School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-- In this ninth story about the chimp and his family, Arthur tells Violet that her knowledge of walkingsticks and cocoons is ``baby science.'' After all, he has been on field trips and collected specimens. The siblings get permission from their babysitter to go on their own field trip and meet up with friends Mabel and Wilma. They invite Violet to go camping with them. Arthur offers to go along to protect them, but Mabel informs him that she is in charge. Arthur goes on his own camp-out and finds himself out of breath, out of food, tired, and alone at the edge of a pond. He follows a scent and finds the campers gaily roasting hot dogs and singing songs. Arthur finds out that girls not only know how to camp but they know something about science as well. Hoban's watercolor illustrations are as refreshing as the tale, which will not only amuse young readers but also give them food for thought as well. One of Hoban's best ``Arthur'' tales. --Sharron McElmeel, Cedar Rapids Community Schools, IA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
Arthur reveals his vulnerability and gets his comeuppance in the ninth story about the chimpanzee. After smugly telling his sister, Violet, that because he thinks she is afraid of slimy things, she cannot accompany him on a camping trip, Arthur goes on to have a wet, foodless, terror-filled night. Convincing dialogue, bright illustrations, and a satisfying conclusion, complete with Violet's unobtrusive ecology lesson on the importance of bats, round out the latest entry in the popular series. From HORN BOOK 1993, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
In a ninth ``I Can Read'' about the popular Arthur, his smug superiority to little sister Violet is almost overstated; still, his gentle comeuppance makes a satisfying outcome. Boasting of his planned field trip, Arthur describes ``snakes--slimy things you would not like,'' but Violet responds, mildly, ``A girl in my class brought in a snake she caught...It wasn't a bit slimy. I held it in my hand.'' Arthur sets out on his trip while Violet and her friends camp out nearby, turning down his offer to ``protect'' them in the woods at night. Left alone, it's Arthur who's scared, especially of bats; the girls take him in, but not without a lecture on bats' ecological virtues. The good humor of Hoban's naturally cadenced dialogue and realistic detail mellows the message, while the childlike characters are as likable in her full-color mixed media art as in the text. (Easy reader. 4-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gr. 1-2. Cheerful line-and-watercolor artwork illustrates this episodic story from Hoban's Arthur series. Whiling away a spring day, the young chimp puts down his little sister Violet's bits of nature lore as "baby science," and decides to go on a field trip without her "to collect frogs and worms and snakes--slimy things that you would not like." When Violet's friends invite her for a girls-only camp-out, he annoys them by offering to come along to protect them. Rebuffed, he decides to do a little solo camping instead. After a series of misadventures, a wet, tired, hungry, and humbled Arthur joins the girls around their campfire after all. Not the best of the series, but still a pleasant excursion for Arthur's many fans. (Reviewed Mar. 1, 1993)0060205253Carolyn Phelan
