Original airdate: December 25, 2003
Both stories contain examples of:
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Both episodes have a character going through several mishaps before reaching their goal: Pepe the flea is finally reunited with his brother after traveling all over the world at the end of "Flea to Be You and Me", and D.W. finally receives a kiss from James at the end of "Kiss and Tell" after spending most of the episode Hint Dropping with no results.
- The Four Loves: Both stories focus on a particular kind: the first one is about a circus flea searching for his lost brother (Storge), while the second one is about D.W. wanting to be kissed by a boy (Eros).
"Flea to Be You and Me"
"Alas, no. You see, I have lost him. Sale, my co-star, my partner, my brother. He is gone."
Written by: Jonathan Greenberg
"Er, grazie, signorina. My name is Pepe. The famous Pepe. One half of the great Pepe and Sale, stars of Italy's most acclaimed flea circus."
— Pepe the circus flea
Kate and Pal meet an Italian circus flea named Pepe who has been separated from his brother and co-star Sale and tells them the story of his travels around the world.
"Flea to Be You and Me" contains examples of:
- Animal Jingoism: Amigo considers Pepe an enemy who needs to be "squished" simply because he is a flea. Thankfully, Kate stops him before he can do so.
- Bilingual Bonus: The name of The Amazing Flea Circus' ringmaster, Dottore Pulce, is Italian for "Doctor Flea."
- Call-Back: Pepe was transported to the Read house inside a bottle of rice vinegar sent to Mr. Read by his Japanese pen pal Tatsuya Matsumoto.
- Denial of Animality: Alessio the non-anthropomorphic rat refers to the Funny Animals as "humans."
- Flea Episode: The premise of the episode is Pal finding a flea named Pepe in his fur and he, Kate, and Amigo listen to his story of how he got separated from his brother and circus partner, Sale. After hearing the story, they help him reunite with Sale.
- Gratuitous Italian:
- Hates Baths: Just hearing Mrs. Read say the word "bath" is enough to horrify Pal. At the end of the episode, when his itch is gone, she still decides to give him a bath anyway, causing him to whine.
- Meaningful Name: The ringmaster of Pepe and Sale's flea circus is named Dottore Pulce, which is Italian for "Doctor Flea."
- Never Say "Die": Amigo threatens to "squish" Pepe when first seeing him.
- Somewhere, an Entomologist Is Crying: Pepe ate a dinner consisting of various human(oid) foods and says it filled his thorax with complex sugars. In Real Life, adult fleas are only capable of digesting blood, and a flea's digestive tract is located in its abdomen, not its thorax.
- Whole Episode Flashback: The majority of the episode's runtime is dedicated to Pepe's story of his travels around the world.
"Kiss and Tell"
Written by: Jacqui Deegan
"D.W., I haven't even told you the best part yet. On my last night in France, Pierre kissed me. (D.W.: Ew! That's disgust... Oh, I get it! You dared him!) No, no, no - we were at the Luxembourg Gardens watching a marionette show. Just when the baker was about to hit the thief with a rolling pin, Pierre grabbed my hand, and then it just happened. (sighs) It was the most magical moment in my whole life. (D.W.: The most magical moment in your whole life?! Come on! It was more magical than Elves on Ice?) Oh, yes! It was even more magical than Unicorns on Ice. I'm telling you, D.W., for that moment, I was a princess in a fairytale."
— Emily Leduc
Upon returning from a trip to France, Emily boasts to D.W. about being kissed by a boy named Pierre while there and how it made her feel like a princess in a fairytale, leading D.W. to seek out a prince of her own out of jealousy.
"Kiss and Tell" contains examples of:
- Affection-Hating Kid: Double Subverted. At first, D.W. is disgusted by Emily's account of being kissed by Pierre, but when she explains that it made her feel like a fairytale princess, D.W. swears to find a prince of her own. After she does get kissed on the cheek by James, she decides it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
- Animorphism: D.W. has an Imagine Spot where she and James turn into non-anthro frogs after D.W. kisses him on the cheek and Ms. Morgan places them into a terrarium full of their male classmates who turned as well after being kissed by the girls, and their female classmates who turned after kissing the boys.
- Anywhere but Their Lips: Emily was kissed by Pierre on the hand, while D.W. is kissed by James on the cheek (thankfully, since both of them are preschoolers).
- Ascended Extra: James has been a part of the Arthur franchise since the original book version of ''D.W. Flips'', but this is the first time he is given a name and a plot-relevant role, being apparently Promoted to Love Interest for D.W..
- The Bard on Board: The Teaser is a recreation of the infamous balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet with D.W. playing Juliet and her Imaginary Friend Nadine playing the Nurse. Mr. Ratburn has also assigned Arthur to read the actual Romeo and Juliet novelization as homework.
- Bewitched Amphibians: At naptime in preschool, Emily tells D.W. that she has to be kissed by a boy instead of the other way around, and she has an Imagine Spot where she kisses James on the cheek, which turns him into a frog. Ms. Morgan then picks up Frog James and places him in a terrarium filled with D.W.'s classmates who were also turned into frogs after kissing or being kissed by the other members of the class, after which D.W. herself transforms into a frog and is placed into the terrarium too! Thank goodness this wasn't real.
- Chained to a Railway: At the mall, D.W. sees a scene on TV where a woman in this predicament is rescued by a man and she kisses him afterward, which inspires her to try and recreate a similar scenario with James.
- Coy, Girlish Flirt Pose: D.W. holds her hands behind her back when she approaches James as "Nora" and tries to get a kiss from him.
- Damsel in Distress: A scene on a TV that D.W. sees at the mall has a woman Chained to a Railway being rescued by a man, who receives a kiss from her afterward. This inspires D.W. to try and make James kiss her by playing herself off as a Damsel in Distress for him to save.
- Entertainment Above Their Age: Invoked by Mr. Ratburn, who somehow thought it was a good idea to give reading the novelization of Romeo and Juliet, a play that infamously has a rather kid-unfriendly ending, to his third-grade students as a homework assignment.
- Forced Transformation: In D.W.'s Imagine Spot, boys who get kissed by girls, as well as girls who kiss boys, transform into frogs and are subsequently placed in a terrarium by Ms. Morgan. Lisa is the only student in D.W.'s preschool shown to remain untransformed.
- The Ghost: Pierre, the boy who kissed Emily on her trip to France, is only mentioned by her near the beginning of the episode, but never shown, even in a flashback sequence.
- Girls Have Cooties: Discussed. Timmy and Tommy overhear D.W. talking to Nadine about kissing a boy, and Tommy assumes she wants to do so to them to get rid of hers.
- Given Name Reveal: This episode reveals that the glasses-wearing rabbit with the green shirt in D.W.'s class is named James.
- Green-Eyed Monster: D.W.'s initial motive for wanting to find her own prince is to upstage Emily, who bragged to her about being kissed by a boy while on a trip to France.
- Hint Dropping: D.W. tries recreating several romantic scenarios to hint to James that she wants a kiss from him until she finally tells him about her desire upfront.
- I Kiss Your Hand: Emily tells D.W. that on a trip to France, she was kissed on the hand by a boy named Pierre, which is what kickstarts the plot of the episode when D.W. gets jealous of her. D.W. tries to Invoke this with James as "Nora" but fails.
- Interspecies Romance: The premise of the episode is D.W., an aardvark, seeking a kiss from James, a rabbit. She ends up getting one.
- Oblivious to Love: James never realizes that D.W. wants a kiss from him before she tells him upfront.
- On Ice: Emily and D.W. off-handedly mention two shows called Elves on Ice and Unicorns on Ice.
- Morphic Resonance: When D.W. transforms into a frog after kissing James in her Imagine Spot, her frog form retains her aardvark ears and Boyish Short Hair.
- Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: In The Teaser, D.W. directly borrows the line "O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?"Modern English translation from Romeo and Juliet, but uses it in the wrong context; she's asking where her Prince Charming is, while in the play, Juliet uses the line when she finds out that Romeo, the boy she fell for, is her family's archenemy's son.
- One-Shot Character: Pierre is never seen or mentioned again in any episode after this one. And even in this one, he isn't actually seen.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: D.W.'s disguise as "Nora" consists of only a Victorian mask and an orange scarf and does nothing to hide her iconic pink jumper and Boyish Short Hair, but unlike in most examples of this trope in cartoons, James does see through it, and assumes D.W. just dressed up for show and tell day.
- Playing House: D.W.'s last unsuccessful attempt to get James to kiss her has her play a mother carrying "groceries" (cookies and milk from her preschool) and a "baby" (her Princess Sneeze-and-Wet doll), inspired by seeing her father kiss her mother when she came home from the grocery store with Kate.
- Poor Communication Kills: D.W. could have avoided all of her Hint Dropping shenanigans if she had just asked James for a kiss in the first place, as that is what ultimately gets her one.
- Post-Kiss Catatonia: Downplayed. D.W. is left stunned for a few seconds after James kisses her, after which she realizes that she is still herself, rather than having been turned into a princess by the kiss like she expected.
- Prince Charming: One appears in The Teaser, climbing D.W.'s tower thinking it belongs to Rapunzel.
- Princess Phase: The reason four-year-old D.W. wants a kiss from a boy is because her friend Emily bragged to her about getting one and how it made her feel like a fairytale princess, making D.W. desire the same fairytale experience.
- Promoted to Love Interest: James to D.W.'s in this episode. In the books, he was just another random Living Prop kid in her class, and the same went for the cartoon until this episode, in which D.W. sees him as a "prince" whom she wants a kiss from.
- Puppy Love: Being four years old does not stop D.W. from seeking a kiss from a boy. Nor did it stop Pierre from kissing Emily on the hand.
- Rescue Romance: A scene playing on a TV in the mall shows a man rescuing a woman Chained to a Railway and them sharing a kiss afterward, but when D.W. tries to recreate the scenario with James, it fails because he doesn't realize her intentions.
- Returning the Handkerchief: D.W.'s second-to-last attempt to get a kiss from James has her spin herself on a merry-go-round and wave a handkerchief at him, trying to play herself off as a Damsel in Distress for him to save. James, however, does not get the hint and only returns the handkerchief to her when she falls off the merry-go-round and drops it.
- Ship Tease: The episode seems to tease the possibility of D.W. and James being in Puppy Love, with D.W. choosing him as the "prince" who will kiss her so she can become a fairytale princess, and James actually kissing her on the cheek simply because she asked for one.
- Shout-Out:
- The Teaser is a reference to Rapunzel, with a Prince Charming climbing D.W. and Nadine's tower thinking it belongs to Rapunzel.
- When Ms. Morgan asks her students for their votes on what song is going to be played at naptime, Emily votes for Alouette
, a popular Real Life French nursery rhyme.
- Show Within a Show: When at the mall with her mother, D.W. sees a scene on TV with a Damsel in Distress Chained to a Railway being rescued by a man, which gives her the idea to try and recreate a similar scenario with James by spinning herself on a merry-go-round.
- "Shut Up" Kiss: D.W. eventually gets impatient with James not realizing she wants him to kiss her and begins ranting about it to him. He shuts her up by doing just that.
- Twin Banter: Between Timmy and Tommy as usual, this time over whether D.W. wants to be kissed by a boy because of a dare or to get rid of her cooties.
- Uncertain Doom: When the Prince Charming in The Teaser attempts to climb down from D.W.'s tower, the vine he's climbing on snaps and he falls all the way to the ground. Obviously, we never see his corpse, but it certainly doesn't look good for him, especially since his scream cuts off the moment the thud of him hitting the ground is heard.
- Valentine's Day Episode: Downplayed; despite the romantic themes in the episode, it first aired on Christmas Day, and there are no indications that the story itself happens on Valentine's Day. However, the episode, along with its sister episode, is available for streaming every Valentine's Day on PBS Kids Video.
