Additional Book Information
Series: NYRB Kids
ISBN: 9781590179352
Pages: 48
Publication Date: October 20, 2015
Arthur
by Rhoda Levine, illustrated by Everett Aison
After a fine, green summer in Central Park, all the birds are preparing to fly south. Except for Arthur, that is. Arthur is off playing, gazing into a lake, dreaming of wider seas. And so Arthur is left behind. It begins to get cold. The trees are losing their leaves. Arthur feels uneasy and lonely, especially after his nest is scattered to the winds. Arthur must find a new home, and after he does—he settles down in a statue’s open book—he discovers a new city, where he can play hide-and-seek in the steam from a manhole cover and feast with the pigeons on crumbs, and which soon brings other delightful surprises (and challenges): icicles, a great big sweet-smelling evergreen tree that is all lit up with people gathered around it to sing “Gloria” in the cold night, and snow—a whole winter wonderland! And then the trees begin to bud; the birds come back....
With Arthur as their guide through the city, children will find new poetry and beauty on every corner.
Click to enlarge image
A film by Charles Gross, with illustrations by Everett Aison, based on Arthur by Rhoda Levine
Praise
This gem of a Manhattan tale from the early 1960s should be better known, especially given Aison’s astounding charcoal and watercolor art, so simple and bold in black, smudgy gray and a perfect dark green.
—The New York Times Book Review
New York Review Books is one of the few publishing houses out there specializing in reprinting books for children published long ago…we’re seeing gorgeous reproductions of books like……the remarkable New York City-inspired Arthur.
— Elizabeth Bird, Fuse 8, School Library Journal
If I could have only one of these books for myself this is one I would pick...One of the best children’s books ever – that’s why it is called a ‘classic', which means it’s special.
—Eileen Battersby, “My favourite children’s books of 2015”, Irish Times
Praise for Rhoda Levine’s Three Ladies Beside the Sea
This is, of course, a must for the many Edward Gorey fans of all ages, and a chance to discover the fine poetry of Rhoda Levine. I read this one to my five-year-old granddaughter because it is just long enough to be engaging and just short enough to be wiggle proof, and just wise enough to set a young imagination free as a bird.
—Sherman Yellen, The Huffington Post
Praise for Rhoda Levine’s He Was There From the Day We Moved In
[The] story… achieves a sensitive equilibrium of pathos and humor, a total effect that is sentimental without apology and optimistic without reason.
—The New York Times