Cheap Clifford The Big Red Dog Reading (Software) (Macintosh, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me) Price

After a brief introduction to Clifford and his friend Emily Elizabeth, the two animated characters give an overview of a handful of letters, along with words that can be made from them. Armed with this knowledge, players may then choose from six different games that use these words and letters. In one game, players break balloons with the selected word--pop enough balloons, and Clifford gets dunked in the ocean! In another, players sort parrots into pairs depending on what sound they have learned to make.

The games in Clifford Reading are simple, but they succeed in making entertainment of phonics drills. What's more, success brings definite rewards. Players who correctly identify words and sounds in enough games earn prizes, printed projects like paper airplanes and puppets; these can be colored the old-fashioned way, with crayons and pencils, or decorated on the computer prior to being printed out. Even better, each time players conquer a group of words and letters, they receive a book that uses those words--one that they can read without any help at all! Like the prize activities, the books can be printed, colored, and kept for posterity as visible signs of reading progress.

Clifford Reading favors substance over flash. The animations are simple, but the program runs smoothly and its content is extensive. With its multiple levels of difficulty and entertaining games, this is a top choice for children who are hungry to start reading on their own. --Alyx Dellamonica