Arthur and the Race to Read is a beginner’s chapter book. The story is about Arthur and his friends working together to run and earn money for children who don’t get the chance to read, or don’t know how to read. The friends have to run a 5K in order to raise money for their school, so some friends take the race very seriously, and others not so much. In the end the school raised a lot of money to go to an organization that will help provide schools with the money to buy more books for their students. Arthur and his friends had a wonderful time together learning how to run, and running together because they were able to compete. The illustrations are scattered throughout the book so that students can take a break from reading every once and a while. This was a fun story to bring back because the first part of the story is very hysterical, and reminds adults that they need to continue to exercise. It is a good book for all ages to read, and it is fun too. ( )

The message of this book is really great, it is about literacy and the importance of reading. It is also about perseverance and having proper motives. I really loved all of those aspects of it. I also thought it was broken up well in chapter book form, making it very possible to conquer as a younger child. My only concern was that some of the material was very technical, I thought there was a lot in the book that younger students wouldn't understand, it could have been simplified a little without making it too simplistic. ( )