The Busy World of Richard Scarry

Mr. Fixit is delighted with his new inventiona machine that will take him to the center of the Earth, and it's all ready for a solo trip. Except the solo trip ends up being not so solo when Huckle, Lowly, and Mr. Frumble end up tunneling under Busytown. Up on the surface, Busytown is dealing with some serious traffic but now, thanks to the Mole Machine, Busytown's all set for its first ever subway. / The Royal Game of Denis The monks in Abbot Thomas' monastery are very happy, except for Brothers Denis and Pierre they're responsible for the cleaning and doing the dishes. When the King of France arrives for a tour, all the monks do their best to make him happy. And luckily for Abbot Thomas, Brother Denis and Pierre are there to invent tennis so everyone can have lots of fun. / Mr. Gronkle is fed up with his ancestral castle which is falling down, so he decides to tear it down and build a modern shopping center in its place. The cat family finds out and they start a petition to save the castle, but it's Gronkle's own nephew who saves the day when he reminds his uncle about how much fun the young Mr. Gronkle had picnicking around the ruins with his own parents.

Bananas is doomed to bad luck... or at least that's what he thinks, and he ends up causing himself and Busytown lots of bad luck. Huckle, Lowly, and Hilda try to get Bananas to make his own luck, with the help of a mysterious fortune teller. And when Bananas' luck changes... Busytown's back to normal. / Couscous, the greatest detective in North Africa, is shocked to learn that Pepe le Gangstaire and his gang of dirty rats are to be let out of jail... FOR GOOD BEHAVIOUR. The sickly sweet Pepe and his dirty rats are just out to do some robbing, so Couscous lures them into a huge safe, which is really a paddy wagon, and it's back to jail for Pepe le Goodstaire. / Mr. Frumble is delighted to learn that Busytown is going to get its first ever drive-in movie, but he can't understand what all the fuss is aboutthe drive-in sure looks like a parking garage. And that's because he made a mistake and he is driving around a parking garage. When Mr. Frumble finally makes it to the show, people ask him what he thinks of the new drive-in movie? Not too much... and it's much too hard on his pickle car.

King and Queen for a Day It's Busytown Day, and a delighted Hilda, and a not so delighted Huckle are chosen as King and Queen. They will have the honour of riding on Mr. Fixit's fabulous float. Hilda's got her own ideas of what the theme should be, and they're not the same as Mr. Fixit's. And when Huckle gets sick it looks like the parade's over... until Lowly pulls it all together and the parade is a success. / The Piggy Express Through rain, sleet, snow, and dark of night, the mail must get through... or does it? Well, little Piggy S. Press thinks it should, and with the help of Copper, her horsy pal, she's going to make sure that message gets through to the next town. But... gosh, it sure is a long way. And it's so cold. And dark. Maybe she'll just take an office job. But not copper... he's all set for the next mail delivery. / Practice Makes Perfect Huckle, Hilda, Lynnie, and Lowly aren't too keen on Miss Honey's selection of music for the school recital, so they don't practice nearly enough. The three beggars take it upon themselves to show the kids that music is a wonderful thing, you just have to get in the mood. And do they ever.

There's going to be a big race in Busytown, and the first prize is a neato bike-and everyone wants to win, so much so that the competition in Busytown gets a little too fierce. Billy Dog and Huckle Cat are both sure they're going to win, and their friendship is put at risk... until during the race they both learn that being friends is much more important than winning a silly race. / No More Games, Manuel Little Manuel and his lively imagination are back as he and Pedro play jungle explorers. But they take their game a little too far when they actually follow two real explorers deep into the jungle. Pedro and Manuel help find an ancient ruin, but it sure is difficult convincing everyone after all their tall tales. / We Won't Go to the Doctor Pig Will and Pig Won't have their ideas about what happens when you go to the doctor's. So when they hear they have their first appointment with Doctor Lion, they try every trick in the book to get out of it, but even hiding in a closet doesn't work. In the end Pig Won't and Pig Will realize that going to the doctor's is very important everyone wants to be healthy, happy pigs.

Never Too Small All the big kids are playing basket ball, and Sally and Robbie want to play too, but they're a little too small to compete. Lowly and Bananas Gorilla give the little kids some coaching and they learn to use their smallness to their advantage... and it's a good thing too, because they're needed for the big game against Workville. / Albert, the Belgian Barge Captain It's time for the big festival of giants in Belgium, and Albert and his wife think they have the best giant costume ever. The only problem is getting it through the locks and canals to the big event, and that becomes even harder when Albert falls off his barge. Now it's a race against time before the barge, the costume, and Albert's wife all end up... in the sea. / It's raining, it's pouring, and Huckle, Lowly, and Sally are bored stiff. Mother and Father Cat tell them to use their imaginations and make their own fun, except their imaginations and fun keep un-doing all the home projects their parents are working on. Finally, in the attic, the kids actually help out by cleaning up the place, and they play department store... even when the sun starts shining.

When renovations are required after a fire, grouchy Mr. Gronkle must look for some place to stay. He's overjoyed when Sally offers the Cat Family house as his home away for home, and does Mr. Gronkle EVER move in. By week's end the cat family's exhausted, but when he's gone, they find the house almost too quiet, and they are delighted when Mr. Gronkle invites them to a big thank you dinner at his house. / Leo-pardo Da Vinci is great at everything he does. He's a genius. So when a rich merchant asks him to paint the portrait of his daughter, Mona, he sets to the task with vigor. But how can he paint a portrait of someone who's allergic to everything and is always sneezing? That's why they call her Mona Sneeza. But Leo-pardo's a geniusand he gets her to stop sneezing and for once... she even smiles. / Blooming Busytown Mr. Root is given a very difficult task by Mayor Fox to make Busytown Bloom. Now that's a lot of work for one small armadillo. But with Huckle and Lowly's help, they come up with the Blooming Busytown contest and people start working in their gardens. Even Mr. Frumble... and he doesn't know anything about the contest.

Huckle, Lowly, Hilda, and Sally come to the realization that P.S. Pig and Mr. Frumble are two adults in Busytown who are alone, so the kids work to get Mr. Frumble and PS Pig together is not an easy task. Hilda makes a to-do list and when the kids are through, P.S. Pig and Mr. Frumble are certainly together when they fall into the pond. / In Uruk, in 3,000 B.C. the royal architect, Forget-Bur has a problem he keeps forgetting things and wishes there was some way he could remember. Especially when the king orders a new monument to be built in his honour. Think of all the details to remember. So when Forget-Bur is inspecting the bricks for the monument, he invents the first ever form of writing and it's one big shopping list. / It's happened. Hilda has a tooth ache and she is in denial, so Lowly decides to accompany her to the dentist. Now it's not that Hilda's afraid of the dentist it's Bananas Gorilla who's afraid. Hilda's just "unsure"especially about the sound the drill makes. Lowly comes up with a solution, listening to music, and it's a solution that could work for Bananas too... if they can ever get him to keep an appointment.

There's a new neighbour moving to Busytown, and she's moving into the old spooky house. Huckle, Lowly, Billy, and Hilda become convinced the neighbour is a witch because she keeps disappearing and popping up in different places. But she's not a witch... just a twin, and that explains everything... or... does it? / A long long time ago, people were afraid of the ghosts and goblins that live in the forest, so when a young man and his wife get lost, they are very afraid, but they get fed up being scared so they turn the tables on the ghost and goblins by putting on spooky costumes and scaring them right back. Except the ghosts and goblins they scare are really the villagers who've come looking for their friends, and in the end, they all decide they've found a wonderful new tradition dressing up and saying... Boo! / Threes Sally is having trouble learning her numbers, so much so that she decides she doesn't need numbers and doesn't have to learn them. Huckle remembers the time he couldn't spell his own name and Lowly helped him, so they decide to help Sally. They make learning numbers fun, using the old song, One, Two, Buckle my Shoe and Sally realizes just how important numbers really are.

On a particularly busy day in Busytown, Mr. Gronkle gets fed up with the hustle and bustle and the NOISE. So he decides to move to the country. Huckle and Lowly are sad to see him go. Busytown just won't be the same without him. But even out in the country Mr. Gronkle's not happy, especially when it rains, so he sneaks back home. And when Huckle and Lowly see someone in his house, they think it's a robber, and that's when things really get noisy. / Long ago, before people knew their numbers, a young scribe is given the task of taking inventory of a wealthy man's estate. So many things to count, and so many ways to record the amounts, but they are all so complicated. With the help of his young daughter, the scribe convinces the master that there's a simpler way and his way has spread all over the world. / Billy is not a great speller, but when luck has it and he knows how to spell the word responsibility, he is chosen to represent Busytown at a big spelling bee. Huckle, Lowly, and Hilda help Billy become a great speller, but on the big night, Billy chickens out... until Lowly reminds him of the word that got him here in the first place and Billy realizes it's his responsibility to do his best and he does!

It's spring, and while playing soccer, Huckle knocks a bird's nest out of a tree. He decides he can't leave the baby birds alone, so he takes them home to raise them until they are old enough to fly. But... how do you teach a bird to fly? All you need are a couple of feather dusters, a lot of patience, some luck, and a great deal of love. / We don't really know who invented the first valentine, but it's pretty certain that person was in love, just like the Roman emperor's secretary who loves the emperor's daughter. But how to make her notice him? Give her a gift. And that's exactly what he does, but the emperor keeps intercepting the gifts. Finally, with determination but in great fear, the secretary tells the emperor's daughter he loves her. Well, she loves him too. And that's just what the emperor was hoping for. / When Denis is invited to Sprout Goat's sleepover, he realizes that he's a little scared about sleeping in a barn and away from home, but he decides to give it a go. Things don't go very smoothly, and they get worse when he realizes he's the only one still awake in the middle of the night, but that's when he smells smoke. There's a fire in the orchard, and Denis overcomes his fear to sound the alarm and help put out the fire.

There's going to be a big bikeathon in Busytown to raise money for charity, and Billy wants to raise a lot of money. Except when Billy's bike is run over it looks like he's out of the game, unless he can earn enough money to buy a second hand bike. As the big day approaches, Billy keeps track of his savings, but he's still short. And that's when to his great surprise, all his friends chip in and Billy gets that bike. Boy... it sure is nice being able to count on your friends. / On a cold winter night, when a family of candle makers runs of out of wood to heat their home, they are rescued by their kind king. To thank him, the family promises to give the king a wonderful gift in Spring. The chair they build for him is nice, but not very sturdy, and ends up as firewood. The sweater they knit is too small, but it will sure make a nice duster. Finally, the family decides to cook him a feast, but all their eggs break. Except for one. And the little girl finds a way to give the king a very special gift indeed. / It's Valentine's Day in Busytown, and the kids are busy making valentines. Especially Hilda, who gets a little carried away with her valentine for Lowly. When Lowly gives her the same valentine he's giving to all his friends, Hilda gets very upset, but in the end, she realizes that it's not what you give that shows people you love them, it's what you do.

The substitute teacher, Mr. Tough, has a very special field trip for the class to the ancient Stone Circle. But the field trip is less than perfect when his entire class disappears. The kids have found a way into a series of ancient caves and they realize the Stone Circle used to be someone's home. When Mr. Tough finds them he's delighted. They've solved the mystery of the Stone Circle. / The Mayor of New York can't believe it. It's Christmas and someone is trying to steal all of New York before her very eyes. Only Sneef and Sniff can solve this case. At first they don't believe someone could steal New York, but when they see piece after piece rising up into the sky, they decide to get to the top of things. And that's where they find Lady Cheetah, high in the sky in a blimp and with one pretty big magnet. Luckily, New York is returned to normal when Sneef bursts Lady Cheetah's bubble. / Cousin Russ is planning a great masquerade party, but the little kids are worried because it's going to have a spooky theme. The little kids like dressing up in costumes, but they don't want to get scared. Then they realize there's safety in numbers and they all go together in one big costume, which gives Russ and the older kids a real fright.

While playing pirates, Huckle, Lowly, Billy, and Hilda discover a message in a bottle. There's someone out there who's shipwrecked. They tell Mother and Father cat about it, but they think it's just part of the pirate game, so the kids head to Wolf Point Island on their own. Sure enough there's a sailor out there, but when the kids arrive, they are shipwrecked too. So it's a good thing they left a message in a bottle of their own for Mother and Father Cat to find and they come to the rescue. / Hilda's written her own story for storytime, about one very snowy Christmas eve when Santa needed help. A young girl, Big Hilda, plans a very special Christmas ski party the next day, but when Santa breaks the runners on his sleigh, Big Hilda donates her skis. The next morning she realizes she can't go to her own party... and then she checks her stocking. That Santa is a very clever fellow indeed. / The annual Easter Egg Hunt is fast approaching and all the kids are excited, except for Billy, Huckle, and Lowly. They think they're just too old for Easter Egg hunts. Sally, Bridget, and Robbie realize it's because they don't believe in the Easter bunny anymore, so they try to trick the big kids into believing once again. The little kids' plan fails... but then... they all can't believe their eyes as the real Easter bunny hops off into the woods.