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Rating: 
Summary: Plot Inconsistencies Between Book and Show
Review: "Arthur and the Best Coach Ever" is the fourth of six books in the 2001 Arthur Good Sports series. This is a great series that teaches kids about sportsmanship in an interesting as well as humorous way. However, this book, "Arthur and the Best Coach Ever," shows are startling lack of coordination between those working on the television show and those were developing the book series.Both the television story and the book share a couple basic plot points. The soccer coach for Lakewood Elementary is no longer able to coach the team and Ed Crosswire is brought in as a replacement. In both versions, none of the kids are very happy, as they liked the old coach and Ed's coaching abilities are rather questionable. The similarities stop about right there. In the book, Ed is presented as an inept coach who knows nothing about soccer and is always ignoring the team while he tries to run his automotive business from the sidelines. The team members begin to feel like they don't care about them, although really he's just caught in a pickle because he has no understanding of basic soccer concepts, or how to coach a team. The exact opposite happens in the television episode. In the TV version, Ed seems to be quite knowledgable of soccer, even having played in the past, and tries to run the team like a machine, putting them through overly demanding drills. Overall, "Arthur and the Best Coach Ever" is an okay story and in my opinion, somewhat better than the television version. Still, the lack of synergy between the TV show and the book causes confusion among followers of the seires and I'm not entirely certain what exactly this particular book teaches kids about good sportsmanship. Also, some of the humor found in the other "Arthur" books is missing. Pass on this one, and try one of the other, better, "Arthur" books instead.
Rating: 
Summary: This one might hit close to home....
Review: Are you a cell-phone toting, work-a-holic parent? Busy cutting business deals on the soccer field? Then this book will leave you feeling a little sheepish. I know of quite a few sports parents who could stand to read this book for the lesson it teaches. As for the kids, maybe what they learn is that they should keep trying their best no matter how miserable their coach is!
Rating:
Summary: This one might hit close to home....
Review: Are you a cell-phone toting, work-a-holic parent? Busy cutting business deals on the soccer field? Then this book will leave you feeling a little sheepish. I know of quite a few sports parents who could stand to read this book for the lesson it teaches. As for the kids, maybe what they learn is that they should keep trying their best no matter how miserable their coach is!
Rating:
Summary: Great show
Review: I have watched the episode based on the book. It was a great episode and I'm sure that the book would be just as good.
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