Play and Explore Year 2 is a fun and easy to use CD-ROM aimed at children in Year 2 (ages six and seven). There are 10 very well explained games that children will quickly pick up and be able to enjoy playing independently. Children will have great fun zapping viruses, creating pictures and stopping monsters from escaping while learning to follow instructions and practising their literacy and numeracy skills. There is also a good guide for parents that lists the skills that children will be developing and suggests other very good activities. Sheets can also be printed out to go with these activities. -Amanda York.

As the opening credits to Sabrina's enchanting adventure assert "She's not a normal girl, she's caught between the magic and normal world". The skills you will develop playing this game are certainly out of this world! Sabrina the Teenage Witch has lost a magical amulet at the Mall and it has fallen into the unscrupulous hands of Gem Stone who is using her powers to trap Sabrina's friends and wreak havoc. To avoid chaos at the Mall and rescue her friends Sabrina needs all of her magical powers and four mystical objects which you play games to help her find. Between the games, long animated segments featuring Sabrina and Salem explain the action and help to hold the attention. The controls are easy to use and the help pages offer clear instructions on how to play and which spells to use. In one addictive game Sabrina must rescue Harvey from the pyramid where he's been trapped. Players have to negotiate the maze of tunnels, remember routes and even play rock, paper, scissors with a mummy! Meanwhile in the "Smoothie Shack" you must zap falling pieces of fruit with magic before it falls on Sabrina and squashes her. A very entertaining game and a fun way to spend a couple of hours but just a small tip to speed up play slightly: use the mall directory to get to the action quickly rather than having Sabrina walk between game locations. -Rachel Ediss.

Clifford Reading is another excellent package from children's publisher Scholastic, perfectly designed to help young children aged 4-6 years to develop early reading skills. It features Clifford, the ever-popular big red dog, known and loved by many children for more than 30 years. Throughout, your child will be asked to help Clifford to explore the fun-packed neighbourhood on Birdwell Island and take part in various activities, among which are the creation of t-shirts, making a theatre sign, helping Monique the artist to identify words and paint them, dunking Clifford in the sea, and returning Loretta's parrots to her boats. All these activities are entertaining, involving situations only Clifford can create. Skills covered include letter recognition and sorting, visual discrimination, word building, phonics, word and object association, letter/sound recognition, upper and lower-case letters, sight-word recognition, sound blending, spelling, vocabulary, listening, memory, following directions, basic PC skills, fine motor skills and creativity. All these have seven levels of learning that automatically adjust, according to your child's progress. Once a level has been completed, and all the letters and sounds have been mastered, a Bonus Book is given as a reward. The books earned will be placed on the bookshelf in Emily Elizabeth's bedroom, and they can be accessed at any time to be read, coloured or printed out. The accompanying leaflet is excellent: it is extremely well set out and explains everything from technical support, installation, explanations of the activities, to reporting on a child's progress, and troubleshooting, using straightforward, simple language. -Susan Naylor.

Not too many software packages will have you jumping and spinning, but that's what Barbie Gotta Groove is all about. Work with Barbie and her gal-pals Tori, Nichelle, Ana and Chelsie (plus set designer Lara) to make cool clothes, rockin' stages and swinging dance routines, then put them all together for the big show. Get creative on the dance floor with hip-hop, salsa and other styles-once you've got the virtual girls going, you can try the moves out yourself. The interface is supereasy-for the most part, pointing and clicking is all that you need to do. The CD works in stereos, too, so even if you're not around a computer you can practice your jams. Use the Barbie Digital Camera (not included) to put yourself in the action-make CD covers or your own personality page! You can save your favourite outfits and dance pieces and watch them again and again, plus you can challenge yourself by watching a dance and then playing back the moves in just the right order. If you want, you can even compete with your friends to see who's got the right moves. Just imagine-all the lights, colours and glamour of show business without the stress and heartbreak. Barbie and all her Generation Girl friends need a little direction-slide into your choreographer's chair and get busy. -Rob Lightner.

Though it may not appeal to many adult gamers, Disney's Toy Story 2 Action Game is a solid arcade game. The title combines the style and humour of the movie with 3-D platform-game elements you would normally find in a video game. In fact, the exact same game is also available for the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 game consoles, and its video-game roots are often clearly visible. Players take control of Buzz Lightyear in his quest to rescue Woody from the evil clutches of Al, the toy collector. The game is played from a third-person perspective and is more like Super Mario 64 than Tomb Raider. Many of the 15 levels-most of which revolve around actual locations from the movie-are straightforward, but offer numerous bonus items and secret areas to explore. In order to make it through the entire game, Buzz has to perform many difficult jumps, climb trees, zap evil toys with his laser, and interact with all of his toy pals to get clues. Much like the movie, the game's primary audience is kids (ages 8 and older); adults may tire of the arcade-style jumping and climbing action in short order. Still, for parents searching for a family-friendly computer game-and one that wonderfully re-creates the environments and characters of a great Disney movie-Toy Story 2 Action Game is a great bet. -Michael E Ryan.

It's a beloved children's classic in a brand-new format, and kids are sure to love all the new music, games and creative activities on this CD. Throughout the software, The Cat in the Hat is read aloud by a narrator, and children are presented with two choices: follow along with the story or play with the games and "clickables" hidden on every page. Games are designed simply, and pre-schoolers will be able to master them without much difficulty (older children may find them a bit too easy to bother with repeat play). Throughout the story narration, early readers will benefit from seeing the highlighted words on each page-they are repeated frequently. It's a great way to foster word recognition. This software also teaches toddlers how to get the hang of using a mouse. They are encouraged to turn "pages" by clicking on the Cat's glove icon; they'll find this action easy and instantly gratifying, since kids can click anywhere in the vicinity and still receive hilarious results. Who knows, maybe helping the Cat with the Clean-Up Machine will inspire your little ones to put their own toys away! -Jill Lightner.

Bring a storybook to life with the Little Polar Bear and the Great Bear CD-ROM. Packed with activities, fun and games, wonderful pictures and a magical soundtrack help to tell the tale of Lars, the little polar bear on a big adventure around the North Pole. Choose from one of two modes-the delightfully entertaining Storybook for younger children who wish to join Lars on his magical journey, or the Interactive Adventure with its challenges and games. There are numerous games and activities to keep young minds entertained while teaching valuable skills such as problem-solving, hand-eye coordination and logical thinking. The story begins with the little polar bear and his father as they look up to the sky. As inquisitive as any young mind, Lars wants to know why constellations have the names they do. His father encourages him to discover the answer for himself, and so begins the adventure. Make some new friends along the way, such as Egor the Whale, Hugo the Rabbit and Ed the Reindeer, while indulging in some great fun and games. Navigation is easy, and help is at hand at all times-just click on Lars. Encouraging imagination and with the educational benefits you would expect from Dorling Kindersley, the Little Polar Bear and the Great Bear will surely become a child's favourite. [+]

Don't let the title Beauty or the Beast fool you-this is a point-and-click adventure game, for children aged 7-11 years, based on the original fairy tale of the handsome prince trapped in the body of a beast by a wizard's spell and the girl whose love frees him. The "or" in the title refers to the game's most original twist, that you can play either as Beauty or the Beast and depending on which character you choose, enjoy an entirely different game, wrapped around the same plot line. The game follows the classic format of the point-and-click adventure. You guide your chosen character round the castle using the mouse, gathering objects such as keys and parchment maps that appear useful (these are popped into your inventory at the top of the screen) and using them to solve puzzles. These are a good mix. Some require dexterity with the mouse (dragging pesky bats off the bucket in the well so it descends properly) while others require problem-solving skills (deciphering the clues on a parchment or finding the right key). You can save the game at any time, get help by clicking on your guide, Horace Finefeather the owl, and review your progress by checking on the map of the castle. Hardened puzzle-game players at the upper end of the target age group may find all this a bit easy, but younger children (or those less addicted to console games) will love it. The graphics are great, the animations very effective and the video-style introductory sequences a reminder of when companies really cared about producing quality multimedia. -Rob Beattie.