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(Ages 3 to 7) $29.99
Broderbund
Item #3602
Subjects: Reading, Early Learn

Review by Jeanie Ransom

I never thought I would see five little boys fight over a CD-ROM starring Arthur's little sister, D.W.. I mean, she's a girl, right? Don't girls have cooties?

Apparently, D.W. doesn't. "She's cool," said my 10-year-old, Matt. "Yeah, she's cool," echoed my five-year-old nephew, Josh. Cool!, I thought. You see, I had a plan here. I thought I'd try out this new CD from Broderbund while I had five boys to help me: my two nephews, ages three and five, and my own crew, 10, seven and almost three. I figured that if five boys liked a CD with a girl in it, than ANYONE would like it.

If they didn't like it, I'd go for Plan B - invite over the nieces. Needless to say, I never needed Plan B. In fact, I don't think my nieces will ever even get the chance try out "D.W. the Picky Eater" - unless their parents buy it for them.

I certainly didn't get to try out this CD-ROM until all the kids had gone to bed. I TRIED to try it out, but was quickly overwhelmed with five big-eyed boys begging for a turn.

"D.W. the Picky Eater" contained enough activities to satisfy everyone in the bunch, all evening long. First, there's a Living Books story about D.W. and her eating habits. If you're not familiar with the Living Books format, you're in for a treat. Each page of the book is an individual screen on the computer, with text highlighted as it's read aloud by the narrator. By moving the mouse around the screen, you can click on various objects and discover some fun surprises. (In the kitchen, for example, the toast jumps out of the toaster, the cookie jar sneezes and out fly the contents, and the eggs do competitive dives off the refrigerator shelf - complete with Olympic-style ratings.) Kids can listen to the whole story all the way through, repeat any page they like, or just zero in on one page to play inside.

Besides the story, there are five activities to choose from. There's a play house (really a doll house) that users can fill with furniture and people. There's "Sticker Fun," a great learning tool as well as great fun for the kids. There's a picnic with D.W. and Arthur, where kids learn about food choices. And, there's "Story Maker," where you can choose from different sentences and illustrations to create your own story. You can even print it out when you're through. My five-year-old nephew liked this activity best, as did my almost three-year-old, though the latter needed quite a bit of assistance to complete the book.

The last activity was the overall favorite with my clan. They got to help D.W. run gophers out of her garden by squirting them with a garden hose. I must admit I liked this game, too - when I finally got my turn!

D.W., you can come over to my house any time. If you can keep five boys entertained all evening with one CD-ROM, you're definitely cool on my list!


System Requirements:
Windows 3.1x, Windows 95, Windows 98
66MHz 486DX or faster
8MB RAM; 16 MB for Windows 95/Windows 98
Minimum 10MB hard disk space
2X CD-ROM drive or faster
640x480 display, 256 colors
Windows compatible sound device
Video and sound cards compatible with DirectX®

MACINTOSH CD-ROM
Macintosh and PowerPC
System 7.1 or higher
33MHZ 68040 or faster; PowerPC
8 MB RAM free
Minimum 12MB hard disk space
2X CD-ROM drive or faster
640x480 display, 256 colors

To see some fun kid's recipes go to
Arthur's After School Snacks at
http://www.thefamilycorner.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump.cgi?ID=3770

Louise Larson Janke has been reviewing educational software titles for nearly three years. She is the owner of The Tutor House , a mailorder children's software resource.

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