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A popular magazine is looking for a special community of dogs to feature in their next issue, and Clifford, T-Bone, and Cleo want to make a big impression. Children develop important skills with Clifford and friends as they travel around Birdwell Island helping their neighbors and playing fun learning activities. Kids complete a scrapbook containing snapshots of their skill-building adventures--making posters, building a playground, completing a rhyming poem, and more. The software teaches important skills like pattern recognition, classifying and sorting, and addition and subtraction. There are 10 entertaining activities in all, providing hours of fun. Three adjustable levels and an automatic help feature allow for independent play. A comprehensive parent's guide is also included.

After a storm breaks the radio tower on Birdwell Island, Clifford the Big Red Dog and his master, Emily Elizabeth, decide to make music with friends Charley, Cleo, and T-Bone. Kids join them in the fun by making instruments, singing songs, sorting shells, dancing with the dogs, and more. The program's 19 age-appropriate activities challenge children (ages 4 to 6) to develop their memory, logic, and early-math skills. An automatic help tool allows for self-guided play, while all activities progress according to children's skill level. Once they've assembled all the instruments, kids get to create their own music with Clifford and his very big band.

It's Clifford the Big Red Dog's birthday, and Emily Elizabeth has a long list of tasks to accomplish before she can throw a party for her colossal canine pal. As the original "big dog" wreaks havoc--then comes to the rescue--throughout this program, it's easy to see why the affable Clifford has been a hit with early readers for nearly four decades. Kids strengthen recall, problem-solving, and creativity skills as they travel through town with Emily Elizabeth and Clifford, getting ready for the party.

The program begins with the efficient Emily Elizabeth explaining all that needs to be done to prepare for the party: groom Clifford, decorate a birthday cake, pick up a present from the post office, build a birthday-dog collar, and clean up the backyard. As the duo sets out to accomplish these tasks, guided by your child, unplanned events and Clifford-caused accidents throw them off task, giving them additional problems to solve. A knocked-over grocery display case must be put back together before decorating the birthday cake, the needed package isn't at the post office, and the only dog groomer in town refuses to service the gigantic specimen. This program does a great job of encouraging the nonlinear thinking that's sometimes necessary to get through real life.

There are seven places to visit and explore in town, ranging from the beach to the home of the crotchety Bleakmans, elderly neighbors with a large swimming pool (hint, hint). In addition to the overall task of figuring out how to get ready for the big bash, there are also eight activities that can be played using three difficulty levels. One of the standouts is a game in which Clifford must deliver cars safely home after causing a traffic jam; it teaches spatial reasoning and how to follow directions, and there's just something delightful about seeing Clifford with a minivan in his mouth. Other activities range from purely creative (decorating the cake, grooming Clifford) to the game-like (helping Clifford dodge seaweed and refuel by eating fish sticks as he swims out to sea to rescue a doggy pal). The overall concept of the program is stronger than the individual games--a 6-year-old game whiz may find that Clifford moves a bit too slowly. We think disciples of the Big Red Dog will love it, as it features everything from Clifford's helpful heroism to Emily Elizabeth's odd circular kneecaps. (Ages 4 to 6) --Anne Erickson

For kids who can't get enough of stories, songs, and the alphabet, Clifford Reading is sure to please. Young appetites for learning and fun can be easily satisfied with this simple yet well-designed program that teaches the fundamentals of reading using a strict phonetic approach.

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

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