Arthur and his alter-ego, The Truth, are not very good friends at the moment. Arthur has done something dreadful. He has 'borrowed' his older brother's bike, and has wrecked it and scratched his mum's car in the process. He knows he is in trouble, and tries to think of all sorts of ways to get out of it. Being an imaginative boy, he comes up with lots of different stories, all very wild and unbelievable, which his friends tell him won't make his mum happy. So they won't, and Arthur finally makes up his mind to tell her what happened. She isn't happy, but she is proud that he has told her the truth, and Arthur has learned an important lesson. The illustrations in this very funny and clever story are great. The Truth is an actual character, a sort of long, sausaged-shaped grey creature who lurks near Arthur . When Arthur decides to 'bend' the truth, poor Truth is bent double. When he 'stretches' the truth, Truth goes cross-eyed at being pulled almost to breaking point. and when Arthur decides to 'cover up' the truth, poor Truth is subjected to being disguised in a paper bag and shoved into a rubbish bin. Perhaps he can just ignore the truth, but even he doesn't think that will work. The illustrations are full of quirky bits, sometimes collage-style, sometimes design-happy with lots of bits and pieces flying around. But it is Arthur and his treatment of The Truth that makes for a really clever tale. Of course, they become good friends in the end, and the last picture ot the two of them together is a treat! A good way to deal with a child who is prone to 'stretching', 'bending', or 'covering up' the facts of the case.