Amazon.com Product Description

Buckle up and join Jay Jay the Jet Plane and friends for an exciting ride where the sky's the limit on learning. Best of all, kids get to help Jay Jay pass his flight tests with flying colors. Designed for children ages 3 to 7, Jay Jay's tests consist of delightful games, stimulating lessons, enchanting stories, and fun songs. Along the way kids learn about numbers, patterns, measuring, sequences, and much more. Filled with songs and even a surprise ending, Jay Jay Earns His Wings will launch a love of learning.

Based on the award-winning PBS Kids TV series, kids will find a magical world where imagination takes flight. They'll build skills in addition, matching, critical thinking, estimating, following instructions, as well as using a mouse. As they help Jay Jay prepare for his first solo flight, kids get to enjoy nature videos, explore six interactive learning games, and extend the fun with printable coloring pages. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Jay Jay EARNS His Wings
What a wonderful word for a child to learn: EARN. With concerns about my nephew being given almost anything he reaches for I bought this for his birthday. At four he is starting to develop a concept about work equating reward. His favorite cartoon show Jay Jay has helped with this wonderful computer program where Jay Jay has several errands to run to EARN his new job. The math skills taught were presented in a way that my nephew was totally unaware that he was learning! I'm looking to buy more Jay Jay programs. this one has done the job and more.

BUY THIS!!
Jay Jay is one of my almost-3-year-old son's favorite TV characters. My son is fascinated with basic math right now. When I found that it taught simple math addition and measurement, etc., I decided to pick it up right away. After we ran it on my son's computer, we were pleasantly surprised by the vivid animation and the quality of the games it offerred. Usually the drawings of the characters in a computer do not look as good as what you would see on TV, but this one is just as good. It even plays the theme song in the beginning. BUY THIS ONE!! Your kids will learn a lot from it, even though he may think he is just playing an interesting computer game. ... Read more

Features

• It's Thomas & Friends to the rescue in this exciting adventure
• 8 engaging activities with rich, 3-D graphics and animations
• Print certificates and pictures of all the engines
• 8 jigsaw puzzles to print and cut out
• For 1 player; ages 3 and up

Reviews (1)

Super fun for Thomas's Fans
My 3 year old grandson enjoyed this game and was able to do all the activities. The only thing missing was being able to drive Thomas on the railroad with him as the engineer. At the end of the game, it would have been wonderful for the designers of the game to let Thomas ride around railways with the child being able to make stops and choices where to drive the train on the island of Sodor. It is a game he comes back to play with many times. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

This is a package of three of the popular Pajama Sam software titles.

In Pajama Sam's One-Stop Fun Shop kids are enabled to give shape to their ideas as they design their own projects from conception to completion. For example, kids can create interactive storybooks and then listen to them being read aloud. They can design their own layouts, or customize the provided templates. Drawing tools include bubble wand, spray paint, and whipped cream.

No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside features engaging adventures that come to life through feature-film quality animation and original music. It encourages critical thinking, problem-solving skills, memory, and mental mapping.

Pajama Sam's SockWorks generates a unique 100-level game each session. Each level has conveyor belts, chutes, and gadgets that kids use to help Pajama Sam sort his colored socks into the appropriate colored laundry baskets. There is also a Custom Level Editor to create your own sock-sorting games. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

More excellent titles from Humongous
"PJS: No Need To Hide" is the flagship title in this package -- interesting how these get cheaper with time! -- and is a very competent program in both animation and game play. There is a reasonable amount of problem-solving required to get through the game, things like finding the missing gear to make a machine work, enough so that a younger kid will definitely need some adult guidance. (If you get stuck, the publisher's web site provides hints!) Our son enjoyed the game immensely at age 4 going on 5 but still goofs off with it -- now knowing all the puzzles -- at age 6.

Pajama Sam compares well to the same company's Freddi Fish series, if you are familiar with those. Definitely worth the price, and you can always pass the CD-ROM along to a friend later, like a book you enjoyed.

Pajama Sam Experience
This great value pack has three terrific games in it. In "No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside" Pajama Sam must go on a problem solving educational but fun adventure to the land of Darkness to defeat his worst fear. He might just learn something about Darkness, though. In "Sock Works", Sam must sort his socks. It's a big job, but Sam makes a dream machine to do it for him. There are 250 levels, but the computer pick 100 as you go along. You can even construct your own levels with an easy to use level builder. In Pajama Sam's One Stop Fun Shop, Sam has finished his chores and can make lots of fun projects from cards, to signs, to mobiles and paper airplanes, to party hats and placemats! I would seriously recommend this game. If you want more info on this product, look at the games individually. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Exotic animals disappear. A world-famous scientist vanishes. Something fishy is afoot! Join the ClueFinders on a clue-searching trek into the depths of the rain forest. From reading maps to building bridges, every activity brings kids closer to unraveling this astounding mystery, while mastering essential third grade skills.

Explore 30 interactive games and exercises designed for kids, ages 7 to 9 and older. Build more than 75 key third grade skills in math, language, science, geography, and problem solving. Four levels of difficulty and a variety of tricky challenges keep ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures 2002: Mystery of Mathra fun and fresh. Detailed help features guide kids throughout, and built-in progress reports help parents navigate their child's learning fun.

In addition, an all-new for 2002 bonus CD-ROM doubles the mystery and clue-finding fun. In ClueFinders: Mystery Mansion Arcade, our adventurers are lured into a spooky mansion by an ingenious mastermind and his four villainous henchmen. Kids help the ClueFinders escape by choosing the best ClueFinder for each arcade-style hazard. Speed through the Ultimate Deep-Dish Pizza Skate Park, stay cool through the High-Voltage Circuit Zone, and much more. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

The Clue to Making Learning Fun
I purchased Cluefindes 3rd Grade Adventures about 6 weeks ago, and since have watched my child use it to completion. She has played it 4 times and will probably play it again in the future. In the meantime, she has moved onto the 4th grade game.

Setting up the game is pretty easy, and the directions are clear. Starting up is a cinch as well. You have the options of taking the test drive which is a placement test. It is not as much fun as the actual game, but it is not too boring either and it gets the child started at a challenging level. The first time my child "played" it she started at the beginners level, and finished it in two days. The second time, I set it to level two and it took her a week to complete. The third time I had her do the test drive. This is where the real value came in.

When she started the game on the lowest levels she was basically reviewing what she had learned the previous year, which is a good thing. But, when she played the game after the placement test, she was truly challenged to learn more. I never imagined in a million years that a child would follow me around begging to be taught long division. She could not cross a bridge in the game without being able to divide. So I taught her and she practiced and cemented the skill by playing the game.

As a homeschooler leaning towards self directed learning, I found this game to be invaluable. It gives me the freedom to wait for a child to be ready to learn a skill while at the same time ensuring that such comes quickly through constant challenges. After all, the best time to teach a child a skill is when they want to learn it. This game provided that want for me.

This game does not teach skills your child must know, but provides challenges. The way I use it is to wait for a challenge to be presented, and then teach that child whatever they need to succeed and overcome that challenge.

The only problems I had with this software is that each time the child finished the game, they had to start again with a new member name, it would not let us back into the game as the same person. This did allow me to compare the membernames records to check for progress which was evident.

If you purchase the 2 cdrom version of this game, with the personalized learning center, you will be able to print worksheets according to your childs strengths and weaknesses and to see where the child needs more practice. You will also be able to spot where your child may be gifted.

The personalized learning center disc, however is not formulated to give a child a "grade" based on how well the child did in the program, but to show progress over time. Therefore, If you are a homeschooler and grades are important to you, you will want to "test" the child separately perhaps using the worksheets or making up your own exams.

Great teaching game
We are a homeschooling family. I bought this game along with the fourth grade and fifth grade versions for my nine year old. She sailed through the other two, but found this one challenging. It is great for reinforcing math, introduces chemistry, addresses the pollution problem, history, spelling, vocabulary and reading comprehension. There is a level selection area in which you can choose how hard or easy the game is, but this is also handy for letting parents know where your child may need some help in or where they excel. It has a practice mode where the child can just do the activities without having to play the game. I found this great for reinforcing some of those areas my daughter needed more help in.
Even though my daughter has finished all three games, she still plays these.

Never Too Old To Play!!
It's great I'm 14 going on 15 in a month but I don't care
because that doesn't stop me from having fun. It's the greatest game. I've only played the 3rd and 4th grade one but they're still and always be my favorite software. If you've never played any of these games and you love computer games; buy this then even if you're older then me. Who cares? Just remember HAVE FUN!!! You won't regret it!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. Could you make one for 10th graders or do you already?

Thank You

Cluefinders 6th Grade Adventures
This product provides an excellent source for preparation or reinforcement of what a 6th grader is expected to know. Players are put into a mystery situation where they have to solve clues in order to figure out the answers. Various aspects of the 6th grade curriculum are covered, and the computer adjusts for the skill level of the player, making the games increasingly more challenging. Areas covered include logical thinking, mathematics, science, geography, social science, and language arts. The games are fun, and since they get progressively harder as the student masters a skill, they do not get boring. At times the transition time from one activity to the next can be a bit long, and instructions are repetitive, but this seemed to bother adults more than children; this should not deter the buyer, however, as the positive aspects of this game far outweigh the negatives. Graphics and sound are excellent, and help includes a map and a reference section. Levels can be set manually, or the program can be adjusted to automatically determine when to advance to the next level as a skill is mastered. On the whole this is an excellent product, and a great way to make learning fun. Highly Recommended. Reviewer is a teacher and a librarian.

Cool
This game is fun and VERY educational... I even forgot I was
learning while playing it! The games are fun and have different levels, so if one level is too easy you may make is
harder and more challenging. It explains the mini-game
and how to play. The charactors are click-able and they seem to talk and help you throughout the whole game.
You meet cool alien type things, and in order to survive, you must figure out the answer to the mini-games.
The backround music is pretty cool, but it may get annoying
you can turn off the music, too! before you begin the game, it shows a mini movie of what's happening and it tells about
your mission.I love this game! ... Read more

Features

• 6 activities and 2 mini-activities
• 5 villains and 5 possible outcomes
• 3 levels of difficulty: spooky, spookier, and spooktacular
• Printables for fun away from the computer
• For kids ages 5 to 10

Reviews (8)

Great Game
We have three of the Scooby Doo Case File Games.
My four year old loves these games. He will play it for a long time. There is problem solving and mazes and other activities in each game.

My problem with this game (and the other Scooby Games) is that there is no variability. Once your child solves the game and plays it again, the puzzles are essentially the same. The clues might change and the villian might be different, but the puzzles are the same and the clues are in the same places.

This is not a problem for my kids though. They both enjoy the game and play it for many hours.

Enjoy.

Great fun but...
I would rate this a middle of the road four or at the very least a high three.

First the positive- the scooby gang are in a museum and a green glowing bug man has messed up the displays. They have to put the displays back together in order to earn clues. The clues point to a villian. Each of the 'games' or displays involves a different part of the brain- in one scooby has to jump on a conveyer belt to earn scooby snacks and collect bones, another is a puzzle, another is a matching game and so on. There are three different levels so you can have it fairly easy to fairly difficult. My five year old was able to play the easy with no help and the medium level with only a little bit of help.

The Negatives- The games are the same. The villians change but the games are the same- you are always doing a puzzle in the dinosaur room and it's always the same puzzle. The placement of the boxes in the puzzle might change but the idea is the same. I would have also liked to have seen the ability to change the levels of the puzzle as individual games, not the whole game.

However, it's a fun game.
I would also suggest the Freddy Fish games if your child likes to solve mysteries.

Enjoy.

Close, but not the best.
If any of you have expierienced past Scooby Doo games of this style, then you will understand this. In comparison, the voice acting in this is sub-par. The vocal animations are so generic that every word they speak looks just like the last. The load times between screens is a lot longer in this one than in past games. However, the puzzles are clever, and the background animations and layouts are very colorful and creative. Dropping you in many foreign locales. A good representation, and learning tool, of different cultures. My 5 year old enjoys this. But, myself, as a Scooby Doo fan, did not think that much of it. It was a bit shorter than previous games as well. Good game. Just not great. Hope the next volume shows more promise.

Great Scooby fun!
My 8 year old loves this new Scooby game. She will play it over and over. The facts on China are cool and the animation is just like the TV show.

I highly recommend this Scooby game. We like them all but this one is definitely a favorite!

Jessica & Hannah's Review
Jessica our 9 year old daugher said "this game is great, in one room you visit the cafeteria and you are challenged to blend different flavors of ice-cream until Shaggy gets the perfect cone. In each room you visit you need to find the clues to match the suspect until you find the glowing bugman". Hannah our 7 year old daughter said "this game is perfect, we both had fun with it and I think lots of people should have fun with it just like us" ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

In Busytown, children meet all their favorite characters from the Richard Scarry books, television programs, and videos. Together with Huckle Cat, Lowly Worm, Mr. Frumble, Dr. Diane, Mr. Fixit, and many others, they explore 11 playgrounds rich with real-life experiences.

Give your child the thrill of learning by doing, across a wide range of early-cognitive skills. Busytown meets the guidelines set by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, guidelines that emphasize learning through play. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Great Idea But Full of Programming Bugs
My three yr old loves Richard Scarry's Busytown so it was a natural choice for him. However, he was very disapointed to find one of the games (the garage) did not work at all and several of the others have programming quirks. If the cursor isn't positioned just right the game doesn't work. My advice is to select something else or wait for another imporved version.

disappointing
I brought this because I loved richard scary as a child but was totally disappointed with the game. There is no replayabilty with the only variation in the game being in the gas station and the parcel delivery. But the children soon got bored. The best part is playing with the wind. The mouse control is very poor ending up with frustrated children. The only way to get into the gas station was to put the whole game onto the hard drive.

Bustown 2000 CD-ROM
I started with Busytown Software back in 1995 with our first son when it ran on DOS and barely on Win95. The program worked well. After reading about BT 2000, I was reluctant to buy it. I did buy it this past week, had the same problem with the gas station and within 24 hours, SSI Tech support emailed the file to copy from the CD to the Hard Drive. About a 30 second fix and the game functions flawlessly. If your child loves Richard Scarry books and videos, this is a must have to compliment what they read and view to give them hands on interaction that is unlike any other application that I have seen. My first son is now almost 7 and is teaching his 3 year old brother how to play the game.

My son loves it.
The Busy Town CD-ROM is educational and fun. There are a lot of different activities and for a 3-4 year-old to play with on his own. But you do have to have a fast computer. One of our computers was too slow and it was impossible to play the program on it. Our other computer was fast enough. We had problems getting into the gas station game. I sent an email to technical support and received a message explaining how to copy a file from the CD-ROM to my hard drive and now it works great! We are very satisfied with it. It was definitely worth the price.

Great if you can get it to work
I understand the complaints of the previous reviewers. I could not get this program to run on the PowerMac and it also had a lot of problems when I ran it on the iMac while networked to the PowerMac. But once the iMac stood alone, I only had minor problems with this program. It is a big memory hog.

It's a really super program if you can get it to run. I'd pay special attention to the system requirements before buying.

There are 12 different activities which teach your child all kinds of things. It's great for pretend role play also. Pump gas, serve customers in a deli, build a house, get a ship ready for sea, etc.

It's too bad this title has compatibility problems with so many systems, because it really is a beautifully done program. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Mickey and the gang find themselves stranded in a haunted house inhabited by fun-loving and mischievous ghosts. Children ages 5 to 7 can explore and experiment within their environment, figuring out just how this wacky house works. It's a fun place that features experiential activities supported with curriculum-based lessons. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A Fun Game That Helps with the Basics
This is one of the few games we own that challenges my four-year-old without boring him. Some of the other software we've purchased is too complicated for him to navigate on his own or the lessons are too basic. When he gets stuck in this game, a cartoon character pops up and gives a brief lesson. The lessons are short and catchy enough that they are actually interesting. Of course, my son often ignores the directions and moves through the game by trial and error. It helps to have an adult sit with him, so that he gets some educational value out of playing. On the other hand, sometimes we just let him do the trial and error thing, and he still has a great time. I think this is a wonderful game for a four-year-old to grow into. It helps, of course, that my son is a big Mickey Mouse fan.

The software basically allows the child to go to different "rooms" and complete tasks (games) that teach basic skills. In one room, the game is to alphabetize books that are labeled with just one letter of the alphabet. In another game, the child assembles suits of armor. Each piece of the armor is labeled with a number, and the child has to put the numbered armor together in different ways. The games get progressively more difficult as the child masters each step. I'm especially impressed with the fun way this game introduces addition and subtraction.

I'm now looking for a new game, and I'm trying to find one that's a cross between this software and Jumpstart's World Languages (the other game my son always wants to play.)

Great Fun....And Learning, Too!
This is a really great game. In it, Minnie, Mickey, Goofy, Pluto and Donald have to navigate through a spooky old house while being watched by those "3 spooky ghosts" from one of the old Disney movies. There are five or six areas to navigate, and it also includes a progress chart area like the Jumpstart series. This is a lot more fun, tho. If you have ever been to the Haunted Mansion at DisneyWorld it makes it even better. My daughter who is almost 5 has been doing very well with it and instead of being bored with the "educational" components, she is having fun with it and being excited about learning. Def buy it! ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Disney's Animated Storybook Collection is a three-in-one package thattakes new readers to familiar Disney stories. Along the way, it helps them learnto read those tales on their own. The collection offers three storybook versionsof some of its classic cinematic releases: Toy Story, 101Dalmatians, and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too.

Each follows a relatively straightforward format--a pared-down version of thestory is presented to users along with an interactive illustration. As the storyis read aloud, the words being read are highlighted so children can, withrepeated viewings, learn to recognize them. This reading practice isinterspersed with animations and games. In one such activity, players help putaway Andy's toys before a hoard of children descends upon his room. In another,Roo of the 100 Acre Wood plays tic-tac-toe with you.

This package provides a pleasant diversion for preschool children who arealready interested in learning to read. The amount of text provided is far fromoverwhelming, and the vocabulary is kept simple. There are enough distractionsfrom the educational content to keep the program from becoming drudgery, and thefamiliar Disney content should pose little challenge to most users. As childrengain reading proficiency, though, they may become frustrated with the games'insistence on playing out the lengthy animations. There is little scope forplayers to skip ahead, in other words--even if Pooh has explained the gamenavigation menu to them 40 times, children will have to sit through theinstructions again.

This aside, Disney's Animated Storybook Collection is ideal for Disney fansages 4 to 6. --Alyx Dellamonica ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Not very interesting, even for a 2 year old
We have had an older Pooh storybook for years. Both my kids loved it. There was a lot to see and do -- songs, funny things that happened if you clicked on the picture, and nice graphics. So when that storybook finally died, I ordered this one. We were so disappointed! The graphics are simplistic, the storyline choppy, there are no songs, and very few fun things happen when you click on different parts of the picture. When you click out of the story, you have to endure a slow listing of options before you can get back to where you were. This seems to have been put together quickly and cheaply and is not worth the money. Even my Pooh-crazy 2 year old was bored silly and disappointed.

Great for your kids!
I own a lot of Disney Learning Series CDs, like Kindergarten, Preschool and 1st grade. My kids love them all! I got this one a few months ago and both my kids love the story books!! I'm very happy with them and better yet my kids are having fun and learning to read at the same time. ... Read more

Features

• Kid Pix Deluxe lets your child exercise creativity while building color, shape and pattern recognition skills
• Reader Rabbit Math Ages 6-9 takes children on a hike through the Word of numbers with Reader Rabbit -- they'll learn basic math while playing great games
• Storybook Weaver Deluxe lets children enjoy interactive storytelling, as they create their own little worlds and see them come alive
• Ages 6-9

Features

• Introduce new skills to toddlers with 4 great titles
• Paint pictures, solve jigsaw puzzles, and watch videos
• Buckle up and help Jay Jay The Jet Plane earn his wings
• Enjoy 12 fun, build-it activities with Bob the Builder
• Create dazzling 3D pictures of amazing animals

Amazon.com Product Description

This program is designed to help children learn to read. Based on the School Zone Start-to-Read! series, this interactive software has two animated stories. "Jog, Frog, Jog" tells how a frog escapes from a big dog. "Nine Men Chase a Hen" is a humorous story about cooperation and friendship. Repeated and rhyming words, audio guidance, and picture clues encourage reading success. Children can get creative with pictures, art, and words in Create-a-Story. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Headquarters alert: Zurg forces are trying to take over a peaceful planet. Buzz Lightyear and kids are called into action. It's a long journey, and refueling will be necessary. Buzz's interplanetary ship requires four different fuels, each with its own color. Kids must make sure Buzz's fuel reserves never run dry, which requires an adventurous journey into Buzz's ship. Along the way, kids have to pass challenges designed to build their second and third grade-level math, reading, and language skills. When fuel is plentiful, kids get to navigate the galaxy and unlock arcade-style games. Friends can play along--that is, until the fuel runs out--then the challengesbegin anew. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

CUTE!!!
Cute fun for the whole family. Gets right to the point and lets you play several different types of games right away (no need to finish one game before getting to play another.) Cool images from the movie to print out in the Print Center area after beating each game. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Based on the popular PBS television show, Zoboomafoo Animal Alphabet takes kids on a guided tour of their ABCs, allowing them to brush up early reading and spelling skills while learning about animals from the Kratt brothers and their leaping lemur friend.

An educational activity center for children in the 3 to 6 years age range, this game offers a variety of simple minigames designed to build alphabet knowledge by capitalizing on a young player's curiosity about the animal kingdom. Users can color animal flash cards or play an arcade-style round of Penguin Pong, bouncing ice floes off each other to reveal the answer to a quiz question. Alternately, they can go to Animal Mixups, a top-notch activity where kids mix and match animals, grafting a zebra head, to take one possibility, onto a tiger torso, perhaps with a cow or reindeer tail to finish.

As an extra bonus, play is interspersed with lengthy live-action sequences from the television program. A win in one of the spelling games triggers a shot of the Kratt brothers going face-first into a mud pit. The Kratts and Zoboomafoo the leaping lemur also host a collection game, where players seek out animals whose names start with the different letters of the alphabet, and then get to see video footage of the creature itself.

Animal lovers and fans of the show should enjoy Zoboomafoo Animal Alphabet thoroughly, especially if they have never seen a game of this type before. More experienced players may recognize that about half of its activities are standard fare, reworked versions of games that appear repeatedly in educational software. This is the only complaint to be made, though, with what is otherwise a completely engaging game with lots of fascinating animal facts and great potential for teaching young learners some basic reading skills. (Ages 3 to 6) --Alyx Dellamonica ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Nice mix of learning and fun
My 3 year-old really enjoys this game. It is perfect for a child who is learning her capital letters, but who is not quite ready for phonics yet. Also, while the graphics aren't superb, they are good enough for a pre-schooler and make her feel like she is interacting with the show. The CD-ROM also has a nice variety of games where different skill sets are tested. My only reservation is that that the software seems to have a few glitches on my Windows XP.

a good collection...
of games that teach spelling, reading and letter recognition. In addition to this, are the usual colouring and puzzle games. The positives: my 3 year old is quickly learning how to spell simple words and seems to enjoy the animal movies and graphics. The negatives: the font they've used for the games utilizing the alphabet is quite difficult to read (the k could be an x, etc.) Easy readability is crucial to a teaching program such as this, when will they learn? Also, the "Penguin Pong" program needs a patch but it is easily retrieved if you go to the Learning Company's website.

Pass On This One
With all the software titles available now days, I would suggest passing on this one. My child loves animals and learning, however, this is one of our least favorites. Maybe this is because we have access to more software (family "hand-me-downs") so this one just sits. After using this a few times I kept thinking there would be more substance, there isn't. I would suggest one of the JumpStart learning series (jumpstart advanced preschool etc.).

kids and parents deserve better than this lame software
I am really startled at the praise this software is getting. We own approximately twenty software titles for children and I would rank this as one of the three worst. In its favor it does not crash, but the quality of both format and content is poor.

First off, the resolution is bad. We've run this game on a Macintosh laptop and desktop computer, and the introductory footage looks fuzzy on both.

The live-action introduction is fun for fans of the show, but the few live-action sequences in the game's interior are not enough to keep little ones happy. The Kratt brothers are charming hosts of the television show but we don't see enough of them in this game. After the introduction children see a pan-and-scan version of Animal Junction populated with twenty-six clickable animals, each representing a different letter of the alphabet. When kids click on one of the animals, they receive a "page" with a picture and an assortment of facts about that creature, though in eight instances a child is presented instead with a game (more about these later). Confusingly, when a game is finished we hear Zoboo say, "That was great! Here's your animal page. Do you want to play again?" Instead of seeing an animal page, kids get a Yes-No choice. If they choose Yes they go to a game repeat. If they choose No they then go to the appropriate animal page. Did they beta test this at all?

Finally, the games are neither well-explained nor are they well-designed for children. Penguin Pong, even at the lowest of three difficulty levels, moves slowly and, in the vein of the classic game Pong, you have to knock out 49 blocks. It takes forever and kids get bored. Similarly interminable, the letter scramble is also a mess. A child must rearrange letters to form the name of a pictured animal, then click on a virtual spinner to advance Zoboo 1, 2, 3 or 4 spaces on a "game board". First complaint: when a child uses a letter from the scramble list it remains active, which is confusing for little ones. Second complaint: the game board is 35 spaces long -- it takes at least nine scrambles, and usually many more, for Zoboo to get to the end. Third complaint: when Zoboo does finally reach the 35th square, nothing interesting happens, unless you count that now-familiar non sequitur, "That was great! Here's your animal page. Do you want to play again?" What's the lesson here -- lowered expectations? In the Noodle Hut game, Zoboo asks for a letter and your child is supposed to click on it amid a field of noodles, each with a letter on it. But even at the lowest difficulty level, there are multiple examples of letters, again confusing to little ones. If there are three "R"s, which one should they click on? Also, some of the letters are presented at a three-quarter view which makes them less recognizable. Why would you do that to young children just learning their letters? My final complaint, and an important one, is that the games are not presented within any story or context to make them either interesting or meaningful.

I could continue to find fault with each of the other games, but why bother? This is lazy, sloppy software that is not good enough for your child. Instead, buy Blue's Clues or Franklin or Reader Rabbit software -- consistently well-designed and well-written. It is strange and disappointing that PBS, long considered THE leader in creative educational children's programming and products, seems to be faltering in the wake of recent competition.

Our family will continue to watch and enjoy the Zoboomafoo television show, but this software is a loser.

Your Favorite Lemur Is Back
Animal kids is here now on CD.
On this game you must collect 26 pages for your animal book.
There are also 8 great games.
They include penguin pong,the mud pit,and Wiggys noodles.
There are many other games too. ... Read more

Features

• With the help of your animal friends, rescue all the petnapped puppies [Ages 8 and Up]
• Escape Cruella's wrath in a free-roaming 3D action-adventure.
• Sniff, dig, and dog-paddle through 16 levels and six fun mini-games.
• Explore huge colorful playgrounds, including Big Ben, Picadilly Circus, and more
• Interact with old favorite characters and meet new friends [Windows 95/98]

Amazon.com Product Description

Step into the magical world of Disney's princesses and play in a royal fashion boutique. Kids create their personal 3-D princess and dress her up in millions of elegant ball gowns. They can even add their photo for complete personalization. They can create beautiful collages in the Star of the Story activity, and then print or e-mail their collage to share with a friend. All princesses will delight in this title's Enchanted World, a magical land that offers hours of exploration. Best of all, with Disney's Princess Fashion Boutique anyone can be a princess. Plus, the cool purse makes it easy to share the fun with a friend. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Fantasy Dressing Artist Designer Dream for Every Princess
This is soooooo fun and beautifull and all the princesses! No problem at all with my computer in installing and the voices are beautifull and clear. I guess the sound in the other reviewer's computer must have had a problem. This is the BEST fashion cd rom with the plus of having the princesses in it that I have seen. My daughter is 4 and can play with it. But its a discovery type game, ie you find out how everything works as you get more familiar with it. In the beginning things seem not to be working but with time you see that OH, now I have to drag and click not just click, or OH here you have to click on the icon first and then on the picture for it to do what you want! Have patience and you will become an expert princess! Very cheap for the amount of stuff you can do with it, also grows with the child. For young ones mom should play with it BEFORE the child to avoid initial frustration so you can explain some of the quirks to her first. Happy princessing this is a dream!

We Love Cinderella
My daughter (aged five) loves this CD and all the games on it. Unlike the other reviewer, we have never had a problem with our sound. We have also given this as a birthday gift and have had positive feedback from other mothers.

Sound, please?
I bought this to replace my niece's garbled-sounding copy. But, surprise, surprise, the new one sounded the exact same garbling! I returned it right away. ... Read more

Features

• 3-in-1 set teaches reading, early math, problem solving, and creativity
• Discover entertaining reading activities with Clifford Reading
• Tackle riddles and various challenges with I SPY School Days
• Solve problems and play creative games with Huggly Saves the Turtles
• For kids ages 4 to 7

Amazon.com Product Description

Every day can be a fun-filled learning adventure with the Adventure Workshop Preschool-1st Grade, 4th Edition, featuring three award-winning educational titles for ages three to seven. Your child will love playing, learning, and just spending time with his or her favorite characters, and you'll love watching your child laugh and learn through colorful and clever activities that build valuable skills in subjects that include geography, science, memory, logic, reading and reading comprehension, phonics, and writing.

The software bundle contains Paddington - The World Mystery Tour (the popular bear's first CD-ROM, featuring 30 activities, 40 minutes of interactive video, and travel in five countries with 60 exciting locations), Reading Rabbit's Reading Ages 4-6 (help Reader Rabbit and Sam the lion as they travel to many Letter Lands, learn their sounds, and take giant steps toward real reading), and Millie & Bailey Kindergarten (with which your child will build skills and the ability to solve problems using best selections from Millie's Math House, Bailey's Book House, and Sammy's Science House). ... Read more