Arthur Goes Back to School

PreS-Gr 2—Marc Brown's well-known characters, Arthur, Brain, and Buster, star in four stories loosely related to a back-to-school theme. "To Eat or Not to Eat" describes the negative side effects of devouring copious amounts of popular yet chemical-laden candy bars at lunch. "S.W.E.A.T." shows the ill effects of test anxiety and offers relaxation techniques to lessen the fears of test-taking. "Baseball Blues" relates the contrasts of children's various talents and interests, with the point that someone may not be a great baseball player but might be an ace at something else. Real kids are also shown singing, painting, speaking Arabic, baking, and fishing to illustrate the myriad possibilities available. "Brain's Biggest Blunder" is about the pressure to compete and excel at math. Hints that can help students succeed include talking to someone who struggled with math, too. Printable coloring pages and activities are provided, with more available at pbskids.org/arthur. This DVD experience is akin to watching Saturday morning cartoons (including the excessive promos for PBS-related programming) and would probably be more useful at home than school.—Lonna Pierce, MacArthur & Thomas Jefferson Elementary Schools, Binghamton, NY