Amazon.com
This episode of the popular science series for kids explores the many remarkable traits of butterflies. Mrs. Frizzle's (Lily Tomlin) class needs a new mascot--fast! There's a soccer game on this afternoon, and they rack their brains for an appropriate name--something that's "exciting and different." When Phoebe suggests they call their team the "Butterflies," everybody thinks it's a silly idea. So Ms. Frizzle takes them to the swamp in search of the mysterious "Bog Beast." But things take a strange twist when Mrs. Frizzle's Port-a-shrinker reduces the kids to bug size. They learn to appreciate the many wonderful traits of butterflies, as they watch them trick, scare, and surprise predators up close. When the bus itself grows wings, the kids must camouflage it and fly like a real butterfly to escape detection. By the end of their adventure, the class agrees that butterflies are more than just pretty!
--Elisabeth Keating
From Parents' Choice®
There is an age window of opportunity for this lively series: somewhere between "I love silly" and "Just the facts, please." A 1999 Parents' Choice® Approval. (Yvonne Coleman, Parents' Choice®)