D.W.'s Library Card

This story is another great DW adventure. Marc Brown does a great job making his books funny, entertaining, and educational at the same time. Dw's library card is a favorite in our house!

My daughter loves the Arthur books, especially the D.W. series. She recently got her own library card and really loved reading this book.

You've got to love a book that makes getting a library card magical. This Arthur story begins with DW's desire to check out 'Hop-a-long the Frog'. She asks Arthur to do it for her but he refuses because he doesn't want to be seen checking out a 'baby book'. DW retorts that when she gets her own card she will be free to check out whatever she wants. It turns out she's old enough, but before DW can get one she has to be able to sign her name. [Having just gone through this with my own 5 year-old, I can tell you that it *can* be an ordeal (LOL).] DW practices and practices--a mini-lesson in itself - until she can do it. But the story isn't finished yet. First DW has to WAIT because someone else has checked out `Hop-a-long'. Then, after it's returned, the Tibble twins, who had the book, misinform DW and tell her that if the book gets damaged that the librarian will take away her library card... forever! Of course, that's not true and eventually Arthur corrects her, but not before he discovers that the book *isn't* a baby book but a `great book' that he remembers checking out when he was younger. Arthur then reads the book to DW (she hadn't before because she was afraid it would get damaged) and explains that she can renew it and read it herself later. Five Stars. All in all a great book that takes some of the 'mystery' out of the library process for small children. I like that it opens the opportunity to emphasize that while it is important to take care of books, that nothing horrendous will happen if a page gets wrinkled. I also like that Arthur is shown reading to his little sister, and that books, reading, and the library are cool.

D.W. wants her own library card, because her brother won't check out the books she likes, he says they're "baby" books.Mrs. Turner, the librarian, explains how D.W. can get her own card - she has to learn to write her full name.D.W. works & works at writing her name, once even in a dollop of mashed potatoes, until she gets it right!Then new trials turn up when she tries to find a book & has to wait until it is returned, & then she has to learn how to treat the library's book properly! She resorts to kitchen mittens!Great pictures & good ideas! Should be given to every single child by the age of five years old - better than starting a college fund - for if we do not imprint our children with the love of reading, what use college?This is a fine book to start your children off on the thrills & spills of becoming a library kid, on being initiated into the wonders of our public lending libraries & into a lifelong passion for reading.

Those who watch the "Arthur" show know that the program places a huge emphasis on the enjoyment of reading. The characters are passionate about their books, from once organizing a group against parents who wanted to ban a particular book, to waiting in long lines to get copies of their favorites. One character, however, who was always left out the mix was D.W., Arthur's adorable, amusing and to Arthur sometimes annoying little sister. That is, until "D.W.'s Library Card." The television episode in which D.W. learned that all she needed to do to get a library card was to a write her name is now, appropriately, available in book form, ready to be checked out at libraries all over, or for your purchase. The old adage says "don't judge a book by its cover," but it's hard to pass up a book with a cover featuring what is probably the most adorable picture of the D.W. character ever. The inside of the book is fully illustrated as well and the original story is kept mostly intact, with only extraneous plot points left out, probably to make things easier for the younger audience it seems to be targeted at, as well as (most likely) the parents and older siblings who have to read it out loud. A fine addition to the "Arthur" series, for both its pure value as a story and the good it will do in the drive to get kids excited about reading.