D.W. Read

Dora Winifred "D.W." Read is Arthur's 4-5 year old sister, Baby Kate's older sister, and a middle child in her family. She attends Elwood City Preschool. She is constantly seen bugging Arthur, walking into his bedroom without asking and attempting to blame him whenever something bad happens. However, she still shows positive feelings for her brother and does still care for him, despite frequently acting selfishly.
==Voice==
Only in the Living Books computer game versions of Arthur books (and Arthur's Thinking Games) is D.W. voiced by an actual female (the late Mary Kay Bergman in the latter). In the TV series and the film, Arthur's Missing Pal, she is voiced by boys, such as, at first, Michael Caloz, Oliver Grainger, Jason Szwimmer, Robert Naylor, etc., and last, but certainly not least, a current female (Nissae Isen in "All Grown Up," as an adult police officer twenty years in the future).
==Appearance==
D.W. is an anthropomorphic aardvark who has short brown hair in a reverse bob and wears a sleeveless magenta knee-length jumper dress, a white long-sleeved blouse, frilly beige or white underwear, sheer pink pantyhose, and bluish-cyan shoes. In the books and the movie Arthur's Missing Pal, her blouse and pantyhose have pink stripes on them; these don't exist in the TV cartoon presumably to save time and money on animation.
In the computer game Arthur's Teacher Trouble, she had a slightly paler complexion, her hair was orange and her blouse and pantyhose were purple. In another computer game, Arthur's Birthday, she looked mostly the same as in the books and cartoon, but her blouse was pink and her shoes were brown.
===Other outfits===
*Pink footsie pajamas
*A white night dress with a magenta collar and frills
*A pink swimsuit with frills
*A doctor's gown and headlamp
*A blue T-shirt with beige pants and red and white shoes
*A pink Greek tunic and cape, brown sandals, and a golden Greek helmet (imaginary outfit based on Odysseus)
*A dark green dress, light green pantyhose, a golden tiara encrusted with red gems, and black Mary Janes (dancing outfit)
*A full replica of Arthur's outfit in her size
*Purple overalls with green pockets and a light orange shirt underneath
*A dark pink jacket with two pockets, white fur on the bottom and ends of the sleeves and a white fur collar, a lime green scarf, dark green mittens and a dark green knitcap with a white tuft
*A Gretel outfit (in a dream had by Arthur in "Just Desserts")
*A lime green summer dress and white sandals with white flower decorations
*A Juliet Capulet outfit (imaginary, in "Kiss and Tell")
*A pink pajama jumpsuit with various patterns (in the book Good Night, D.W.)
*A strapped pink jumpsuit with a pocket on the front (in the book D.W., Go to Your Room!)
*A yellow tank top depicting Arthur's face with "X" eyes and light blue and black shorts (boxing outfit)
*A light yellow dress with pink trim around the arms and a pink collar tied into a bow
*A white nurse's outfit with a pink scarf and headlamp
*A white collared button-up shirt, a red short-sleeved jacket with light yellow trim, a light yellow dress with polka dots, and maroon Mary Janes (formal outfit)
*Yellow sleepwear with purple flower patterns (imaginary, in "D.W.'s Name Game")
*A yellow bathing suit with pink trim
*A yellow button-up coat with red trim, pink gloves and knitcap, blue pants, and red boots (winter outfit)
*A Bionic Bunny costume
*A magenta shirt with a white collar, a white diaper, and pink shoes with gray bottoms (as a baby)
*A magenta and pink hoodie, pink gloves, and white shoes (as a 1-and-a-half-year-old)
*A pink blouse, a green strapped dress, magenta pantyhose, and brown shoes (as a 3-year-old)
*A pink shirt with yellow trim at the ends of the sleeves and a moon and stars design on the front, and pink pajama pants (as a 3-year-old)
*A pink sweater, blue jeans, pink and white sneakers (as a 8-year-old, imaginary, in "D.W.'s Time Trouble")
*A purple jacket, a yellow shirt with red Japanese letters spelling "Dora" on the front, orange framed glasses, a maroon headband, blue jeans, and purple and white sneakers (as a 9-year-old, imaginary; in D.W. and the Beastly Birthday)
*A red suit and a light yellow undershirt (older, imagined; in "D.W.'s Name Game")
*A police uniform (as an adult in "All Grown Up")
==Personality==
D.W. is mischievous, dramatic, bossy, and throws tantrums easily. Usually, she acts like a selfish brat and enjoys annoying her big brother Arthur and blaming him for things he didn't do, but she still loves him deep down and has cooperated with him before to help her family. She dislikes her full name, "Dora Winifred Read", for an unknown reason, and wants everyone to call her "D.W." instead. However, she starts to be more accepting of her name in the special episode The Rhythm and Roots of Arthur after learning that she's named after her deceased great-grand aunt. She is also a picky eater: she doesn't like to eat anything she is not familiar with, as shown in the episode aptly named book and episode "D.W., the Picky Eater", and has a particular dislike for spinach, although she seems to learn to like it at the end of the TV episode.
Because of her young age, D.W. doesn't know the definitions of more complex words and is clueless about more adult topics, such as the origin of babies. However, she is actually fairly intelligent for someone her age. D.W. is also gullible and can be tricked easily; she is a common victim of Tommy and Timmy Tibble's tricks and often gets herself in trouble as a result.
Because of how small she is and because she is the middle sibling of the Read children, D.W. often feels like she is oppressed by her parents and older brother, and when she does, she will try to defend herself any way she knows how. But despite this, in the inside, she is very creative, kind, and does have her caring moments.
==Relationships==
===Arthur Read===
D.W. and her older brother Arthur do not get along often due to D.W.'s bratty and dramatic behavior, as well as her natural talent at several things Arthur isn't good at (which makes him jealous of her for being so talented at a young age), but the two siblings love each other deep down, although D.W. does display quite a bit of mean-spirited behavior towards her brother. Arthur himself also often forgets to play games that he promised to play with her, In the episodes "Lost!" and "Arthur's Knee", D.W. is really worried about Arthur when he gets lost on the outskirts of Elwood City and gets a serious cut on his knee, respectively. In "Arthur's Big Hit", Arthur actually gets angry enough with D.W. to punch her in the arm after she breaks his model airplane and blames him for supposedly having built it wrong.
===Kate Read===
D.W.'s little sister Kate looks up to her and does favors for her often with Pal's help. Initially, D.W. disliked her little sister due to having to share her room with her, but she eventually comes around to loving Kate. In the book D.W., Go to Your Room! and its TV adaptation ("Go to Your Room, D.W."), her mother sends her to her room as punishment when she threatens to pinch Kate for taking her toys. "Baby Steps" shows D.W. taking an active interest in Kate's development.
===Pal===
Pal likes D.W. and often does favors for her with Kate's help, but D.W. in turn dislikes him and considers him dumb. However, D.W. is still occasionally nice to him, such as in the show's intro where she is shown petting him.
===Spanky===
Spanky was a parakeet that D.W. briefly owned in the episode "So Long, Spanky" until he died. She was deeply attached to him and held a funeral for him after his death.
===David Read===
D.W. and her father David have a great relationship, and he seems to favor her over Arthur; for example, he takes D.W. on a fishing trip that was originally meant for just him and Arthur in "Cast Away", and forces Arthur to take part in D.W.'s preschool spring pageant in "The Pageant Pickle", despite both him and D.W. knowing it's going to be boring.
===Jane Read===
Like with David, D.W. also has a good relationship with her mother, but she seems to be a bit stricter with her than David. Despite that, D.W.'s can get in trouble with her sometimes, such as when she flipped a plate on a waiter's head in "D.W., the Picky Eater", and when she threatened to pinch her little sister Kate in the book D.W., Go to Your Room! and its TV adaptation ("Go to Your Room, D.W."), or when she begged Jane for more allowance in "More!".
===Theodore Read===
D.W.'s great-grand uncle. He only appears in the special episode "The Rhythm and Roots of Arthur", where he and D.W. are shown to get along well, as they play horseshoe toss together (with D.W. winning by a landslide). He's also the one who reveals to her that she's named after her deceased great-grand aunt, Dora Winifred Read, and that she had a lot in common with D.W. as well.
===Emily Leduc===
D.W. and Emily were initially enemies when she first appeared in the book and episode "D.W. Flips", but they became friends after Emily saves her from falling off of a balance beam. However, the two still tend to compete with each other.
===Timmy and Tommy Tibble===
Although D.W. and the Tibble twins are friends, the Tibbles often compete with her over various things and bug her, and also trick her into doing foolish things that get her in trouble just for their own amusement, which causes D.W. to be at odds with them, although they usually make up in the end. The episode "Prove It" shows that D.W. isn't above tricking them, either, when she uses several false scientific "facts" to con them (as well as several of her other classmates) out of their money.
Although the Tibbles enjoy pestering and tricking D.W., they draw the line at actually hurting her physically, as shown in "Attack of the Turbo Tibbles" where they hit her in the face with a swing and she has to get stiches at the hospital, and they feel extremely guilty about it thinking they've killed her. They also show concern for her in "The Secret About Secrets" when one of their tricks results in her scraping her arm, and they ask her if she's okay.
===James MacDonald===
James is a friend of D.W.'s from preschool with a shy disposition. In "Kiss and Tell", D.W. tries to get James to kiss her after hearing from Emily that she had been kissed by a boy and that it was a magical feeling. While James eventually did kiss her, it only caused D.W. to look slightly shocked, and she then declared that "[She]'d rather do cannonballs with the Tibbles [than be kissed]." In "D.W. Unties the Knot", she also chooses James as her imaginary groom on a whim after seeing a wedding on TV and wanting to have one for herself. In "D.W. Swims with the Fishes", D.W. throws away her chance at victory in a swimming race to help James when he gets his foot stuck, and in "The Secret About Secrets", she hides the fact that James split his pants in class a secret from others to avoid embarrassing him despite being tempted to tell someone (although she did tell her mother about it).
===Vicita Molona===
Vicita is D.W.'s next-door neighbor whom she often plays together with. Because Vicita is only half a year younger than D.W., they are easily able to relate to each other. Vicita looks up to D.W. and the two generally get along, but D.W. can sometimes act bossy towards Vicita and get angry when Vicita is better than her at games. In "Tales from the Crib", D.W. helps Vicita cope with having to move out of her crib and into a "big girl bed" by telling her the story of when she had to move out of hers. D.W. also helps her in "Buenos Noches, Vicita" when she has trouble sleeping due to losing her favorite book.
===Binky Barnes===
Despite Binky being older than D.W., the two become friends in "The Chips are Down" after the both of them ate green potato chips and D.W. was tricked by Arthur into thinking they are poisonous, and they decide to spend what they think are going to be their last days alive together, only to ultimately learn that their poisoning was a trick. They do ballet together in "D.W., Dancing Queen", and Binky is shocked after hearing that D.W. was punched by Arthur in "Arthur's Big Hit". In "Big Brother Binky,", D.W. gives Binky a piece of fabric with a design of her unicorn toy Uni to put in his recently adopted Chinese baby sister's Bai Jia Bei.
===Nadine Flumberghast===
Nadine is D.W.'s imaginary friend whom she often talks to and goes on adventures with. Nadine always takes D.W.'s side in her arguments with Arthur, but also acts as a voice of reason to D.W. when she plans to do something crazy.
===Francine Frensky===
While it is unknown if D.W. and Francine are close friends, D.W. takes Francine's side in "Locked in the Library" when Arthur said she looks like a marshmallow. In "Arthur's Big Hit", Francine feels sorry for D.W. when she hears that Arthur punched her in the arm, and in "For Whom the Bell Tolls", she calls Arthur "mean" for enjoying not having to listen to D.W.'s voice when she's left temporarily unable to speak due to laryngitis. However, Francine is not pleased with D.W. taking over her and her friends' clubhouse in "My Club Rules".
===Bud Compson===
D.W. and Bud have been friends since the latter moved to Elwood City with his family in "Based on a True Story" and often spend time with each other, and D.W. seems to respect Bud for his ability to stand up to the Tibble twins with his "power stare". Despite being Bud's friend, D.W. was initially willing to let him take the blame for accidentally breaking her father's old toy frog in "The Tattletale Frog", although she eventually felt guilty and came clean. When Bud's family has to move back out of Elwood City and to Oregon in "When Duty Calls" due to his father's job, D.W. is very upset, and Bud leaves Rapty behind with D.W. in exchange for her sending him lots of letters. The two share a hug before Bud leaves. In "The Rhythm and Roots of Arthur", D.W. says she thinks of Bud as a family member. It is shown in "All Grown Up" that they will remain friends as adults.
===Muffy Crosswire===
While D.W. and Muffy don't interact much, Muffy is the one who gets help for D.W. when she climbs a tree and is unable to come back down in "D.W. Blows the Whistle". In "D.W. Unties the Knot", Muffy helps D.W. and Emily plan D.W.'s "wedding", despite the fact that D.W. lied to Muffy by saying it's the wedding of a made-up person named "Deeangeleenora "Dee" Woo" rather than her own. When Muffy is looking for a new best friend to replace Francine in Muffy's New Best Friend", she considers D.W. a possible candidate, although they get into an argument and act bossy to each other. In "The Director's Cut", Muffy describes D.W. as "adorable" and compliments her on her performance in George's movie, even telling her that she can wear anything she wants for the movie. When Mrs. MacGrady gets cancer in "The Great MacGrady", Muffy helps her clean up her house with D.W. and Arthur.
===Sue Ellen Armstrong===
D.W. and Sue Ellen do not have many interactions, but they have fun playing Virtual Goose together in "Sue Ellen Gets her Goose Cooked". In "Sue Ellen's Little Sister", however, as D.W. gets bossy with her and even destroys her origami bird by throwing it out of the window when Sue Ellen spends times with her at Arthur's house.
===Cheikh Diouf===
D.W. and Cheikh, Brain's cousin, have been good friends since he moved to Elwood City from Senegal in "In My Africa". Their friendship continues because Cheikh and his family officially become American citizens in "Citizen Cheikh".
===Alan "Brain" Powers===
Despite not interacting often, D.W. and Brain are good friends, as D.W. has asked him for help with things several times, such as when Arthur got a cut on his knee in "Arthur's Knee" and when Vicita had trouble sleeping in "Buenos Noches, Vicita". She is shown to prefer Brain as a big brother over Arthur in "The Perfect Brother", and in "In My Africa", they sing the song of the same name as the episode together.
===Ladonna Compson===
D.W. met Ladonna when her little brother Bud moved with her to Elwood City, but they aren't actually friends. However, when D.W. loses Larry (the class rabbit she was assigned to look after) in "Bunny Trouble", Ladonna helps her look for him, and aids D.W. in pulling Halloween pranks with Bud in the special "Arthur and the Haunted Tree House".
===W.D. Merkle===
Despite having practically opposite personalities, D.W. and W.D. become good friends in "Best Enemies". They initially think they dislike each other and attempt to trick their parents into going home, but end up forming a friendship in the process. Like D.W., W.D. also hates being called by her full forename (Wilhelmina Dagmar).
===Buster Baxter===
While Buster and D.W. aren't friends per se, Buster interrogates her as part of his investigation in "Arthur Accused!". Sometimes, D.W. mispronounces Buster's name as "Bus Stop", and in "Buster's Back", he calls her "P.W." in turn. In "Buster's Back", D.W. also has no problem making fun of Buster's interests. In "D.W., the Picky Eater", Buster gives D.W. a peanut butter and jam sandwich, but lied about it not having spinach (which D.W. has a hatred for) in it to get her to eat spinach. He was also in on Arthur's prank to trick D.W. into thinking she'd eaten a poisonous potato chip in "The Chips are Down". In "The Rhythm and Roots of Arthur", Buster comes with D.W. on a vacation trip visiting Read family relatives in Ohio. During the trip, D.W. rudely tells Buster that he doesn't belong at the family reunion because he isn't a Read and doesn't even look like one, and when D.W. and Buster sleep in the same room at the Read Family Farm, D.W. acted bossy towards him and made up a password for her side of the room, and also forced Buster to look around the room for lizards that were scaring her.
===Hana===
Hana is a 13-year-old girl who is the head of a doll making class D.W. and Bud attend in "D.W.'s New Best Friend". While initially disliking her due to considering her "mean and bossy" (even though those terms also describe D.W. herself), she comes around to liking Hana after finding out that she is a fan of the Princess Platoon movie series, just like her. However, Hana only considers D.W. to be her "best little friend", and doesn't want to spend time with her when she's hanging out with friends her own age.
==Trivia==
*D.W. is based on Kim Brown, the sister of Marc Brown, who is the author of the Arthur books and the co-developer of the cartoon.
*According to the episode "D.W. All Wet", D.W. is cephalophopic, as she refuses to swim in a lake because she thinks there may be octopuses in it.
*D.W.'s birthday is March 1st, 1991 or March 1st, 1992.
*D.W. is the first character in the entire series to speak.
*DW (Voiced by Oliver Grainger) in Arthur has the same voices as George from Mona the Vampire and Dongwa Miao from Sagwa the Chinese Siamese Cat.
==External Links==
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*D.W. Soundboard: https://www.deercowboy.com/soundboard/dw/
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