Educational Media Reviews Online

This DVD includes four episodes from the popular Emmy-Award-winning PBS animated children’s program, Arthur. Each episode deals with a difficult issue that a child might encounter in real life and shows how it might work out in reality.

Binky Goes Nuts is about a peanut allergy and deals with problems of parental overprotection and fear of loss of favorite foods and social occasions involving food. It shows how the child can be involved in managing the allergy. It is followed by an “infomercial” about Kellie’s Candies Nut-Free Confections that are designed specifically for people with peanut allergies.

In Breezy Listening Blues, Alan gets a lower-than-usual grade on a test. Afraid that listening to a particular kind of music the day before is destroying his intelligence, he experiments with various kinds of music – and silence – to see what effect they have on his ability to complete a puzzle successfully, and on customers in his family’s ice cream parlor. He also gets his usual good grade on the next test.

Arthur Weighs In shows how Arthur, with a little help from his friends, his teacher, his younger sister, and his dog, loses some extra weight he has put on by turning off the television and getting more exercise by walking his dog and engaging in active play, and by eating healthy food. The episode is followed by “U.S. Kids” demonstrating simple exercises, including a warning about the possibility of injury if exercises are not done correctly.

The Law of the Jungle Gym begins when Muffy accidentally trespasses upon the “Tough Customers’” territory (the jungle gym) while taking pictures. After the portrayal of a few different kinds of conflict resolution, Muffy and Molly (the leader of the Tough Customers) agree upon a compromise in which nobody loses face.

The use of the familiar characters from the Arthur series will catch the attention of the young children for whom these stories are intended. They would be best used one at a time to introduce the situation treated and lead into further discussion with and by a child or group of children. The animation is average, television-style quality; the voices are believable for their age group; the stories are presented realistically and accurately. Even someone who does not watch the television program will be able to identify the personalities of the different characters. Each episode is preceded by a brief mention of the corporate sponsor: Chuck-e-Cheese’s and shows the corporate logo.