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Computer Kicks & Tricks
Top 'o the mornin' to ya -- or afternoon or evening -- whichever applies! What do Pocahontas Reading Adventure; Cinderella, The Original Fairy Tale; and What Is A Bellybutton? have in common? All three applications can be found in Gateway's new Kid's BackPack II software bundle and all three were reviewed for you by Brittany Guillaume, 9, of Sioux City, Iowa. Brittany is in the third grade at Longfellow Elementary School in Sioux City. She's a big sports fan and loves to play baseball and watch football. When she has extra time on her hands you might find Brittany reading a book, adding to her stamp collection or cuddling one of her stuffed animals. And you'll never guess Brittany's favorite subject in school -- recess!
Reading Fun Pocahontas Reading Adventure is cool. Out of the three software applications I reviewed, it was my favorite. The story is read aloud to you, and after each chapter you can choose if you want to play a game or continue the story. You can hit pause and then click on the picture and the picture will do something. It has a table of contents, and songs like "Can It Be." If you don't know what a word means you can click on it and it will show the word's meaning. As it goes through the story it highlights the words it reads. It's fun. You should try it!
Once Upon a Time Cinderella, The Original Fairy Tale is neat. It tells you a story. You can click on a picture and it will tell you what that picture is about. You can also read it to yourself, or let it read to you. When you stop you can start again by moving the arrow and you will go back to your place. I liked this software a lot and I think you will, too.
Healthy Answers What Is A Bellybutton? helps you learn about your body and how to be healthy. First a teddy bear named Baxter will ask some questions. And he gives answers to questions about how your body works. Then it shows some things like pictures of Baxter and his friends. You can do cool stuff -- like in the game section if you click on a picture of a painting you can mix the colors up and repaint Baxter or one of his friends. There's also a memory game where you have to find and match the same kind of good foods. What Is A Bellybutton? answers a lot of questions kids have and it's also fun.
In our Holiday Issue we asked for St. Valentine's or St. Patrick's Day cards and pictures to jazz up this PC Moos for Kids column. Thanks to all of you who sent in your artistic creations! We loved them all, but only had room for a few. If you'd like to send other drawings or computer pictures we'll try to make room for some of them in future issues. Who knows, maybe you'll be the next Moo-chaelangelo!
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Dennis, 12, St. Petersburg, Florida |
Megan, 11, Tucson, Arizona |
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Katharine, 12, Graham, North Carolina |
Miranda, 7, Irving, Illinois |
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J.T., 9, Wiscasset, Maine |
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