I think this story does best in the KS1-KS2 transition period, however I think it would work well with any child in primary school. The fact that the author wrote the book from the inspiration of many children going though this, from incidents in their life that are very minor, says to me it was a good cause. In addition to this, the illustrations work perfectly, you can tell the darkness and emotion behind them, the rough lines and vast size really adds context to the story. I love how the book uses repetition to speak to the reader. The beauty of this ending comes from every person's life as a child - at some point - feeling this strong anger from something. This brings the reader to the beautiful end of the story, where Arthur realises how things have gone so wrong. This leaves him all alone, with nothing left but a question. His anger subsequently destroys the entire universe. As you read on, you see the imaginative destruction that Arthur's anger is causing. Throughout the book you see the boy's anger grow and grow, the author uses very powerful distributive words, including exploding thunder, hurling rooftops and tipping hole towns. At the very start of the book the author explains what makes Arthur so angry. This book is - as the title says - about a boy called Arthur, who is angry. The title pulled my interest and the cover image jumped out at me. When I picked this book up, it was purely out of curiosity. But I feel confident I won’t soon forget this one! I can’t say I have ever felt so angry that this story feels especially relatable to me. I have to wonder in what kind of mood a child would find themselves upon finishing this book. There is no ‘still hot’ dinner waiting a return from this fantastical expression of anger. Ultimately Arthur is left adrift in space left to deal with the consequences of his anger without remembering what set him off in the first place. The illustrations depict a satisfyingly detailed sublime chaos a personal highlight for me being a moment when objects and pieces of places stretch distorted across the page, as if they’re being sucked into a black hole. Picked up this book while my girlfriend was digging through her childhood picture books in storage and I was struck by the shockingly bleak ending-one that surely would not fly in many contemporary picture books! In the course of the story Arthur gets so angry and is so intent on anger (despite warnings) that he destroys his house, city, country, planet, and eventually, the entire universe in a flurry of psychic rage.
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