From your friends at PBS Kids.
Hey, everyone.
Arthur Reed here with a really great episode on scary stuff.
Because sooner or later, we're all scared of something, right?
Like going to the dentist, or giant hairy spiders with 18 legs and googly eyeballs coming right at you.
Ah!
Kidding.
No spiders here because I just cleaned my room.
But there's one friend I have, Sue Ellen, who's not scared of anything.
At least that's what she said when we were up in the treehouse making a scarecrow.
Really?
I'm pretty unscareable.
Try me.
How about monster movies?
Nope.
The Mystery Meat in the Cafeteria?
I bring my lunch from home.
I know.
When you have to give a presentation to the class and everyone stares at you with their big bulgy eyeballs.
I like talking in front of people.
I usually have lots to say.
Arthur, can you roll that head over here?
Sure.
Once we put this hat on, our scarecrow's gonna look so good.
We're almost out of straw for the body, though.
I'll go to the farm and get some more.
Want me to go with you?
It's getting kind of dark.
Nah, I'm good.
It's not that far.
Well, take the mic with you, in case things get interesting.
She's brave.
I wouldn't go to the farm by myself after dark.
It isn't just dark, podcast listeners.
It's spooky.
And I love spooky.
The wind is blowing and the leaves are rustling.
Right now, I'm heading into the woods.
The dead woods, which I have to walk through to get to the farm.
What was that?
Arthur?
Buster?
Binky?
If you're trying to scare me, it won't work.
Arthur?
Binky?
Come out, come out, wherever you are.
Get me out of here!
Home!
Safe!
Come on, Sue Ellen.
Don't be ridiculous.
There aren't any monsters in Elwood City.
Unless... Where's that book?
Here it is.
The story of Baba Yaga, the scary witch lady who eats naughty children.
My parents gave me this book, podcast listeners, when we lived in Russia and... Hello?
Hey, Arthur.
Oh yeah, I was supposed to come back with Straw.
You know, it was getting so late I thought maybe we could finish The Scarecrow tomorrow.
Great!
Yep, I'll bring the mic to school.
See ya!
Where was I?
Oh yeah, the story of Baba Yaga.
Deep in the shadowy woods, in a dank and gloomy cottage perched on four chicken legs, lived an old woman named Baba Yaga.
Baba Yaga liked to howl at her chickens.
Baba Yaga liked to howl at the wolves.
Baba Yaga liked to howl at the... No wonder I hated that story!
All that yowling and eating kids for supper!
Forget it!
Mom!
Dad!
I'm home!
Want me to set the table?
Hey everyone!
So it's the next day and I'm taking a different route to school.
As far from the dead woods as possible.
Even though I'm not afraid of Baba Yaga.
I'm not.
I'm not.
I'm not.
Hey!
You scared me, Binky.
Jumping out at me like that?
I didn't jump.
I walked right up.
Want to take the shortcut to school?
Through the dead woods?
Nuh-uh.
No thanks.
Nope.
Forget it.
Bye!
Now that is weird.
I'm telling you, she was scared.
She ran.
Maybe she saw a mummy.
Mummies are slow.
You wouldn't run from a mummy.
You would if it had a mountain bike.
Are you talking about me?
No, no, of course not.
Yes.
Kinda.
Well, I'm not scared of mummies, but I am scared of this.
My parents gave me this book when we were in Russia.
What am I looking at?
A house in the woods?
On chicken legs?
You're scared of a witch in a book?
That's not even real?
That's just it.
She might be real.
Last night in the woods, I heard a yowl, just like the noise that Baba Yaga makes.
It was terrifying, which is why I never made it to the farm and didn't get the straw.
Bummer.
We need more straw or we'll never finish our scarecrow.
That's not the point.
The point is, there might be a witch living in the dead woods.
If there's a witch, I definitely want to see her.
Me too.
As long as Binky goes first.
What if we all go to the dead woods after school and check it out?
If we stick together, we won't get scared.
And while we're at it, we can get more straw for the scarecrow.
That too.
Deal?
Deal.
So that's what we did, podcast listeners.
We met up after school and went to the dead woods.
We took the mic along, just in case.
Sue Ellen wore goggles and a raincoat for protection.
Buster had his space helmet.
I had an umbrella.
And Binky had Binky.
The dead woods sure look different on a sunny day.
Blue sky and birds.
What's that noise?
Sounds like the river.
Or a washing machine.
Only woods don't have washing machines.
I know a spooky story about a river god.
I'll tell you when we get to the bridge.
We're here, at the bridge, over the river.
Spill the beans, Sue Ellen.
Okay, so the story is about a hungry Japanese river god named Kappa.
Hungry for what?
You don't want to know.
Seriously, I want to know.
Cucumbers mostly.
But if you stare into the water, you'll sometimes see a face staring back at you.
A face that's part frog, Part monkey, part human, and all terrible.
If I saw a scary river, god I'd distract him, throw a cucumber into the river and make him look for it.
That's actually a good idea.
That's me.
Binky Good Idea Barnes.
How far to the farm?
I'm hungry.
Quarter of a mile, maybe.
Tops.
Too bad we're not looking for the witch in Hansel and Gretel.
She had a house made of candy.
Is that the scary sound you heard last night?
Nope.
That was a blue jay.
What I heard was human, like a witch howling at the moon.
Or maybe... I'm just remembering that Baba Yaga isn't the only monster who howls.
There's also banshees.
Are banshees the same thing as werewolves?
Nah, they're more like ghosts who scream whenever someone's about to meet their doom.
Banshees are in folktales from Ireland.
Mostly they ride around on headless horses and shriek until your ears hurt.
If any banshee got in my face, I'd tell them to put a sock in it.
You gotta get tough with these ghosts.
That's it!
That's the sound!
I gotta go home now for my snack.
Bye!
You can't leave, Binky!
What about all for one and one for all?
I'm all for me!
How about this?
If we find a witch in the woods... Or an alien?
Or a Kappa River God?
Or a banshee?
Whatever.
If we find a witch... Or a werewolf?
Or an ogre?
Or a goblin?
Or a gremlin?
Are you done?
Or a dragon.
Continue.
If we find a... whatever...
We can take a picture and post it online.
Right!
And get famous and save the day and get the reward.
What reward?
There's always a reward.
It's like a rule.
Okay, okay.
I'll stay.
I'm not afraid of you, you... What's her name?
Baba Yaga.
We are good people.
We know you fear good people.
How do we know that?
It's in the book.
Let's keep going.
Stay close.
Why'd you have to tell us all these stories, Suellen?
I was perfectly fine not knowing about... She's in the tree!
She's gonna drop on our heads and eat our faces!
Open your umbrella, Arthur!
What's an umbrella gonna do?
Open your umbrella!
Get under the umbrella!
Wait a minute.
Sounds like a dog.
It's a witch pretending to be a dog.
Don't look at it, Suellen.
Don't look.
I gotta go see it.
Something's not right.
Get down from the tree.
Get down.
I knew it.
It's a little dog.
Look.
It's Perky, the dog I used to babysit.
Perky, are you okay?
How'd you get stuck in a tree, little pup pup?
Oh, I see.
You got some branches tangled in your collar.
There you go.
You're free.
I got you.
I got you.
Hang on.
We made it down, little pup pup.
I don't believe it.
You're a hero, Sue Ellen.
You rescued a stuck dog.
Poor little baby.
We gotta get her home.
Okay, but after that, can we please get more straw for the scarecrow?
For sure.
So podcast listeners after we saved Perky, Suella went back to not being afraid of anything.
Binky went back to the farm and got more straw and after we finished our scarecrow, I put him in the front yard next to a bunch of pumpkins.
Right in time for Halloween.
That is the scariest scarecrow I ever made. we ever made.
Did you put a motor inside to make the arms move?
What do you think I am, brain?
Like I'd even know how to do that.
Then why is this scarecrow waving its arms at us?
It looks really alive.
I am alive.
And I'm going to get you.
Woo!
It's me!
It's just a costume!
Come back!
Sheesh, some people are scared of everything!
Where's the stop record button on this thing?
Oh yeah, here!
And now it's time for... Dear D.W.!
!
Susie G wants to know, Dear DW, should pineapple go on pizza?
A pineapple is heavy and spiky.
So if you put it on your pizza, your pizza gets smushed and you'd get poked by a spike.
So no.
Question two is from Jamal S. Dear DW, what would you bring to a desert island?
A boat so I could leave.
How about this?
What would you bring to a dessert island?
Ooh, cake!
With frosting!
Candy!
Applesauce!
Ice cream!
Ice cream with marshmallows!
Ice cream with marshmallows and chocolate!
Ice cream with marshmallows and chocolate and sprinkles!
Ice cream with marshmallows and chocolate and sprinkles and fish sticks!
Ew!
My genius is never appreciated.
That's it for now.
Send your questions to me, Dear D.W., See you later, alligator.
And that's the show, Podcast Nation.
If you liked it, ask your grown-up to subscribe so you don't miss any new episodes.
You can listen to all our podcasts, play games, and more at pbskids.org.
The Arthur Podcast is produced for PBS Kids by GBH Kids in partnership with Hothead Creative Studios and distributed by PBS Kids and PRX.
Thanks for listening.
From PRX.
