I always wanted a pen pal when I was little. Now, thanks to the
Internet, I have quite a few of them. There's just something very
exciting about getting to know someone solely through correspondence,
often not even knowing what that person looks like.
In Lillian Hoban's Arthur's Pen Pal,
an I CAN READ book, Arthur is a chimpanzee with a pen pal. He doesn't
know what his pen pal, whose name is Sandy, looks like, but he must be cooler than his little sister Violet. He plays the drums. He takes karate. He has a big brother. Oh, if only he were Sandy's big brother!
I've been reading so many easy readers by Arnold Lobel and James
Marshall that consist of several stories that this book, which is about
60 pages long, seems quite lengthy indeed. Hoban is certainly wordier
than either of those authors. But the story is entertaining and rings
very true. Arthur's argues incessantly with his sister, while his sage
babysitter tries to get him to appreciate her. Jump-roping aficianado
Violet is pesky, as little siblings often are, but she's nowhere near as
bad as D. W., sister to another famous Arthur of children's literature.
The illustrations are colorful and expressive. The chimps look nearly
human, with their feet, hands and hairy heads. I love the baby-sitter,
with her circular spectacles and her apron, and I get a kick out of the
description and accompanying illustration of Arthur emptying his pockets
and notebook of all sorts of junk while searching for Sandy's address.
Arthur's Pen Pal is an engaging story with a thought-provoking twist at the end. It may require a slightly longer attention span than Frog and Toad or George and Martha,
but young children who can sit through 60 pages of one story should
find it worth their time. Just don't be surprised if they it prompts
them to take up a correspondence of their own...
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