Stuff for Kids

• Build imaginative machines in this creative and addictively fun brainteaser
• Solve more than 200 challenging puzzles; put your machines to work
• Experiment with gears, robots, explosives, and more in your own virtual lab

• Windows: Pentium 200 MHz+ Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP 40 MB free hard disk space 32 MB RAM 8x CD-ROM dr
• Encore/RiverDeep

Adored by educators and parents alike, Zoombinis Logical Journey challenges children to employ such basic fundamentals of mathematical thinking as organizing information, reasoning of evidence, finding and making patterns, and systematic testing of hypotheses. The journey follows four puzzle-filled trails, each exploring related mathematical ideas. The fundamental data and variables for all this work are the variations in the Zoombinis' features. Their "feet," for example, can be shoes, skates, whirligigs, or coiled springs (the sound effects for these items are particularly great), while their "eyes" may be heavily lidded, enhanced by eyeglasses, blocked by dark shades, or limited to just a single eyeball. Sorting and arranging these variables in order to solve puzzles requires concentrated effort from the players, and the game rewards them well with inventive scenarios that evolve in fabulously curious ways as skills are gained. This may not sound like much, but when Arno the Pizza-Eating Tree Troll, who has been yammering for the perfectly topped pizza his entire lifetime, suddenly demands a perfectly topped ice cream sundae, too, it is a staggering, giddy surprise.

The product is full of so many little joys, it's hard to demand improvements. Still, it'd be a great thing if version 2 would feature something other than the monotonous, ping-ping-ping soundtrack that's featured here. But that's minor. In the end, the creators' promise that this CD-ROM will "encourage kids to develop a lifetime habit of associating fun with learning" is dead-on. (Ages 9 and older) --Jean Lenihan

Product Description:
Travel to a remarkable new world and treat your brain to an outlandishly fun and challenging adventure. Embark on a dangerous trek strewn with mind-bending puzzles. Learn important life skills and more as you lead the Zoombinis to freedom in Zoombinis Logical Journey!

• Make the wise choices as you avoid hazards and face the many challenges of frontier life, and life on the Serengeti Plains
• Along the way you'll discover useful wilderness knowledge like avoiding poison and crossing rivers
• Ages 9 and up

• Get ready for explosive action and building fun with this brain-teazing puzzle game
• Go crazy with over 200 brand-new gizmo-twistin' levels
• Start off in the Inventor's Training Camp to sharpen your skills

• Over 100 reading lessons
• Printable activities
• 3-4 skill levels

Each stop along the Road to Imagination has a reading-related theme, such as an owl looking for words with long and short vowel sounds for the letter e. Animated hot spots reinforce the theme, as well as activities that involve rhyming, syllabication, listening to letter sounds, and word recognition. There are also a couple of books to be found at each stop along the road (30 in all), with questions at the end that inspire both reading comprehension and imaginative flights of fancy. An easy-to-use recording program enables kids to read the books out loud and play back their words. Wordville Station has four games that teach compound words, vowel sounds, alphabetizing, and matching opposites, homonyms, and rhyming words.

I Can Read has some bright moments: Reader Rabbit loosens up a bit and imitates Ed Sullivan, Dick Clark, and former president Clinton as he emcees an alphabetization exercise called the Alphabet Dance. The vagaries of the English language are exposed when a bird of paradise plant transforms into an exotically plumed bird of paradise, and then that same bird rolls a pair of dice. A tiny bit of sophistication seems to have seeped into the wide-eyed world of Reader Rabbit, and it will probably be appreciated by kids who have cut their pop-culture teeth on the rapid-fire fare provided by Nickelodeon and Nintendo.

Fear not, Reader Rabbit and Mat the Mouse still run a pretty straight-laced establishment, with plenty of opportunities for parents to check progress, control gameplay and levels, and educate themselves about educating their young readers. But there's a bit more sass here than in the Reader Rabbit programs designed for younger kids--an intelligent way for the series to adjust to its increasingly sophisticated audience. (Ages 5 to 8) --Anne Erickson

Product Description:
Children will take afascinating ride to Wordville Station! Product Information A step toward fostering a lifelong love of stories, reading, and language. Playful language, colorful animations, and engaging sound effects provide adelightful environment for children to explore as they build their readingskills. Follow the road to Imagination, then catch the train for Wordville Station! Thiscolorful journey is filled with activities to help your child learn criticalreading skills, build confidence, and discover the joy of reading. Includes Over 100 reading lessons 30 interactive storybooks Printable activities Record and playback 3-4 skill levels Progress reports and automatic help Skills Learned Advanced phonics Writing and creativity Comprehension Prediction Listening skills Rhyming worlds Combining syllables Compound words Consonant blends Long and short vowels Superlatives Reading aloud Independent reading Alphabetical words Product Highlights Vocabulary - Put together syllables to form words and watch the Crooning Caterpillars sing! Advanced Phonics - Make sandwiches for hungry Sam by matching the words that rhyme. Vowel Sounds - Swoop your net to catch fish that match short and long vowel sounds. Activities Include Reading Lands The 15 Reading Lands provide a fascinating journey along the Reading Road.Children help Vowel Owl find her voice, they look for objects that stressspecific long and short vowel sounds. And vocabulary development continues aschildren explore silly animations that provide concrete examples ofprepositional phrases, comparatives, and superlatives. Storybooks The 30 storybooks (two per Reading Land) help young readers develop visual andauditory word recognition and build their reading vocabulary. Children can readalong with the characters or read the stories on th

The program starts with Mat the Mouse singing a complaining song because she can't read well enough to take full advantage of the carnival she wants to attend. This alone is a stroke of genius: it's easier for kids to relate to poor confused Mat than some know-it-all character who already knows how to read (that would be Reader Rabbit, but he serves a purpose as Mat's guide). When her wish for "no more words to read" comes true, Mat realizes a world with no words simply won't work, and sets out on a journey to decode a message that will allow her to make a counterwish and get words back.

The occasionally flat animation is remedied by the volume and variety of early-reading activities. Two approaches to the program help customize it to your child's learning style: Road to Reading is the more structured approach, where kids lead Mat on a path to 26 different lands associated with each letter of the alphabet, and help decode her counterwish. Pick and Play is a nonstructured method of exploring the program that allows kids to directly access the various activities found along the alphabet path. Word Factory is another program element that has nothing to do with Mat's quest, but introduces four more word-building and memorization activities to an already brimming program.

Designers paid attention to details that are important for learning: characters meticulously pronounce words and sound out letters in clear children's voices. Each activity can be played on five different levels, and kids can check their progress and print study words. The program introduces sight words for memorization as well as words that must be constructed by sounding out. Some of the virtual books in this program are more entertaining and engaging than actual phonics texts we've seen. Even the Parent's Guide information was useful, and taught us a thing or two about how kids learn to read. Perhaps most importantly, this CD-ROM's clever wordplay and constant comedic surprises will keep kids interested as they develop the nuts-and-bolts skills that will lead to a lifetime of enthusiastic reading. (Ages 3 to 6) --Anne Erickson

Product Description:
Join Reader Rabbit on a joyful journey to build reading confidence and success! Develop essential reading skills while exploring 26 Letter Lands filled with fun phonics activities and engaging storybooks. Practice language arts skills while playing with four fabulous word-making machines at the Word Factory. From letters and sounds, to words, and spelling, and on to reading comprehension.

• When the king and queen go on vacation, young Fritz is left in charge of the castle. As he explores his surroundings, he'll learn all about chess, from the basics to advanced strategies -- and so will you!
• Fun characters like Fritz and Chesster make learning the game fun and interesting for children
• Is the item available or not, website issue confusing.

• An unknown assailant has vandalized the whale-watching boat owned by Nancy's host, Katie Firestone. Nancy will explore Snake Horse Harbor to uncover the truth to this new mystery!
• Uncover clues and interact with townsfolk, as you study the strange threat in the rolling fog
• Go kayaking in crystal clear waters and shadowy sea caves, and figure out if this crime is related to the orca whale that's been spotted in the harbor

• Enjoy a kid-friendly design that encourages independent learning.
• Explore a motivating combination of tutorials, drills, activities and games.
• Check out Game Mode for structured progress, or switch to Freestyle Mode for open-ended practice and play.

• Fun, systematic approach to learning to read
• Alliterative speech, colorful animations, and engaging sound effects
• For ages 4 to 6