Helen, T.D., Truman, and Milo are at the Lee house, playing a board game, while Martha, Skits, and Lily watch on, bored. However, whenever Milo has to read a card, he claims he has to go to the bathroom and has Helen read it for him. In the park, they (except Milo and Lily) wonder why Milo went to the bathroom whenever he had to read a card. Martha wonders if he has to pee when excited, like a dog she knows, but Helen wonders if he's "struggling with learning to read" and was hiding in the bathroom to avoid reading. The other boys ask if she thinks Milo is illiterate, and Helen clarifies she knows he's not, but she wonders if he's afraid to read in front of others. They want to help Milo, but Helen thinks letting him know he shouldn't be scared would embarrass him more.
Then, T.D. offers to be Milo's "reading buddy"; someone who helps him to read. Milo doesn't want one since he can read, but he reveals that Helen is correct, and that the reason for is fear is that he "mess[es] up a lot". T.D. says that having a "reading buddy" can help quell his fears, and that he used to have the same fear but getting a "reading buddy" stopped it. However, he then finds out that he owes the library $47.
He tells Helen about this, then reveals that he plans to sneak into the library to talk to Milo without the librarian seeing him by hiding behind the dumpster, sneaking in while the janitor's busy, hiding in the boys' bathroom, riding on the assistant librarian's book trolley, climbing up the radiator pipe, swinging along the ceiling like a ninja, and hiding behind a potted plant when he speaks to Milo.
However, his plan doesn't work — while the janitor doesn't see him, he covers him with trash, T.D. accidentally goes into the girls' bathroom, he knocks over the assistant librarian's book cart (and makes her run away due to the smell of the trash), he has trouble climbing the pole, and when he falls from the ceiling, he screams, getting the librarian's attention. To make matters worse, she adds 25 cents to the fine.
In the Lees' yard, T.D. and Milo try to read together, but T.D. gets sidetracked and speaks to him instead. Then they go meet Helen, her dogs, and Truman at the corner store. When Lily reveals (and Martha tells the others) that T.D. and Milo never got a chance to actually read, Truman decides to give Milo vocal training. He tries to do so, but he only scares Milo further by trying to physically move his mouth for him, then Lily gets angry and chases Truman out of the house.
In the Lees' yard, everyone tries to find a new reading buddy for Milo, then Lily suggests a dog, because dogs, being illiterate, won't judge him. Martha volunteers and he tries reading Blue Mangoes to her, but she keeps getting distracted so he gives up on her as his reading buddy. Then, when Lily passes him his book, he decides to make her his reading buddy.
When Martha goes home, Helen (who is playing the same board game with T.D. and Truman) scolds her for interrupting too much. Helen wonders if she could be his reading buddy, and they all go around to the Lee house, only to find that Milo has conquered his fears on his own.
This episode provides examples of
- Absurd Phobia: Milo is revealed to be afraid of reading in front of other people, and T.D. reveals that he used to be too.
- Bathroom Search Excuse: Milo pretends he needs to use the bathroom to get out of having to read cue cards.
- Big "YES!": T.D. shouts, "YES!" when playing his board game.
- Black Comedy: Blue Mangoes is revealed to end with Nick being squashed by a rock falling from the sky.
- Continuity Nod:
- One of the things T.D. reads to Milo when demonstrating he can read in front of others without fear now is a headline related to the people in pickle suits scaring the citizens in "Martha's Pickle", and another is two posters saying, "Vote for Carolina" and "Vote for Tiffany", which must have been left over from their campaign in "No Dogs Allowed".
- One of Milo's books is Firehouse Freddie, seen in "Fire Dog Martha".
- Another of his books is Blue Mangoes, and T.D. remembers "that time Truman just wouldn't eat ice cream", which happened in "Ice Scream".
- Dark Parody: This episode reveals that Blue Mangoes (a parody of Green Eggs and Ham) ends in Nick being squashed by a falling rock.
- Dogs Hate Squirrels: At one point when Milo is reading to Martha, she gets distracted chasing a squirrel.
- Innocently Insensitive: Truman tries to give Milo vocal lessons by moving his mouth, but that just makes Milo even more nervous (and angers Lily to boot).
- I Resemble That Remark!: Martha cuts Helen's sentence when being accused of "interjecting" to claim she doesn't.
- Nap Inducing Speech: When T.D. is telling Milo about the time Truman wouldn't eat ice cream, Lily falls asleep.
- Not Where They Thought: T.D. accidentally walks into the girls' bathroom when trying to hide in the library.
- One-Episode Fear: Milo is afraid of reading in front of others for this episode alone. Justified since he never had to read in front of the others before, and he got over the fear.
- Pun: Martha says, "Hey, y'know why they call them board games? Because they're boring!".
- Slapstick: During his failed sneak plan, T.D. gets covered in trash, then falls off the pole and then from the ceiling.
- Speak in Unison: When Milo pretends he has to go to the bathroom for the third time, Helen, T.D., and Truman say, "Again?!".
- Stink Snub: When T.D., covered in trash, accidentally walks into the wrong bathroom, two girls yell, "P.U.! You stink!".
- Sudden Downer Ending: In-Universe — this episode reveals that Blue Mangoes ends with Nick being squashed by a meteor.
