ALA Booklist (Sun Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 1996)

Mr. Ratburn tells his class to write a story, and Arthur starts right away. He is pleased with his effort, How I Got My Puppy Pal, but everyone he talks to suggests a change, and the amiable Arthur incorporates every suggestion. The result, a song-and-dance number about a boy and his pet elephant on Plant Shmellafint, leaves his class speechless, but Mr. Ratburn recovers in time to bring Arthur down to earth and elicit the original story. Bright ink-and-watercolor illustrations offer appealing views of Arthur's home and school as well as his literary fantasies. Teachers will find this an entertaining cautionary tale to read aloud to young writers, and, of course, Arthur fans will devour it. One of the best in this popular series. (Reviewed Sept. 15, 1996)

Horn Book (Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 1996)

When his sister D.W. proclaims his story, 'How I Got My Puppy Pal,' boring, Arthur attempts to liven it up. He seeks the counsel of too many critics and writes an opus complete with elephants, dinosaurs, and space travel, all set to a country and western song. The 'write what you know' theme might be slightly over the head of Arthur's fans, but teachers will appreciate it. The little aardvark will generate the usual empathy with his haplessness.

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 3--Another installment in Arthur's everyday adventures. When his teacher asks the students to write a story about something that is important to them, everyone's favorite aardvark cheerfully writes about how he got his dog (told in Arthur's Pet Business [Little, 1990]). But when his sister comments that the story is dull, he changes it. Each person he talks to gives him different advice, so worried Arthur keeps adding and changing. On the day the assignment is due, his contrived and confusing tale elicits a negative response. When he tells his original story, he receives a gold star and applause. Brown's watercolor-and-ink illustrations feature a rounder-faced Arthur surrounded by a lighter and brighter world of home and school. A lesson of being true to oneself that newly independent readers can easily handle.--Martha Gordon, formerly at South Salem Library, NY