Product Description

Arthur's Thinking Games provides fun and laughter while learning. Through puzzles, games and other surprises, develop memory, critical thinking and music skills. Arthur's Thinking Games give hours of entertainment for children over five.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4890 in Software
• Brand: SoftKey
• Platforms: Windows 98, Windows 95

Amazon.co.uk Review
ABC by Dr Seuss has to be one of the most entertaining ways for your child to learn about the alphabet. Derived from the timelessly popular Dr Seuss books with their special brand of humour, rhyme and illustration, this CD-ROM will provide endless fun and laughter, not only for the three- to seven-year-olds it is aimed at, but the parents too. Presented as pages of a book, the product is easy to use, animated throughout and highly interactive.

In the section "Read Me", Ichabod and Izzy guide your child through the alphabet, introducing them to Aunt Annie's Alligator, the Fiffer-Feffer-Feff and many more. Each letter of the alphabet has its own page and is shown in both upper and lower case. A zany scenario develops using that letter consistently. Even the goodbye on each page reflects the letter being worked on--Adios, Farewell Friends, Next and so on.

In the section "Play and Learn", the fun really begins. There are an amazing 400 alphabetical surprises hidden in the 26 pages of the ABC book and your child will want to find all of them! Mouse control will improve in this section as clicking almost anywhere produces mini sketches and songs. Your child will be enchanted by such sights as the barber playing boogie-woogie bass and the brief appearance of the Cat in the Hat.

The soundtrack is excellent throughout and your youngster can sing along with Ichabod and Izzy to the catchy and well-known ABC song.

Altogether this CD-ROM is a rare treat. (Even the animated credit titles under the Options menu are worth viewing.) It combines learning and fun in such a subtle way that it will be difficult for your child to distinguish between the two.

Unique, unpredictable, stimulating, surreal--the extraordinary world of Dr Seuss will prove to be an unforgettable experience. --Tracey Hogan

From Children's Software Revue®
From Aunt Annie's Alligator to the Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz, this 26-screen alphabet book lets children click on words, phrases or pictures to see them come to life. Each page contains a wealth of animations- about 15 to 30 skits per letter. On the letter Z page, for example, children can count the number of Zs in the name of Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz or watch the letter Z zoom around the screen, zapping things. A cute pet named Zed makes an appearance, and clicking on "What starts with Z?" shows a zipper, zebra, or zucchini. By the end of the page, children really get the idea that this is the place for Zs! Scattered among the pages are 14 original songs which, along with the wide variety of animated routines, result in a perfect setting for children to begin making letter/sound associations. Testers liked the playful characters- the large talking alligator and mice humming in the moonlight- and parents were impressed by the original jazz and range of vocal styles.

A few design quirks lower the program's rating. For instance, a teacher using the program in her classroom wrote "There were no specific spots for children to click on so it took a while for the children to get the hang of it." This finding was confirmed by our home testers, whose initial enthusiasm for the program faded rather quickly. The design would benefit from an easier way to flip through the pages and a more responsive interface. Despite these minor problems, the wide range of routines, musical styles and clever letter-related puns make for fun exposure to the alphabet and the humorous Dr. Seuss characters.
Teaches: early reading, letter and word recognition, music
Age Range: 3, 4, 5, 6 Copyright © 2000 Children's Software Revue

Manufacturer's Description
Explore the extraordinary world of Dr Seuss

The magic of Dr. Seuss's popular books comes to life in this fun-filled introduction to the ABCs of reading. With Dr. Seuss's special brand of humour, rhyme and illustration, there's never a dull moment. Unlike a printed primer, this Living Book creates a responsive environment in which children make the connection between sounds, symbols and words. On each page, a touch of the mouse awakens funny talking characters, zany sound effects and an original soundtrack.

All content on this CD is US English.

Customer Reviews

Certainly worth it for the money
DR SEUSS - this caused some problems as loading instructions were very vague, and once in the programme you cannot easily escape unless you have had the presence of mind to print out the instructions before starting to play. The games are pretty limited, and all Brits beware - the accents and spelling are American !!
ARTHUR'S THINKING GAMES - a lovely, straight forward CD-Rom, which my daughter loves. 7 games to play with enough variations to keep her interested. Claims to be for 5-7yr olds, but my (nearly)4 yr old is very happy. Worth buying the double pack just for this.