Happily Ever After - Fairy Tales for Every Child
Reviewed by Kim Moon
Published by Knowledge Adventure
|
Age Group: Age 4 to 8
Type: Language Arts
Price: $30.00 US |
PC version requires:
Windows, 486-66, 16M RAM, 10M hard drive, CDx2
Mac version requires:
68040/25, System 7.1
Description:
Have you always wondered why so many princesses and princes in our traditional fairy tales have blonde hair and blue eyes? Well, so did the creators of this program, and they decided to adapt these favorites so that more children could identify with them. Based on the series on Home Box Office by the same name, Fairy Tales for Every Child contains three stories that have been altered to be multi-cultural adventures. Little Red Riding Hood has become "Little Red Happy Coat" as she is known in the East, Rumpelstiltskin is from the Carribean, and Hansel and Gretel are "Hanselito and Gretelita" because they are from South America. Each section contains the storybook section (where the words "light up" as they are read, a plus for beginning readers.)
There are also coloring book applications in each section, with many scenes that can be colored
on screen or printed and colored by the child. Little Red Happy Coat has a 3-D maze that lets the
player attempt to maneuver through the woods to Grandma's (known as Poa-Poa in the story.)
Three-in-a-Row is a sophisticated form of tic-tac-toe where the player first places the bugs on the
chosen flowers and then later gets to "jump" them to try and make three in a row. In
Rumpelstiltskin, there are "two-sided slider puzzles" where the player must not only decide which
piece goes where, but also must flip the pieces to make them part of the picture being assembled.
A version of the traditional African game, Mancala, called Island Wari on the program, requires
the player to use logic to move nuggets around the board to the "home pit." Hansel and Gretel
allows the child to navigate through a maze (complete with crocodiles and quicksand) or to
complete puzzles. These are not ordinary puzzles, though. The player is allowed to choose a
subject and then must assemble the character from cookie dough parts displayed on screen. It
requires concentration and develops visual discrimination because many of the parts are very
similar.
Features:
- Levels on all games
- Parental controls (The "ambient sounds" and the print icon can be turned on and off.)
- Restart icon that allows a child to start over at any time
- Some games allow the child to play against a character (or even another child)
Technical Aspects:
The program installed and ran smoothly with Windows 95. The graphics were accurately
represented on the packaging. (They are the same quality as those found in the HBO series.) The
voices were delightful and there is also "ambient sound" such as traditional music and animal
sounds. There are even "page-turning" noises during the stories.
Report and Conclusions:
We love this program! Although my daughter was initially disconcerted because these stories
were "different" from the ones she has always read, she quickly became entranced with the stories as they are presented on this program. This program was very well done and should provide many hours of entertainment with its many levels of difficulty and the encouragement from the delightful characters.
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