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-- School Library Journal, 09/01/2006

Also in this article: Language Arts  Mathematics  Multiple Skills  Science

PreS-Gr 1–These interactive games, featuring cartoon characters from the Hermie & Friends books and videos (Tommie Nelson), teach early learning skills such as counting, sorting, and letter recognition. Each game begins with a short story that focuses on the importance of following rules. Buzby, a king bee who dresses and talks like Elvis Presley, is the main character. One of the stories tells about the garden rules, which are modeled after the Ten Commandments. Hermie and Wormie lead players through five games. “Bowling Bugs” teaches number recognition and addition on a bowling alley. At “Schneider’s Ferris Wheel,” players must choose the correct colored bugs to place on the Ferris wheel. However, the colors are not true—for example, stripes that are supposed to be orange appear to be maroon. “Lucy’s Meadow” is a matching and memory game. “Iggy and Ziggy’s Roach Coach” teaches sorting. “Buzby’s Hive Sweet Hive” is a word building game where youngsters make 3 to 5 letter words by connecting letters in the hive. The games increase in difficulty as players progress. For completing a game, players are rewarded with seeds to plant in the “Art Garden” that features printable coloring pages. Dramatic symphonic background music sometimes overpowers the characters’ voices. An educationally sound program.–Cynthia Grabke, Thayer Public Library, Braintree, MA

PreS-Gr 1–Games and activities teach children values and early critical thinking skills. Based on characters created by Max Lucado, this Christian-themed game focuses on the Biblically-based values of truthfulness, forgiveness, trust, and praise. Each activity has three levels of difficulty. The game begins with an introduction that sets the stage for the five activities. A group of insects are helping Flo prepare for a concert by the Water Beetles. In “Lucy’s Cookie Maker,” children decorate cookies to match the cookie shown on the screen. In “Antonio’s Seed Zapper,” players zap shapes flying across the screen in an order to match a pattern shown at the bottom of the screen. “Schneider’s Pea Pattern” focuses on matching patterns. Children must navigate a path to gather flowers in the mapping game “Webster’s Stream.” In “Buzby’s Meadow,” youngsters must gather matching sets of flowers. After performing each task, gamers are awarded a seed which they can take to the Musical Garden and plant. The more seeds they have, the more instruments they can “grow” and play. Most of the activities are narrated, but some reading is required. Pre-readers may require some help. The scenes are easy to navigate and kids will enjoy the different activities. A useful addition for public libraries.–Maren Ostergard, King County Library System, Issaquah, WA

K-Gr 5–More than a library game, I Love Books is a literature game that challenges students to recall some of their favorite fairy tales, nursery rhymes, books, and stories, as well as library skills. There are ten games from which to choose, from “Library Skills” and “Dewey Decimal” to “Fairy Tales” and “Dr. Seuss,” from “Colorful Titles” to “Let’s Eat!” The youngest students will feel competent answering questions about Mother Goose rhymes and fairy tales, while older players will master the library skills and Harry Potter questions. Basically, the game is a PowerPoint presentation with multiple choice or simple response questions and cute clipart graphics. Clicking on an incorrect answer brings up a “try again” slide, so students can select responses until they are successful. There is no score-keeping function, so the game can be very relaxed, or teachers can improvise a scoring system. There are a few errors: the copyright date is not usually found on the title page, and the Dalmatian in 101 Dalmatians is named Pongo, not Pogo. The questions are general enough to be fun, but challenging enough to make students think carefully. This game might inspire students to create their own PowerPoint question-and-answer game. The game runs easily on Windows 98 systems, and also works with a Power Point ’97 reader. Although this isn’t a high-powered video game, the extensive collection of questions makes it a welcome addition to libraries.–MaryAnn Karre, Horace Mann Elementary School, Binghamton, NY

PreS-Gr 2–Come to Lost Island with Studydog to help Dr. Z find the ingredients for an important potion that can only be obtained by completing assignments. In this early childhood reading program, users learn and reinforce basic phonics through a series of skill-based activities, each made up of several lessons. Volume 1 teaches skills appropriate for preschool and kindergarten users, while the second volume is suitable for first and second graders. The alphabet is presented (both upper and lower-case letters), and consonant and vowel sounds are emphasized. Users also practice word families, sight words, contractions, oral comprehension, independent reading, blends, and spelling. Basic phonics rules are taught and applied. Each lesson takes place in a different spot on the island, so users are taught by talking trees, elves, jesters, knights, ogres, and so forth. These are all rendered in bright colors, with fun graphics and enough of a sense of humor to hold a child’s interest. The program is remarkably easy to use, requiring no installation. Users can select a number, or classroom names (up to 30) may be entered. It is also possible to set a program password. A constant record is kept of student achievement, showing which lessons were completed, which were mastered, and which are still pending. Although this is mostly drill and practice, it is perfectly aimed at its target audience and emphasizes important skills necessary for reading success. Useful both in a home and a school setting.–Teresa Bateman, Brigadoon Elementary School, Federal Way, WA

Gr 1-4–Students who are accustomed to flashy, interactive video-style math programs may find this product old-fashioned. It offers arithmetic lessons in written form, followed by practice exercises and quizzes. There are few pictures, and no cartoon characters or catchy music. The program covers lessons in counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division as well as an interactive section on time of day which shows how time is related to our position on Earth relative to the sun. In the counting section, students can select the object to be counted from a list, and the clipart objects are counted aloud, but the voice is grainy and variable. Math terms are defined, but not in language that primary graders will understand; perhaps these explanations will help adult tutors explain the concepts to their students. Each section offers notes which explain the concept, lessons showing examples, a table for reference, and exercises and quizzes. In the division section, for example, the notes of explanation and definitions are followed by an interactive section in which division problems are worked visually, using colored rectangles. This is followed by exercises showing maximum number of whole divisors, proper use of fractions as remainders, fractions, percents and decimals, and division with decimal fraction remainders. The multiplication section might confuse users because it solves two-digit problems from the top down (multiplicand times multiplier). Scores and time taken to complete each quiz are available but can’t be printed; only tables and notes can be printed. As a review and drill-and-practice exercise, this program provides serviceable material with few bells and whistles.–MaryAnn Karre, Horace Mann Elementary School, Binghamton, NY

Gr 1-6–Little bug-eyed Aymun has witnessed the theft of the sacred Suali stone by the pirates and sets out to recover it. Before he can reach the pirates’ lair, Aymun becomes imprisoned in the land of the Gulfis where he meets Justino, a fellow prisoner, who helps him along his quest. They explore the land of the Gulfis, are swallowed by a sea serpent, and sail on a pirate ship. The player can choose from six different grade levels, using tools and talking to characters to help Aymun through traps and other predicaments. The graphics are great, and the accompanying music is not intrusive. Justino offers hints and tips along the way. There are more tips for the lower grades and more difficult situations for the higher grades. The game also presents a variety of multiple-choice challenges, quizzing students on such topics as geometric shapes, spelling, parts of the body, and parts of speech. Some of the challenges are a bit too difficult for first graders and too simple at the higher levels; some others are confusing. For example, many students won’t know if the metatarsal is a bone or a muscle, and although 63 can be divided by both 21 and 9, only the latter answer is deemed correct. The language is stilted and some words and phrases are not translated properly, perhaps because the game was originally written in Spanish. The game can be played in either English or Spanish. Despite some drawbacks, this nonviolent adventure game is fun and challenging enough that youngsters will want to play repeatedly at different levels.–MaryAnn Karre, Horace Mann Elementary School, Binghamton, NY

K-Gr 3–Activities, a story, and simple lessons teach children about types of fish, whales, and dolphins. The format is simple and somewhat interactive. The main menu offers eight activities. “Fluke Match” is a memory-type game. There are varying degrees of difficulty. In “The Puzzler,” users solve a puzzle of a whale picture or an illustration from the story. A tale about a young humpback whale and an older and wiser blue whale can be read by players or they can listen to the narration by a click of the mouse. (The book, written by Cheryl Block and illustrated by Gene Takeshita, is available) “Humpback Behaviors” offers information on various behaviors. Each topic is accompanied by a few sentences which can be read or narrated. Most of the activities are accompanied by color photographs, illustrations, or brief video clips. Some of the clips are choppy and background noise and conversation can be heard on some of them. The section on “Conservation” covers overfishing, by catch, entanglement, garbage, chemical pollution. and more. In “Whales and Fish,” youngsters learn about the differing anatomies of the two animals. “Whales, Dolphins, & Porpoises” presents facts about different types of whales and dolphins. A segment on “Echolocation” is presented in a book-like format. The information is aligned to National Science Education Standards and state standards. Printable math, reading, and science activity sheets are in a separate folder of the CD-ROM. An educational and fun introduction to the topic.–Maren Ostergard, King County Library System, Issaquah, WA