After Eloise's tutor Philip quits, Nanny enrolls her in the prestigious Hawthorne Academy. Eloise can't wait to begin real school, but soon finds out it isn't exactly what she was expecting. There are mean girls on the playground, very strict teachers and so many rules rules rules! Eloise decides it's time to make school fun again, she's teaching her new friends to stand up to bullies, helping her teacher understand there are a lot of different ways to learn and having tons of adventures. Can Eloise fit in at her new school? Will she be able to follow all the rules while remaining true to herself? Imagination runs wild and being bored is never allowed in this fun filled animated adventure featuring the talented voices of Lynn Redgrave, Tim Curry, Neil Patrick Harris and Doris Roberts!

The first day of school is an exciting time for many kids and for Eloise, who had been home-schooled, it's an exciting and educational experience. Fans of the Eloise books will love following their favorite New York socialite-in-training in this DVD as she attends school, struggles to follow all the rules and eventually takes a stand for both herself and her friends. This DVD does a great job of emphasizing that kids should just be themselves and accept others for who they are as well.

The important lessons of being kind to everyone and standing up for yourself take center stage in this film. When the popular mean girls refuse to be friends with Eloise, she finds that the less-popular, so-called misfits welcome her with open arms and proves that friendship should be based on kindness and not popularity. When Eloise later stands up to the unusually harsh teacher who belittles a student for having stage fright while giving a class presentation, she gains the respect of the class and eventually the teacher.

Avery, a girl I occasionally babysit, loved this video. She is in kindergarten, and said "my teacher is much, much nicer than that teacher!" She also loved that one of characters claimed to have 56 cats!

--Abby