Description:
Be prepared: Your child may develop a yellow-sock obsession after discovering this charming, multilingual European CD-ROM. Socks--yellow ones with holes--are the only things that can free Willie, the friendly ghost, from his tower. He eats them to maintain his ghostly powers, and he's terribly hungry. Max must choose whether or not to leave the twilight comfort of his uncle's backyard on a mission to the haunted castle to free the ghost. Fortunately, this spooky spot is more full of delight than dread. The haunted castle's 13 rooms are cozy, cluttered, and riddled with secret passageways. The object here is simply to search for little yellow socks in this multidimensional storybook world. Click on a rug, and it transforms into a ghostly keyboard, each note a quivering moan. In another room, click on a washing machine, and a grungy ghost flies in, goes through a cycle, and flies out, sparkling white. There's endless fun to be had searching for the all-important footwear; this CD-ROM emphasizes the exploration (there's a ghost in the shower!) that happens on the way to achievement (must get yellow socks!) As your child helps Max discover new rooms, narrative text appears onscreen, adding to the storybook feel and encouraging literacy skills. Memory and orientation come into play as explorers negotiate the castle's doors and secret passageways, and kids can even dabble in German and French by changing the language setting. As bats deliver mail from home, and statuary drops hints to sock seekers, this place doesn't feel haunted; it feels charmed. (Ages 3-7) --Anne Erickson
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