Amazon.com Review

It's a beloved children's classic in a brand-new format, and kids are sure to love all the new music, games, and creative activities on this CD. Throughout the software, The Cat in the Hat is read aloud by a narrator, and children are presented with two choices: follow along with the story or play with the games and clickables hidden on every page.

Games are designed simply, and preschoolers will be able to master them without much difficulty (older children may find them a bit too easy to bother with repeat play). Throughout the story narration, early readers will benefit from seeing the highlighted words on each page--they're repeated frequently. It's a great way to foster word recognition.

This software also teaches toddlers how to get the hang of using a mouse. They're encouraged to turn "pages" by clicking on the Cat's glove icon; they'll find this action easy and instantly gratifying, since kids can click anywhere in the vicinity and still receive hilarious results.

Who knows, maybe helping the Cat with the Clean-Up Machine will inspire your little ones to put their own toys away! --Jill Lightner ... Read more

Reviews (3)

The Cat in the Hat is Alive!
I recommend this interactive book to anyone with small children. My 4 year old loves the read and play portion of the program. My 2 year old, who doesn't sit still long enough to catch her breath turns on the computer and insists on Cat in the Hat. As she is not quite old enough to handle the mouse on her own, I click the read segment for her. She sits through the entire book laughing at the Cat's silly antics, repeating words, and humming along with the music. It is the best of both worlds, a classic children's story come alive.

My Son Loves It
My 3 1/2 year old son is already a huge fan of Dr. Seuss. I bought the software because he loved the book so much and he was delighted. A child can choose to have the computer read the book to them or they can choose to play along. When they play along, it stops on certain screens and allows the child to click and interact with the characters and text. For example they can help the Cat in the Hat clean up his mess by clicking on the scattered items on the floor. My son is constantly saying "Mommy watch this...". I couldn't pull him away from this game when we first brought it home. He still pulls this game out quite often. The best part is that he still loves all the Dr. Seuss books. The software won't take away from the traditional form of Dr. Seuss.

The Cat in the Hat software
This is a wonderful way to get young kids interested in the computer. The software follows the book almost word for word, plus the words appear on the screen, and are highlighted when said. Your child has the option of allowing the book to be read to them or playing within the pages. My daughter has been using this since she was two and a half. She loves to click on the various items on the screen and see the action. This is her favorite software. It is nonthreatening, and fun, plus kids become more familiar with the words as they appear on the screen. Highly recommend for 2-5. ... Read more

Features

• 3 beloved Dr. Seuss books on 3, fun-filled CD-ROMs
• Easy for kids to replay a favorite part, skip ahead, and learn hundreds of words
• Skills include: word recognition, vocabulary building, reading comprehension, and more
• Titles include Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat, and ABC
• For preschoolers û 1st graders; ages 3-7+

Reviews (2)

It makes him laugh! Awesome three disc set.
All of these discs are full of wonderful surprises! Especially the Green Eggs and Ham disc. It's classic, loveable Dr. Seuss that can be read to the child or the child can interact with the characters. Highly Recommended and a lot of fun!

Doesn't work on XP Pro
Tried to install it 10 different ways under XP Pro. (256 colors, low resolution, etc.). Still no joy. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

"Thank you, thank you, Sam-I-Am! How we love Green Eggs and Ham!" Whether you prefer the straight read-aloud storybook or the silly games hidden throughout, your children will enjoy the software version of Dr. Seuss's classic Green Eggs and Ham as much as you enjoyed the book.

While Sam's story is best suited for toddlers and preschoolers, older siblings can still enjoy playing the included games for a time or two as well. Required mouse skills are basic, so even younger users should be able to play on their own. Clear, bright images are nearly identical to the original book illustrations, with the simple animations providing new excitement as the story builds to its "surprising" climax.

With Dr. Seuss's excellent combination of phonics and word repetition, your children will receive a great introduction to crucial early-reading skills. --Jill Lightner ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Great Green Eggs and Ham!
My 3.5 year old loves this game. It enabled him to master the mouse and now we leave him alone to play at his own pace and length of time. He constantly is calling me or my husband in to see some funny or fascinating tid-bit that is hidden in the picture. The memory game is his favorite and he's up to level 3! I now am looking into getting the Cat in the Hat for him.

Great Learning Tool!
My 2 1/2 year old son learned how to use the mouse by using this program. He loves the "Let Me Play" option. It keeps him entertained for a long time and is an alternative to watching TV. When we first got Green Eggs and Ham I even enjoyed playing with it for awhile. There are so many different things to click on that it could literally keep a kid entertained for hours (if they could sit still that long!) I highly recommend it.

superb motivator
This was the third cd-rom my three year old son was exposed to, and for the last four weeks, far and away his favourite (first two were Thomas Festival Adventure and Blue's ABC). This is the CD-rom that taught him to use the mouse independently - to go to the next page at his own pace, after he had had his fill of seemingly endless repetition of favourite click points. He now spontaneously recites entire passages of the story, himself or to get us to do it in dialogue with him. He spends longish periods of time looking at the book, and then either asking to play again (sort of like the book looking is a preparation to the computer screen activity), or else comes to point out to me what happens on the computer when he clicks on X aspecct. The part I liked the best were the clever, non-disruptive additions that have been added to the original Suess text (the ending is especially humourous - won't give it away).

It doesn't matter what parents or educators think will be an engaging piece of software - the crunch is what the child wants to spend time with. This was worth every penny. The only quibble I have (and which made me withhold that last review star) was that it sometimes takes a long time in the "play" (as opposed to "read to me") mode for the child to be able to actually play. The program always goes through the whole text on that page before they can get down to business. This should be more of an option.

Great for toddlers!
My son (2 1/2) adores this game. He giggles out loud at the silly antics on the screen. He especially enjoys playing the rhyming game. I was surprised at how much he learned about rhyming in such a short period of time. My 5 year old daughter also enjoyed it, but once she played a couple of times she was done with it. I would highly recommend it for ages 2 - 4, but 5 is probably too old.

Sam Loves This Game!
My son Sam loves this game. He's 2 and a half, and he practically has the story memorized. The play-along portion keeps him entertained for hours! ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

The Cat is back--Dr. Seuss's Cat in the Hat that is, and so are Thing One and Thing Two, his mischievous sidekicks. Kids play along with Tommy and Sally, and their rainy afternoon gets a big boost when the Cat in the Hat "steps in on the mat." Filled with fun activities, kids can turn the house upside down and inside out playing three games: The Balancing Act, The Clean-up Machine, and Pop-Up Activities. Designed to delight ages 3 to 7, children also expand their vocabulary, develop word recognition, practice reading, and more.

In The Balancing Act, kids interact with the Cat in the Hat by balancing his load as he holds up just about every household item imaginable. Children add things or take them away from each side to keep the Cat from falling, and, when he falls, it's no small crash. In The Clean-up Machine, children help clean up the mess created by clicking on objects around the room and directing the arms of the Clean-Up Machine. Other fun activities appear as clickable objects in Pop-Up Activities. Click and throw a basketball, design a portrait, and more. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Perfect Introduction to Computers for Young Children!
I bought this CD-Rom a year ago, in preparation for my young son's inevitable interest in computers. I had no idea what it did, what games it had, etc. When my 4-year old son put it in the computer for the first time, I was blown away. It is so much more than the review indicates. This core of the disc is the Cat In The Hat story, but the level of interaction is awesome. On each page, you first hear/see the story. When the narrator is finished reading (or the characters are finished talking) on that page, you get to play. You can click on every single image on the page and it does something creative and entertaining. And not just the characters. I'm talking the floor, the doors, the window shades...even the stairs. Long after my son and I had started playing and I'd been through each page dozens (maybe hundreds) of times, he discovered new things to click on that were even more enteratining than those I'd shown him. For example, in the page showing Thing 1 and Thing 2 flying their kites in the hall, if you click on the stairs it starts moving like an escalator, mall "muzac" starts playing, and Thing 1 and Thing 2 appear on the escalator as shoppers, saying, respectively, "I've sure got a lot of things to return," and "I've sure got a lot of things to destroy." This program is absolutely darling, and you grown-ups won't mind being called over to the computer repeatedly when your little one announces, "Mom, look what happens when I click on the Cat's hat!"

In terms of age-range, it's perfect for a first-time exposure to computers, yet I believe it would appeal to older children as well. My son, who just turned 4, had never used a computer before, and yet in no time he was navigtating by himself and clicking on everything in sight. He even found out how to shut the program down before it ends, whereas I had been using control-alt-delete! At the same time, my boyfriend's 10-year old and his friends can't keep from looking over my son's shoulder and excitedly telling him to "click on the fish! click on the bed!"

Graphically, I don't have a lot of experience with this type of software, but the program is completely animated. It's not just static pictures of the story-book pages. The animation is along the lines of the 1971 Cat In The Hat Original TV Series DVD (which tells a different story, but is another must-have!).

Educationally, I can't give an opinion because my son hasn't started to read yet and isn't too interested in the words yet. But I do know that it seems to have the same abilities and features as Leap Pad books: it shows the written storybook as it narrates the animation, highlighting each word as it is read, and it repeats the words if your child clicks on them (with some funny variations).

All in all, a wonderful, entertaining program for both children and their parents who will endure its endless repetitions!

Cat in the Hat
Have used Dr Suess books, especially Cat in the Hat, to teach English to young learners. With the animation and learning support offered by this excellent CD-rom, language development is readily stimulated. The children beg for it day after day!

Really good buy
I first saw this software in my local library and immediately decided to get one for my 3 year old. The program is as good as I expected. It installs very easily, runs well, has some animation while reading with different voices for the characters. It is a fine job overall, and my son loves it. The whole story lasts 15 minutes, and so far he has spent an hour or two a day watching it without me prompting him. There is also a part of the program where one can click the items on the screen and make it do something, but my son doesn't know how to manipulate the mouse yet. I suspect he will enjoy it later. Considering the fact that the book itself costs around $7, 10 bucks for a whole CD doesn't seem out of line at all. There is one small drawback: there is no direct way to quit the program in the middle of the book -- no "Esc" or "F1" key can bail you out of there. I got out once by pressing the windows key and then close it in windows, which is not the proper way to close a program and I felt guilty doing it. They should have designed a way to quit at any time gracefully, I think, but this is not a big problem. Overall, I am very happy I bought it.

Terrific Value. Young kids love it.
I've spent a lot more on kids software that got a lot less use. My 3yo loves it and plays with it over and over again. He loves to show it to his friends, who are all extremely engaged. Terrific value.

Nice but boring
My 3 year old is a big fan of The Cat in The Hat so I was thrilled to find this software. While it's amusing both he and I were very quickly bored. The book is "read" to you and then you get to interact with the images on the page, but there are very few actual "games" and even those are uninteresting. Objects and characters move, speak or do silly things when you click on them but nothing is challenging or requires any thought. There are a few exceptions (on one page you can rearange a portrait on the wall, on another make the cat balance more items...) but it's just nothing interesting and there's not enough... ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

This playful software is animated with hundreds of sketches, new scenes, surprises, and activities. Your child directs the action with just a click of the mouse; littler ones can choose the Read-to-Me mode. Children will build important skills while playing games such as Mouse in a House, the Wacky Food Concentration Game, and the Silly Rhyming Sentence Machine. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Another Seuss Winner from Learning Company!
This is my third CD-Rom purchase from The Learning Company, and I can't give them high enough ratings. The first time my 4 year-old son played the Green Eggs & Ham CD (after having devoured their Cat In The Hat game -- see my review of that CD-Rom for more details), I thought it was a let-down. Shows what I know. My son wanted to keep playing it, and after one or two times, he discovered in this game the same level of depth, creativity and imagination as we found in the Cat In The Hat CD. In fact, this CD even allows you to select more difficult levels of play for the matching game (at which my son, at the highest level, is much more adept at than I am -- apparently I need to stick to the first level!).

Like the Cat In The Hat story, this one allows your child to decide whether they want the story read to them or they want to interact. For those who want to interact, it provides different levels of varying, interesting interaction; I didn't realize it until my son showed me, but many of the story items do something different every time they're clicked! And it's not like the items just move a little bit when clicked; the animate objects either do an elaborate dance or deliver a clever little Seussian rhyme about their situation, and the inanimate objects...I can't even describe the type of fun they demonstrate. You'll have to take my word for it. It really seems like Dr. Seuss created this software himself! I can't recommend it highly enough for children from their first introduction to computers to about 5 or 6 years old (when everything becomes dumb).

Entertaining Education!
I purchased this software for my 4 year old son because I was getting tired of renewing it over and over again at the library! He would sit at the computer playing with this software for hours, if I would let him! A juice box and a bowl of goldfish and he'd be all set. :-)

As big fans of all of the Learning Company titles, we knew we would love this one, too. Besides the wonderful rhymes from the beloved Dr. Seuss, there is sheer enjoyment to be had clicking all over the screen. The results are hilarious!

To show you the software's appeal, my 10 year old daughter always seems to find an excuse to be near the computer when my son is playing this game, and the next thing you know, they're sitting in the chair together, having a wonderful time.

An excellent piece of software, and I highly recommend it!

My 3 year old loves this game!
We had to buy this for my son because he couldn't stop giggling when he played it at the library... and it's hard to maintain an "appropriate library noise level" with all that giggling :)

There's just something about the little "things" you can do (like click on the car horn to make it beep) that he finds incredibly entertaining!

Green eggs and ham
This book is a classic! If you never read this book you should ,and this book is great for all ages! Even if your 100!
Little kids will laugh .... You will love it and everyone else will to. So go and buy it!And soon, because you will read it over and over....

It's fun to "gooble up" Green Eggs and Ham!
This has given MANY HAPPY HOURS of fun and learning to my class of three-year-olds. Their day begins and ends with this program. It is great for cooperative learning, for often there are many others around the computer as one child is playing. Most of the children have learned all of the words. The interactive portion brings gales of laughter, especially when the green eggs are twirling the lasso toward the green ham.

I am buying it for my grandson's Christmas present and getting a copy for me, too! It's fun to be young at heart and laugh while learning, no matter what the age of the "child." ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

A great way to learn the alphabet--from Aunt Annie's alligator to the Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz--Dr. Seuss's beloved word play and fanciful illustrations are brought beautifully to life through this software. Each page has multiple hidden places to click, along with pictures, actions, and songs just waiting to surprise you.

For a great activity for more advanced readers, have them pick out just the verbs or nouns on each page. Younger siblings can learn to recognize both capitals and lowercase letters. Sound effects and talking characters add depth and humor to the basic alphabet, and Seuss's version of the "ABC" song will become a permanent sing-along favorite. The CD can even be played on your regular home music system--a great bonus when parents need their computer back!

Required mouse skills can be as simple as clicking one icon to turn the page; kids can also discover clickables no matter what level of coordination they have. --Jill Lightner ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Can't find one better!
My daughter has loved this book since she was born. I've literally been showing it to her since she was only a couple months old and she still can sit through the whole book (about a half hour or so) every day! I think it's better than the others because (1) it's read in kid's voices, (2) every page looks different unlike many of these software books, and (3) it has lots of nice music and song effects. And I don't feel so guilty for using a computer book since it's somewhat educational. I wish I could find another she likes half as much because I've seen this one a thousand times! (By the way, hitting the space bar while it's in reading mode stops it.)

Artistically great but there are some practical problems.
This is a very nice animated adaption of the old Dr. Seuss book which my 3.5 yr-old liked for about 8 minutes and that's where the problem came in. There is no apparent way to stop it! In fact the mouse is disabled until the entire book has read itself. Nothing in the instructions about how to interrupt it either. My son ejected and restarted the CD before I had a chance to stop him, the program re-launched, consumed the rest of my memory and I had to hard boot my PC. Whatever changes the program made to the settings (x2) made my PC fail to boot the first 2 tries. Be careful using this and be prepared to let it play itself out without you!

Good, but too much belching
This was the first software that we bought for our sons. They enjoyed it from about 2 1/2 years old. My youngest, at 4 1/2, wouldn't now reach for it, but would do it if it was set up. My only complaint is that the characters can't seem to eat anything without belching.

Excellent Software for Toddlers
This was the 1st piece of software we purchased for our daughter and before we knew it she was both singing and reciting her ABC's. It will not only teach your children their ABC's but will also help their hand eye coordination with the mouse. In addition, it will keep your child captivated with all the silly things we love and hold dear from Dr. Seuss.

Grows with your child
Our daughter has been enthralled by this CD since she was 14 months old and simply watched as the book was read to her, letter by letter. As she's become familiar and proficient with the mouse, she keeps coming back to discover new characters, words and activities. It's given us all hours of enjoyment. ... Read more

Features

• Jump, dodge, and capture wacky Seussian creatures in this action adventure
• Master floating moves and other tricks as The Cat using his amazing umbrella
• 20 delightful levels feature 3-D environments in a topsy turvy world
• Layered gameplay makes it easy for kids and challenging for seasoned gamers
• A great introduction to action adventure games for kids 6-12 in a non-violent setting

Reviews (9)

Good game
I was a little worried about buying this for my 4yr old because of all the computer problems people have reported here, but it works just fine. My son loves everything Cat in the Hat, so he adores this game. Overall, a pleasant game. (The background music gets a little annoying, so that's why I gave it 4 stars.)

Does Not Work
I installed this game on both of my computers. Both of them are new and far exceed the minimum requirements to run the game. The game will not run on either machine. I can install the program but the game will not start at all. Very disappointing for my 5 year old who was so excited and has been waiting forever to play this game. I sealed the box back up and returned it to WalMart, even though I didn't buy it there. I got store credit which was fine with me.

Cat in the Hat
The game Cat in the Hat has been a very challenging game for my 4 year old son. He has made it to level 6 and now he is stuck. I wish they gave you some game pointers for all the different aspects of the games. The area we are stuck on the the broiler room. (trying to get the crablock) My son loves this game and has had a great time playing it. We have experienced no crashes on our computer.

No troubles at all...
The low ratings listed here, before myself ,are mostly based on the installation issues. However, i had not trouble one installing this. It ran beautifully and never crashed. It seems like their issues may be with their own computers. As far as the game itself is concerned, the gameplay is terrific for the 3-9 year old area. Beautiful Seussian landscapes follow you throughout the game while you 'Side-scroll' your way through a mostly 'Platform' style game. Overall, very nicely done. However, the cut scenes lack enough sound effects to fill strangely quiet times within the game. Mike Myers throws his two cents in, though it is mostly cut right out of the movie. Those points are not important enough to get in the way of the good points of the game. My 5 year old son is absorbed by this game. I actually enjoy it, myself. Truly, as this game lowers in price and the mediocre movie leaves our memory, this game will stand out as one of the better movie-based games made to date. Very enjoyable.

Cat to the Rescue
My husband bought this game for our 4 year old daughter's Christmas gift. She loves to play it, and actually goes to level 4 , with a little help from her father, by herself. Whenever she starts getting cranky, we always call on Cat's help, as she loves to play this game...She also loves it as she spends quality time playing with her father. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Click here to see Aunt Annie riding on an alligator. Click there to meet a Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz. Only Dr. Seuss could make the alphabet so unpredictably entertaining. More than 400 alphabetically inspired surprises hidden within26 pages show children that learning words and letters can be silly fun. Izzy and Ichabod guide young readers through this action-packed title, which features Seuss's distinctive brand of humor, rhyme, and illustrations. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Learn Basic Mouse Movement--Then Rush to Buy This!
Without a doubt, this is one of the best younger-child software programs I have purchased. As another reviewer notes, your child first needs to get comfortable with basic mouse movement first, and I agree that the Reader Rabbit Playtime for Baby & Toddler is a good starter program since it doesn't require the child to know how to click. For your child to really appreciate and explore the Dr. Seuss ABC program, he/she must be ready to learn how to click the mouse button. Provided that's the case, your child will be amazed! Our little girl (age 2 years, 9 months) has been dazzled for several months now. I'll definitely be buying more of the Learning Company titles.

Speaking of the mouse, I would recommend that you consider purchasing an optical mouse for your child. They currently cost about $[money] and are worth the investment. When I moved our daughter to one of these, her interaction with the mouse improved dramatically.

For your information, the optical mouse has no moving parts (no mouse ball/roller on bottom) and is MUCH easier for anyone to move and control--especially children. I've been especially pleased with the Logitech two-button optical mouse. We have one on each of our computers.

Dr. Suess in Motion! Great!!!
This is a fantastic program. My son who is two loves it. The letters come alive in a cute and entertaining way. IF your child wants to explore more and clicks on letters or words or pictures each one does something new and interesting. There is never any fear of boredom with this.

One thought- your child needs to have mouse control and to know how to push the button on the mouse. I bought the Toddler Reader Rabbit program and this helped my son learn mouse control. In Toddler Reader Rabbit, they don't need to push the button and that makes it easier for them to learn to control the mouse first. Then move onto a game like this. Particularly if you are starting young. My son began playing this cd at 18 months.

This is a fantastic CD and I'm going to get more of the Dr. Suess CD's. The illustrations and words and sounds are pure Dr. Suess like. Wonderful.

Daughter loves it!
My daughter loved the hard copy of this CD-ROM and enjoys this just as much. I just wish that they had a feature that would allow you to start the book so that it "read" it to the child.

Dr. seuss abc
Terribly boring. Nothing to do escept click and listen. It is not a real game for kids.

Very disappointed
I am very disappointed with this software. My children find it terribly boring. There is nothing much to it. A computerized version of the book, that's all. Don't waste your money.

I really can't figure out all the rave reviews for this one. I suppose a very young child might like listening to it, but a child that young would be better off sitting in a lap listening to a human reading the book, in my opinion. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Dr. Seuss Kindergarten is the perfect pairing of learning activities and a fun-filled adventure. Developed with the help of educators, Dr. Seuss Kindergarten offers a full year of early reading, math, and essential kindergarten skills set in the wonderful and witty world of Dr. Seuss.Gerald McGrew is building a zoo in Seussville, and he needs to find exotic animals. Children will laugh and learn as they help Gerald find the animals, and they will want to try again and again. With Dr. Seuss Kindergarten, it's easy to see why children who laugh more, learn more! (Ages 4-6) ... Read more

Features

• This pack of 4 educational games are sure to entertain kids for hours, while developing their skills with reading, counting, vocabulary and creative thinking
• In Putt-Putt Enters the Race, children will explore the world of Putt-Putt as they prepare for the big race
• 102 Dalmations Activity Center lets kids become heroes, as they save the puppies from becoming Pup-cakes in the Dog-o-matic machine
• Dr. Seuss Preschool brings popular Dr. Seuss characters like Horton, Yertle the Turtle and Hop on Pop to life, for fun lessons
• Curious George Preschool Learning Games lets users join Curious George as he plays exciting arcade games!