frightening. I know that is offensive to the author/illustrator, but I could not help but think that the drawings were of old times and not approachable to children these days. show less

Arthur's Nose os the first book in a long line of the Author series written by Marc Brown. One day, when Arthur is sick, he decides he doesn't like is nose. His sister thinks it looks funny. His friends make fun of it when they're together. So Arthur sees a specialist to change the way he looks. After realizing that no other nose suits him, Arthur chooses to stick with his no because he isn't Arthur without it. I though this was a sweet book that really any kid might be able to relate to. I can't name anyone who hasn't had a moment of insecurity about the way they look. Arthur decides to keep his nose just because it makes him who he is and that's a wonderful message to send to kids.

This is a great book to use on a self esteem unit. This book can help children who have insecurities with themselves. Arthur doesn't like his nose very well and he tries to change it. In the end he realizes that he will not be the same without his nose.