Rumor has it that Francine is finally going to find a way to kiss Arthur at her birthday party. Arthur is worried, until he is assured that they will not play that spin-the-bottle kissing game. Instead, Francine and Muffy have a devilishly clever plan, and only D.W. and Pal can save Arthur.

Two things suggest that Arthur, the loveable star of children s books and the PBS series, may not be so fictitious after all: 1) Kids are known to call Marc Brown s house looking for their bespectacled friend and 2) Brown s third grade class picture -- according to many, a dead-ringer for the aardvark himself.