Amazingly, parents do, too. It's not violent, cloyingly cute, or completely mystifying. Arthur's appeal is partly due to Brown's ability to create convincing, multilayered personalities kids identify with. They are friends despite, or perhaps because of, their differences. They don't so much celebrate the differences, as tacitly accept them.
Tolerance is status quo.
Fred Rogers, preschool icon, lends his seal of approval by writing the foreword. Each story is about 30 pages long, with an ideal balance of text and illustration on each page. In addition to this popular format, many Arthur stories are available as board books for the very young and chapter books for independent readers. Arthur's last name is Read. His continuing adventures give kids the simple pleasures of a good story, and encourage a love of books and reading that will hopefully last a lifetime.