D.W. Read

'''Dora Winifred "D.W." Read''' is a preschooler who is Arthur's younger sister and Kate's older sister.

Physical appearance
Like the rest of her family, D.W. is an anthropomorphic aardvark. She has light brown hair in the form of a bob cut, which is up to her cheeks; plus, she has bangs. She wears a white long-sleeved blouse, a frilly sleeveless knee-length magenta dress, frilly cream-colored or white panties, light pink pantyhose and blue-and-cyan strapped Mary Jane shoes.

Alternate Outfits
D.W. also has many alternate outfits: Her footsie pajamas, pink frilly swimsuit, red polka dot dress (usually worn to formal occasions), her Arthur outfit, gymnastics suit, and much more. In some of the books, she wore pink overalls. In the episode D.W. Thinks Big, she wore a solid pink dress to Lucy's wedding. In the episode Double Tibble Trouble, she wore dark green overalls. In the summer she either wears a light-brown jumper and a white short sleeved T-shirt, or shorts and a blue T- Shirt, like in D.W.'s Deer Friend when she went camping and in Best Enemies. She also wears her blue T- Shirt with gray jeans. In the episode D.W. All Fired Up, she wore an orange long-sleeved shirt under purple overalls, with light green pockets. In "D.W. Swims with the Fishes", she wore a one-piece ordinary pink swimsuit instead of her typical pink frilly swimsuit.

Pink Stripes
In the books, her white blouse and pantyhose typically features pink stripes not seen on the television show, likely due to the budget/time constraints of television animation. The pink stripes were also present in the CGI film Arthur's Missing Pal. These are also often seen in promotional images, as well as most merchandise, such as stickers or plush toys.

Main Personality
Despite her superficial appearance, D.W. is often annoying to Arthur (he considers her a pest and once warned Sue Ellen that her name stands for Disaster Warning, though D.W. would later adopt DisasterWarning99 as her username for Virtual Goose) and sometimes, she takes pleasure in getting him in trouble, but deep down, she truly loves her brother. D.W. gets along well with most of her friends but often becomes very dramatic when things don't go her way and sometimes becomes too bossy. She is known for her many short-lived obsessions and temper tantrums, two of her longest-lived ones being Mary Moo Cow and the song, "Crazy Bus," both of which annoy Arthur to no end. She also has an imaginary friend named Nadine, whom she plays with and confides her problems to when no one else is around. She hates her full name and she has everyone call her "D.W." for short instead. She is a drama queen and also seems to be very protective of Kate.

Being a preschooler, she often doesn't understand the definition of words and she tries to use complex words for her age, such as "taxpaying" and she accidentally turns them into words like "taxipaying". She also doesn't grasp important topics like where babies come from, in which she thought that they come from a large baby store. She believed that teachers live at school and was rather stunned when Mr. Ratburn, temporarily staying at the Read household, told her that he has a home of his own. She expressed that the world seemed simple until then. Despite all this, D.W. has often been shown to be quite intelligent for her age, such as in Arthur's Spelling Trubble when she catches on that her mom is bribing her with ice cream to leave Arthur alone to study.

D.W. has cephalophobia (the fear of octopuses and squids), and once she endured a short-lived fear of fire drills (and anything else related to fire). She is a picky eater and once, she had a profound hatred of spinach. She also does not like tomatoes and in preschool, they are allowed as her one thing she doesn't have to eat when offered. She once had a snowball from D.W.'s Snow Mystery which was stolen from the fridge (apparently by aliens) and she frequently blames Arthur for its disappearance, which is a running gag. She did this continually until Arthur tried to make her feel better by giving her what looked like her snowball, at which point D.W. admitted he couldn't have taken it from her.

D.W. is also gullible. She believes that anything she sees on TV that is enhanced to look good is good. This is suggested in "D.W. Goes to Washington," where Arthur brings up the story when they went to "Santa's Igloo" where you shared a sundae with "Santa" and you had to buy a sundae to share it with the guy in the Santa costume. Also, she is frequently tricked by the Tibble Twins into doing silly things that get her in trouble; even though she has acknowledged many times that the Tibbles always lie.

She possesses a fondness for unicorns. She has a toy winged unicorn named Uni from the My Fluffy Unicorn franchise and once decorated her portion of the family Christmas tree with toy unicorns and troll dolls. She would like to one day have a real unicorn and has a display of troll dolls in her room which appears throughout the series despite the fad peaking in the 1990s. D.W., like many children her age, also a fondness for plush toys in general. She wanted the toy Tina the Talking Tabby for Christmas, but ended up receiving Quackers the duck instead. She also owns a teddy bear and a plush rabbit, among other stuffed animals.

She is also known to host six episodes: D.W.'s Name Game, D.W. Tricks the Tooth Fairy, D.W.'s Time Trouble, The Secret About Secrets, In My Africa, and Adventures in Budylon.

Past life
When D.W. was a baby, she originally had just clumps of hair, but in later seasons, it depicted her with a similar, but shorter, hairstyle. While D.W. was a baby; she was wearing a pink shirt, white disposable diapers, and pink socks. As such, she also had the same crib that had eventually become Kate's crib.

Future life
Not much was shown about her future life, although in "D.W.'s Time Trouble," she and Nadine looked older in one scene during D.W.'s dream where she wished that she was older than Arthur. A fantasy sequence in "D.W.'s Name Game" depicts an older version of her attending a concert of Arthur's and disrupting it by loudly eating potato chips. Her appearance is a taller ver sion of her present self.

During Arthur's dream in "D.W. and the Beastly Birthday", D.W. is shown at age 9. She goes by Dora instead of D.W. ever since she turned 6. She wears a yellow sweater with a purple jacket, blue jeans and purple sneakers. "Dora" is written in Japanese across her sweater. She now wears orange frame glasses and a maroon headband. Her future look is reminiscent of the traditional Arthur outfit.

Other media
In the Living Books computer games, she had a brown complexion and orange hair in Arthur's Teacher Trouble and then had a pale complexion and dark brown hair in Arthur's Birthday, and she wore a purple shirt instead of a white 1 while wearing a jumper with white leggings or overalls. It was likely because of color and tone restrictions during the 16-bit era of computers and software. In these two games, she was voiced by Kelly Greenley, and it was by far her only female voice-over in the series, and the cartoon show that first aired in 1996, a few years after the first release of those two Living Books games had always voiced her with a male voice-over. D.W. was originally voiced by Michael Caloz in the first three seasons. Oliver Grainger took his place for Seasons 4-6, then Jason Szwimmer took over for Seasons 7-10. From Season 11-15, she was voiced by Robert Naylor. From Season 16 to 17, she was voiced by Jake Beale. Andrew Dayton is her voice as of season 18.

In the later games during the 32-bit era of computers and software (such as Arthur's Thinking Games), her appearance was the same as she looks in the cartoon show. For one at least, like all females in the games, D.W. was voiced by Elizabeth Telefus and the late Mary Kay Bergman.

Family
D.W. lives with her family which consists of her father (David Read), her mother (Jane Read), her older and only brother (Arthur Read) and her baby sister (Baby Kate).
 * Arthur Read: Usually Arthur and D.W are seen fighting with each other, especially over their TV time and when she annoys him, but they also truly love and care for each other. In the episode "Lost!", D.W. was very concerned over Arthur's well being after she learned he was lost, and crawled in his bed at night to make sure he won't get lost again. A usual theme with Arthur and D.W, is Arthur usually forgets to play with D.W the games he promised her. It was noted that Arthur used to play with D.W all the time, until Arthur believed that D.W liked "baby stuff." She is naturally better than Arthur in many activities such as fishing, storytelling, and coming up with a tune for music, which made him quite jealous of her for such a young age. In most of her brother's fantasies, D.W. was often cast as an antagonist, Arthur had once angrily punched her in the arm for breaking his model plane in "Arthur's Big Hit". Sometimes D.W. casts Arthur as an antagonist in her fantasies, such as in the story she told to the Tibbles in "I'd Rather Read It Myself".
 * Kate Read: Baby Kate is D.W's younger sister who looks up to D.W. and does favors for her regularly with Pal, e.g. finding her lost sock. In the time she was born, D.W. was displeased when she had to share her room with Kate, and was planning various ways to get rid of her, or else she wants to move away. At one time, D.W. threatened to pinch Kate for taking away her toys and was sent to her room as a punishment for ten minutes. Despite her initial disfavor of Kate, D.W. has come to deeply love and care for her little sister, and takes an active interest in her development.
 * Pal: Arthur's dog Pal likes D.W. and D.W. regularly dislikes him and thinks that he is dumb, but sometimes treats him nicely, as they can be seen playing together in the theme song.
 * Spanky: Spanky was a pet parakeet that was briefly owned by D.W. She was deeply attached to him and held a funeral following his death in "So Long, Spanky."
 * David Read: D.W. has a great relationship with her dad. She is also daddy's little girl and often tries to use him to get away with some of her behaviors, but usually fails. Two examples of this is during the episode of "D.W.'s Baby", she stated that Kate had put Dave's shoes into the dishwasher and during Go to Your Room, D.W., when she was caught out of her room and Dave sent her back.
 * Jane Read: D.W. has a good relationship with her mom, but it seems as though she is a bit more strict than her dad. Her early rivalries with her baby sister, Kate for example. When she is mean to her, this can invariably lead D.W. into trouble with her mom.

Friends
D.W has many preschool friends such as Emily, The Tibbles and James.


 * Emily: Emily is D.W's best friend, but is often trying to compete with her and is jealous often. She is of French descent and has a French nanny named Marie-Helene.


 * Tommy and Timmy Tibble: The Tibbles are D.W's friends, but often try to compete with her and pester her. They are also known to lie to D.W., often misleading her into doing foolish things for their own amusement. D.W. often finds herself at odds with them, but they usually make up later. Once also, the boys hurt her badly in Attack of the Turbo Tibbles by hitting her with a swing


 * James MacDonald: James is a friend of D.W.'s who is very shy at times. D.W. tried to get him to kiss her once in Kiss and Tell, thinking she would become a princess like Emily (who felt like a princess when she was kissed in Paris). He eventually did kiss her, but not much came of it, other than D.W. looking slightly shocked and she had difficulty speaking for a while afterward. This may be because she and James (despite their young age), have feelings for each other. They are usually on pretty good terms with each other.


 * Lisa: Lisa is a girl in D.W.'s preschool who may or may not be a friend of D.W. She once got D.W. into a very bad mood when she didn't invite D.W. to her birthday party, as D.W. was insulted when Emily was invited and not her in D.W.'s Very Bad Mood. Very little is known about their current relationship.


 * Vicita Molina: Vicita and D.W. are next-door neighbors and occasionally play together. They are able to relate to each other easily because Vicita is only half a year younger than D.W. They generally get along and Vicita often looks up to D.W., but D.W. can occasionally be bossy and dislikes it when Vicita excels at games that she doesn't in Arthur and Los Vecinos. They appear to be almost as close as sisters, if not as close.


 * Binky Barnes: D.W. is friends with Arthur's classmate Binky. They became friends after D.W. ate a green potato chip and was tricked by Arthur into thinking they were poisoned in The Chips are Down. She told Binky this and they became friends after they decided to spend the last of their days together, only to learn later that their poisoning was nothing more than a prank. They remained friends and they have even done ballet together in D.W., Dancing Queen, and have remained on good terms since.


 * Nadine Flumberghast: D.W.'s imaginary friend. They talk to each other a lot and go on different adventures with each other. They think out many different problems together, usually resulting in Nadine not knowing anything more than D.W.'s knowledge.


 * Francine Frensky: They don't really interact very often, but Francine is one of D.W.'s friends. She once invited D.W. to her birthday party in "D.W.'s Very Bad Mood" after Lisa didn't invite her. Also in "Arthur's Big Hit," Francine felt awfully sorry for D.W. after Arthur hit her in the arm.


 * Bud Compson: D.W. has been friends with Bud since the Compson family moved in close to the Reads. The two often spend time together, such as plotting to try to find a way to ride a rollercoaster together that they are told they're not tall enough to ride in "D.W. & Bud's Higher Purpose."
 * Muffy Crosswire: D.W. and Muffy don't really interact, but when D.W. climbs the tree in "D.W. Blows the Whistle" Muffy finds help to get her down and she does help D.W. out with her wedding in 1 episode "D.W. Unties the Knot" and she asks D.W. who she's talking to in the episode "The Friend Who Wasn't There" who happens to be her imaginary friend Nadine. They're kind of friends and sometimes bond and get along in some episodes.

D.W. Books
In addition to the Arthur Adventure titles, D.W. has appeared in a number of titles in her own series, including:


 * D.W., the Picky Eater
 * D.W. Thinks Big
 * D.W. Flips!
 * D.W. Rides Again
 * D.W., Go to Your Room!
 * D.W.'s Lost Blankie
 * D.W.'s Library Card
 * D.W.'s Guide to Perfect Manners (D.W. Says Please and Thank You)
 * D.W.'s Guide to Preschool (D.W. Goes to Preschool)
 * Glasses for D.W.
 * Good Night, D.W.
 * D.W. The Big Boss
 * D.W.'s Perfect Present

Many of these titles were adapted for the television series, while some were initially aired as television stories and later adapted as books.

Disguises and Aliases

 * The Mysterious Hand ("Arthur's Lost Library Book")
 * Mrs. Ida B. Forkenstern ("The Half-Baked Sale")
 * The Phantom of the Store ("D.W. Gets Lost")
 * O-D.W.-eus ("D.W. Tale Spins")
 * DisasterWarning99 ("Sue Ellen Gets Her Goose Cooked")
 * Deeangeleenora "Dee" Woo ("D.W. Unties the Knot")
 * Otis ("Buster's Breathless")
 * Hiccup Girl ("Hic or Treat")

Possessions

 * Acorn Collection
 * Blankie
 * Bowling Ball
 * Button Collection
 * Clarissa
 * Confuse the Goose
 * Crazy Bus
 * Martha Mealy Worm
 * Mary Moo Cow
 * Pick-Up-Ticks
 * Princess Sneeze-and-Wet
 * Quackers
 * Rocks in a Box
 * Sharky
 * Tower of Cows
 * Virtual Goose!
 * Weasel Rally

Trivia

 * She is modeled after author Marc Brown's sister, Kim Brown.
 * D.W. is unable to read and claims to not know time even though she knows when Mary Moo Cow comes on TV and whenever New Year's starts, but it's possible she's gained an in-built clock to these skills or she's reminded. She has also been shown in some episodes to be able to read a little bit, such as the "Moo" in "Mary Moo Cow" and in the book release Arthur's Reading Trick she is able to read the book Green Eggs and Ham.
 * She can only write her own name.
 * It is clearly known that D.W hates Bionic Bunny, but in the episodes, "D.W. the Copycat" and "Arthur and the Crunch Cereal Contest", D.W. is watching and laughing. Though, in the former, she was most likely faking interest in the show as she was acting like Arthur in the episode. In the book Arthur's Promise, D.W. wears a Bionic Bunny costume and joins Arthur's Bionic Bunny Fan Club, though this possibly had more to do with wanting to spend time with her big brother and his friends rather than an actual interest in Bionic Bunny.
 * In "Clarissa is Cracked", it is revealed that she closely resembles Grandma Thora as a young girl.
 * In the episode, "Postcards from Buster", it is revealed that she used to have an imaginary friend that was a pig named Snooter.
 * When Arthur says that D.W. doesn't like anything, in "D.W., the Picky Eater", D.W. defiantly states that she likes: peanut butter and jelly, strawberries, chocolate (without nuts), birthday cakes, and chocolate ice cream.
 * D.W. also likes spinach (or at least claims to after unwittingly eating it in a pot pie), and yaprak dolmasi, a Turkish dish.
 * D.W. also ate without complaint both the turkey dinner served by Mr. Read in Arthur's Perfect Christmas, as well as the "truly traditional" Christmas dinner that included such dishes as halva, puls, unleavened bread and roast lamb with turmeric.
 * In "That's MY Grandma!," she was delighted by Grandma Thora's kale cauliflower tart.
 * She knows how to whistle as seen in "So Long, Spanky".
 * In the French dub, she was named as "Diminou" or her full name "Dominique Fanny Read".

Appearances

 * Specials
 * Arthur's Perfect Christmas
 * Arthur - It's Only Rock 'n' Roll
 * D.W. and the Beastly Birthday
 * Season 1
 * Arthur's Eyes 10101
 * Arthur's Spelling Trubble 10202
 * D.W. All Wet 10301
 * Buster's Dino Dilemma 10302
 * D.W.'s Imaginary Friend 10401
 * Arthur's Lost Library Book 10402
 * Arthur's Pet Business 10501
 * D.W. the Copycat 10502
 * Locked in the Library! 10601
 * Arthur Accused! 10602
 * Arthur Goes to Camp 10701
 * Arthur's New Puppy 10801
 * Arthur Bounces Back 10802
 * Arthur Babysit 10901
 * Arthur's Cousin Catastrophe 10902
 * Arthur's Birthday 11001
 * Arthur's Baby 11101
 * D.W.'s Baby 11102
 * Arthur Writes a Story 11201
 * Arthur's Lost Dog 11202
 * So Long, Spanky 11301
 * Buster's New Friend 11302
 * Arthur the Wrecker 11401
 * Arthur's Family Vacation 11501
 * Grandpa Dave's Old Country Farm 11502
 * Arthur and the Crunch Cereal Contest 11601
 * D.W. Flips 11602
 * Arthur's Chicken Pox 11801
 * Sick as a Dog 11802
 * D.W. Gets Lost 12402
 * Arthur's First Sleepover 13001
 * Arthur's New Year's Eve 13002
 * Season 2
 * Arthur Meets Mister Rogers 20101
 * D.W., the Picky Eater 20301
 * Go to Your Room, D.W. 20402
 * Buster Baxter, Cat Saver 20601
 * Play it Again, D.W. 20602
 * Arthur vs. the Piano 20801
 * Lost! 20901
 * D.W. Goes to Washington 21001
 * D.W.'s Deer Friend 21101
 * Arthur's Knee 21402
 * D.W. Blows the Whistle 21602
 * Arthur vs. the Very Mean Crossing Guard 21801
 * D.W.'s Very Bad Mood 21802
 * D.W.'s Name Game 21901
 * Season 3
 * D.W. All Fired Up 30201
 * I'd Rather Read It Myself 30202
 * The Chips are Down 30501
 * Revenge of the Chip 30502
 * Attack of the Turbo Tibbles 31001
 * D.W. Tricks the Tooth Fairy 31002
 * Double Tibble Trouble 31101
 * Arthur's Almost Live Not Real Music Festival 31102
 * Clarissa is Cracked 31202
 * Season 4
 * D.W.'s Library Card
 * Arthur's Big Hit
 * Season 8
 * Arthur's Snow Biz 80301
 * D.W., Dancing Queen 80402
 * Sue Ellen Chickens Out 80502
 * Kiss and Tell 80902
 * Season 9
 * Francine's Big Top Trouble 90201
 * Arthur Weighs In 90301
 * Buster's Green Thumb 90401
 * My Fair Tommy 90402
 * Lights, Camera... Opera! 90501
 * All Worked Up 90502
 * Arthur Makes Waves 90601
 * Three's a Crowd 90701
 * Emily Swallows a Horse 90802
 * D.W. Beats All 90901
 * Season 10
 * Happy Anniversary 100100
 * The Squirrels 100201
 * Fern and Persimmony Glitchet 100202
 * The Secret About Secrets 100302
 * Feeling Flush 100401
 * Family Fortune 100402
 * D.W. Aims High 100501
 * Flaw and Order 100502
 * Arthur Changes Gears 100602
 * D.W., Bossy Boots 100702
 * Binky vs. Binky (Cameo) 100801
 * Do You Speak George? 100901
 * What's Cooking? 101001
 * Season 11
 * Swept Away 110101
 * Arthur Sells Out 110201
 * Buenas Noches, Vicita 110301
 * The Making of Arthur 110601
 * Dancing Fools 110602
 * Buster Gets Real 110802
 * Big Brother Binky 111000
 * Season 12
 * Never, Never, Never 120102
 * The Blackout 120801
 * Do You Believe in Magic? 120902
 * The Perfect Game (cameo) 121001
 * Season 13
 * The Great MacGrady 130100
 * No Acting, Please 130501
 * D.W. Swims with the Fishes 130602
 * The Secret Guardians (Intro) 130702
 * Prunella and the Haunted Locker 130802
 * Looking for Bonnie (Fantasy) 130101
 * The Secret Origin of Supernova 130102
 * Season 14
 * The Agent of Change (Cameo) 140201
 * D.W. Unties the Knot 140202
 * Falafelosophy 140401
 * Buster Baxter & the Letter from the Sea 140602
 * Muffy and the Big Bad Blog (Cameo) 140702
 * All the Rage (Title card) 140802
 * D.W., Queen of the Comeback 140901
 * In My Africa 140902
 * Season 15
 * Fifteen (Mentioned) 150100
 * Whistling in the Wind 150202
 * The Last King of Lambland 150302
 * Cents-less (Cameo) 150401
 * S.W.E.A.T. 150502
 * What's in a Name? (Fantasy) 150702
 * Best Enemies 150802
 * Through the Looking Glasses 150902
 * The Butler Did... What? 151001
 * The Trouble with Trophies 151002
 * Season 16
 * Based on a True Story 1601
 * Flippity Francine (cameo) 160201
 * Muffy Takes the Wheel (cameo) 160202
 * All About D.W. 160301
 * Blockheads 160302
 * Baby Steps 160402
 * Night of the Tibble 160501
 * Read and Flumberghast 160502
 * The Last Tough Customer (Cameo) 160601
 * Brain's Chess Mess 160602
 * Season 17
 * Show Off 170101
 * Adventures in Budylon 170201
 * Opposites Distract 170401
 * Just the Ticket 170402
 * All Thumbs 170501
 * Kidonia 170502
 * Waiting for Snow 170602
 * Pets and Pests 170701
 * The Director's Cut 170801
 * Crime and Consequences (Cameo) 170802
 * Framed! 170902
 * Season 18
 * The Tattletale Frog 180101
 * D.W. & Bud's Higher Purpose 180102
 * The Friend Who Wasn't There 180201
 * Surprise! 180202
 * The Substitute Arthur 180302
 * Best Wishes (Cameo) 180401
 * Fountain Abbey 180501
 * Whip. Mix. Blend. (Cameo) 180601
 * Staycation 180602
 * Two Minutes 180701
 * Arthur Read: Super Saver 180801
 * Tibbles to the Rescue 180802
 * The Pageant Pickle 180901
 * Some Assembly Required 180902
 * Shelter from the Storm 181000
 * Season 19
 * Brain's Brain 190101
 * Arthur's Toy Trouble 190301
 * One Ornery Critter 190501
 * Carl's Concerto 190701
 * Too Much of a Good Thing 190702
 * The Last Day 191000
 * Season 20
 * Buster's Second Chance 200101
 * He Said, He Said 200301
 * Bunny Trouble 200302
 * Bud's Knotty Problem 200401
 * That's MY Grandma! 200402
 * Season 21
 * Francine & the Soccer Spy (Cameo) 210301
 * The Lost Dinosaur 210601
 * The Princess Problem 210602
 * Invasion of the Soccer Fans 210701
 * Pal and the Big Itch 210702

Postcards from Buster

 * "A Sense of Direction"
 * "Family Reunion"