Arthur the Brave

Arthur's Promise is the tenth book in Arthur's Family Values, a series of Arthur book titles aimed specifically at teaching morals. The moral of the book is "Being Brave." The book was written by Sheryl Burk and illustrated by Chu-Ying Chow.

Publisher's summary
D.W. helps Arthur discover that he is really very brave.

Synopsis
Arthur is determined to prove to D.W. that he can be brave like a real superhero, but can't seem to do anything right. None of his rescues actually help anyone and then he ends up needing to be rescued himself. But when D.W. worries of monsters under her bed, she discovers her big brother is braver than she thought.

Plot summary
Arthur is watching The Bionic Bunny Show when D.W. complains of it being boring. Arthur says that he wishes she could be just like him, but D.W. teases that he's not. Arthur says that he'll show her by doing something brave and imagines rescuing a girl and her child from a fire. He creates a superhero cape using Mom's good towel and tells D.W. to call him "Arthur the Brave," but D.W. just says that he's "Arthur the Silly."

The next day, Arthur goes out for a walk, declaring "Bring on the bad guys! Bring on the danger." Mr. Ratburn and Ms. Turner, observing it, think it likely he's just going to get into trouble. Arthur goes home and smells smoke, so he throws a bucket of water on the "fire," but only ends up ruining the evening's dinner made by Mr. Read. Later, he goes out and finds Grandma Thora and insists on trying to help her cross the street, only to learn that she was fine where she was because she was waiting for Mrs. Tibble.

On his way home, Arthur finds Buster and Sue Ellen. Sue Ellen's kitten is stuck in a tree and Arthur thinks this is finally his chance for a real rescue. But the cat just jumps from the tree into Sue Ellen's arms and, meanwhile, Arthur has climbed up and is now stuck himself. They end up having to have Binky come with a ladder and Arthur is left feeling like he can't do anything right.



That night, Arthur is left upset, thinking that he'll never be like Bionic Bunny, when he hears D.W. crying in her room. She cries that there are monsters under her bed and in the closet, and shouts for him to turn on the light. He tells her to calm down, then searches all over the room and says that there are no monsters. D.W. insists that there are, ones with big yellow eyes, pointy teeth and huge hairy hands. He tells her that he too was once afraid of monsters, until he learned a magic spell to get rid of them: to pat your tummy, wiggle your nose, tug your ears, then curl your toes, then say the words "I'm as brave as I think I am." D.W. says the spell three times and drifts off to sleep happily, saying that she doesn't think he's Arthur the Silly anymore. Arthur tiptoes back to bed, clutching one of his Bionic Bunny action figures happily and thinking being a brother is sometimes better than being a super hero as he too drifts off to sleep.

Characters

 * Arthur
 * D.W.
 * Bionic Bunny
 * Pal
 * Ms. Turner
 * Mr. Ratburn
 * Mrs. Armstrong
 * Mr. Read
 * Grandma Thora
 * Mrs. Tibble
 * Buster Baxter
 * Sue Ellen Armstrong
 * Sue Ellen's kitten
 * Binky Barnes

Trivia

 * In this book, D.W. claims to find The Bionic Bunny Show boring, but in Arthur's Promise, the first book in the series, she claims an interest in the show and to know all about Bionic Bunny. This, however, may have been feigned interest because she actually wanted to spend time with Arthur and his friends.