Arthur's Honey Bear

I love Lillian Hoban's books, but this one is one of my favourite. The characters in them are always warm and funny, the messages throughful and the stories beautifully structured. Arthur and his sister violet clean out their toy boxes, and Arthur shows Violet how to have a tag sale. It is wonderful looking at them setting it all up, (they are both chimps but beautifully drawn) as they price broken hula hoops, yo-yos which don't yo yo anymore, and carefully place broken ornaments out. Truly wonderful. There are lots of gorgeous moments like that - Arthur brings Honey-bear out - but he is clearly not to keen to sel honey-bear - he hides him behnd other toys, and then puts an outrageous price tag on it - but even that gets interest. Hoban's sensitivity allows for wonderful expressions from her characters. The text is wonderfully warm and funny. How Arthur manages to part from Honey Bear is just beautiful.

This is a wonderful little book, designed to teach us not to let go of things if they seem to be worthless, or of little worth. Arthur, in this case, wants to have a "tag sale" and get rid of all his old junk. Now there's an interesting idea. Unfortunately his sister, Violet, doesn't believe she has any old junk, so he sets out to put up signs, place tags on his "old junk" and price them accordingly. All except, of course, his honey bear with the one eye. In the adventure which follows, we see him trying to protect his bear and hide him so he won't get bought, only to have his sister "bargain" with him for the old bear. Then, of course, because he doesn't own it anymore, his sister sets out to re-invent the bear to her image. Arthur's idea of trying to control the bear are shattered, and he comes up with a way of continuing to bond with the bear in another fashion. A great story, with wonderful illustrations. Highly recommended!!!

Arthur can part with Baby King Kong and a bent hula hoop, but can he part with his Honey Bear? He wants to be grown up, but isn't so sure he can actually go through with it. We see his reluctance at a near sale, and then his little sister is so insistant that he gives in. But the items she's traded pallor in Honey Bear's absence. What will Arthur do?Well drawn-- kids will find a lot to look at even if the book is being read to them. It's nicely written too, simply but with enough detail to make it interesting and funny. If you find the version with the read-along audio tape, get it. It's very good!

This book has a lot of depth for a beginning reader. Arthur and his little sister Violet (they are chimps) set aside some old toys to sell at a tag sale during spring cleaning. Arthur decides he can part with Honey Bear, his one-time favorite stuffed animal until his sister Violet makes him an offer he can't refuse and purchases it from him. A reluctant Arthur braves the deal, and soon regrets it. Lillian Hoban has great integrity as a children's author. Arthur does the right thing -- he doesn't cancel the deal with his sister even though he is clearly troubled by loosing Honey Bear. He reminds Violet that since they are brother and sister, he is Honey Bear's uncle and should have some quality time with his nephew by taking everyone out for an ice cream cone with the money he made from selling Honey Bear. A very sweet story that encourages children to find creative solutions to their troubles.