Arthur Celebrates Earth Day with New Episodes and a Visit From a NASA Astronaut

PBS KIDS GO!'s ARTHUR is celebrating Earth Day with 5 brand-new episodes beginning Friday, April 22, 2011. In "Buster Baxter and the Letter from the Sea," Buster discovers a message in a bottle on the beach while on vacation with the Read family. Could it be an urgent message from the people of the Lost City of Atlantis? Buster is determined to find out and sends messages back...by throwing his own bottles into the ocean. Join Buster and Arthur as they learn that keeping our beaches and waterways clean is the real message.

Through the special Go Green Challenge online, Arthur and friends will teach kids simple steps they can take to help protect the environment.  Whether it's making better food choices with Buster, or saving energy with D.W., kids have opportunities to take simple green steps that can help save the environment. Also, kids will be able to print out a "Challenge Page" to keep track of their green actions.

In a special episode airing Thursday, April 28, 2011, kids learn that teamwork can help their dreams soar when NASA Astronaut Mike Finke guest-stars on ARTHUR in "Buster Spaces Out."  Inspired by footage of the moon landing, Buster wants to go to outer space.  But for now, it would be really cool to build and launch a rocket. So Buster enlists his friends to help...but they can't agree on anything and the mission stalls. Luckily, their new friend Astronaut Mike teaches them that only teamwork will accomplish this mission--and then it's blast-off!

"This Earth Day, we wanted to show kids how simple actions can affect the environment," says Senior Executive Producer Carol Greenwald. "Through this episode and the Go Green Challenge, kids can learn simple steps that they can take to help protect the world around them."

The full schedule of airdates is below (check local listings):

Friday, April 22, 2011 - Follow the Bouncing Ball, Buster Baxter and the Letter from the Sea
Monday, April 25, 2011 - Around the World in 11 Minutes, Muffy and the Big Bad Blog
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 - Arthur Unravels, All the Rage
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 - D.W., Queen of the Comeback, In My Africa
Thursday, April 28, 2011 - Buster Spaces Out, The Long Road Home