Cheap Sesame Street Reading Games (Software) (Windows NT, Windows Me, Windows 95, Windows 2000, Linux, Unix) Price

Cookie directs kids to choose one of two stories to read: "Grover's Travels" or "The Three Grouchketeers." Grover's story is a wide-eyed adventure during which our hero learns about his feelings. "The Three Grouchketeers" is about cooperation, and has a tad more attitude, since it involves Oscar the Grouch. After deciding on a story (younger kids will lean towards "Grover's Travels," while the top of the age range will probably like "The Three Grouchketeers"), kids can either read it straight through, or read a version where activities must be completed to progress. Both stories contain six activities based on early learning fundamentals, and a choice of two levels of play. The tasks are simple and educational: counting in sequence will untie Grover, following Oscar the Grouch's directions arms the Grouchketeers with enough "royal junk" for their mission, and helping Big Bird complete a rhyme makes Grover's getaway balloon inflate.

Text appears above each page, and words light up as a clear-voiced narrator reads the story. Once kids have read through the story, they can use an index function to go directly back to their favorite page or activity without having to sit through the whole "book" again. There are some musical interludes that range from awful (Grover is no Pavarotti) to cute ("Oh I love triangles! They're pointy and pokey and stable!"), and the animation is bright and busy. Our only gripe is that the producers didn't follow the rule of threes--one more story would have given this CD-ROM real staying power.

One of this program's great strengths is its capacity to surprise. "I've got tar in a jar, an iron bar, a fast car, and a Mylar sitar!" intones Big Bird during the rhyming game. On another page, the word "minuscule" crops up, alongside a clickable thesaurus that recites every other word for "small" imaginable. Dozens of cleverly animated hotspots adorn both stories. In true Sesame Street style, Reading Games teaches kids, yet never talks down to them. (Ages 3 to 5) --Anne Erickson