On Your Mark, Get Set, Read!
A Review of Arthur's Reading Race
Rich Cunningham
The technology of today has changed the face of children's books. When my son and daughters were young, books were a pleasant way to spend time, reading and looking at the colorful pictures. It was more fun pretending to do make up more activities in the story than what the author had room to do on a printed page. With the advance in computers, the printed page has expanded its horizons.
The program under review today, "Arthur's Reading Race", is a perfect example of the mixing of high tech multimedia computer applications and the printed book. Marc Brown has created a cast of characters that have appeared in several books. One of the most popular is Arthur. In this book, he is proud to display his reading ability, but is amazed to learn that his friend D.W. can read as well as he can, even though he is younger. It is a very good book for young children to read, for it has a lot of colors and pictures, yet is not overly detailed. In the story, Arthur bets D.W. that she can't read ten common words around town. If she can, he will buy her an ice cream cone. (I won't reveal the ending, but it winds up in an ice cream parlor). Good story, not too detailed of a plot, easy for children ages 4 to 7 to understand and enjoy. It is available in bookstores wherever children's books are sold.
Wait a minute! How about the high tech multimedia mumbo jumbo, you are probably asking yourself? I'm glad you asked. This book has also been turned into a computer program by the same title, with the same plot. But, it has more to it. Much, much, more. For one thing, there is animation in the pictures. They cease to be stagnant images on paper, and becoming moving, talking critters on a screen. Yes, they talk. That is another improvement, sound and music. Not only can a child read the words, but also they can listen to them, and read along if they like. But after the words are read, that is where the fun begins. The characters continue to carry on conversations after the written words are spoken, adding more of an understanding to the story.
Then there are the hot spots. Hot spots are areas of the screen that are activated by moving the cursor over it. Interesting things happen when hot spots are used. There are some activities that can be played as well. They include Reading Race, I Spy, and Let Me Write. In Let Me Write, the player selects objects on the page, drags them to a piece of paper on the top of the page to create sentences. Different words can be chosen, and when finished, the entire sentence is read out loud. The results can be amusing.
This type of interactive multimedia is a great extension to the printed word. The use of sound and sight, instead of just sight, can help to stimulate the user to achieve a higher level of expertise in the subject. The opportunity to interact with the story is an excellent way to help increase and stimulate this same interest as well. My children thought so as they used this program, and who am I to argue with them? My son, who has learning issues, benefited from the use of this program. The visual stimulation helped make the reading of the words easier for him. This multi-sensory form of education has helped him to increase both his speech and language skills.
This program is very well written. It installed under the Windows 95 auto-play feature with no problems, and ran without bombing once. It also can run under Windows 3.X, and on the Macintosh platform as well. This program is another fine product from Living Books, who continue to release very solid products for a wide range of students. There is adequate documentation included to help with any glitches that may be encountered, with support also being available on the Internet.
If your kids are just learning to read, then this is a must-have program for your (or their) home library. I would suggest that you get a printed copy of the book as well. That will help to make their learning experience with Arthur a well-rounded one.
School House Scorecard
| Product: | Arthur's Reading Race |
| Company: | Living Books |
| Cost: | $39.95 |
System Requirements:
IBM:
Windows 95/3.1, MPC 2 Compliant PC,
486/33, 640x480x256 color display, 8MB RAM
Macintosh:
System 7 or later, CD-ROM,
640x480x256-color display, 4.5MB free RAM.
Breakdown:
Ease of Use 3.5
Learning Value 4
Entertainment Value 4
Graphics 4
Sound 3
Overall Score:
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