Rating: 
Summary: Reader Rabbit Toddler
Review: After a bit of research, we bought this as the first computer software for our 1 year old daughter, and she just loves it. It keeps her occupied and laughing for long periods. First she was fascinated by the keyboard banging and the reactions she could cause. By 16 months she had mastered the concepts of mouse clicking and dragging objects and moving around. By 20 months she was an expert in all the games, starts and stops the program herself, and navigates to where she wants to play. This program is also educational as well as fun. She learned her numbers, colors, shapes, animal sounds, songs in large part through this software. While she is now 22 months and has moved on to a bit more advanced programs, she still goes back and enjoys playing these games quite frequently. This was a most excellent purchase. It was a very positive experience for her, not much frustration, in fact she kept pushing us away when we tried to help and show her things, she wanted to figure them out on her own. The computer has easily become her favorite toy, and the family has to fight with her just to get time of their own. I recommend this without hesitation, it is better by far than anything else I've seen for a baby/toddler starter program.
Rating:
Summary: The BEST first software program
Review: After trying several different software programs for toddlers (including JumpStart Toddlers), I really believe this is the only way to go for the first program. The games are controlled by keyboard and mouse, so children who don't yet understand mouse movement can make the game work. When using the mouse, simply rolling over the correct part of the screen will activate the game. There are a variety of games that will improve computer skills gradually. Even after learning to point, click, and drag, my son still loves this game. My only complaint about the game is that I wish the star "button" which takes you back to the main menu is at the bottom right corner of the screen and too close to other pieces on many games. The fact that you only have to pause over the star, not click it, to return to the main menu meant that, until his mouse skills improved, my son was constantly accidently exiting a game in progress. I'd move the star to the upper right or left corner. But that is my only complaint. This is a fantastic product.
Rating:
Summary: The BEST first software program
Review: After trying several different software programs for toddlers (including JumpStart Toddlers), I really believe this is the only way to go for the first program. The games are controlled by keyboard and mouse, so children who don't yet understand mouse movement can make the game work. When using the mouse, simply rolling over the correct part of the screen will activate the game. There are a variety of games that will improve computer skills gradually. Even after learning to point, click, and drag, my son still loves this game. My only complaint about the game is that I wish the star "button" which takes you back to the main menu is at the bottom right corner of the screen and too close to other pieces on many games. The fact that you only have to pause over the star, not click it, to return to the main menu meant that, until his mouse skills improved, my son was constantly accidently exiting a game in progress. I'd move the star to the upper right or left corner. But that is my only complaint. This is a fantastic product.
Rating: 
Summary: Not horrible, but far from great
Review: First, I loved Reader Rabbit Toddler -- I thought it was cute, suited a large range of (toddler) skills and interests, fast paced and not annoying. I can't say the same for Reader Rabbit Preschool. My 2 1/2 yr old likes the three minute music videos lauding the joys of "Spark-a-lot" -- I think they're insipid, annoying, and pointless. They're not given as a reward for completing an activity and they don't reinforce anything but the storyline. As for the storyline -- winning a complete set of brillites in order to start a fountain, rescue a ship and save the stars -- was way beyond my 2 1/2 year old.Game play is confusing -- both for me and my son. It's very dependent on being able to listen to the directions upfront. As a parent being called in to rescue a frustrated child, I had a hard time figuring out what the goal of the game was at times. I also still haven't gotten my son to sit and listen to the directions by himself -- he just likes the games where he's already learned the set instructions like the mining game where you have to match gems of a certain shape and color. Some of the games were just too long, and most of them got old fast. I just don't see the point of counting out a set number of astronauts twenty times just so you can win a brillite. Again, if you're child already knows the skill -- counting, letters, matching colors and shapes -- then they can practice. If they don't know the skill, the game won't teach it. As is mentioned in other reviews, the game won't remove extra choices or highlight the right answer to help, it just keeps repeating the same instructions. So if your child needs more than: "You need a blue brillite." "That's not a triangle." or "Try again." than get ready to do a *lot* of helping. As for winning the game, there didn't really seem to be a rhyme or reason to the winning of brillites and I had a hard time figuring out what they were for. One set of colors started a fountain; another color set was needed to free the ship; and I never quite figured out what the third did -- some areas of the game allowed you to use them, but I'm still not sure if the rat popping up for a couple of seconds was the sole reward. Trying to get complete sets can be frustrating as you're never told what you need to do to get them. I also don't see the point of a game you can win for preschoolers -- it's just too long of a reward delay for young, and seems to be used in place of greater variety. It's not a horrible game or anything -- just not particularly great.
Rating:
Summary: great for toddlers
Review: I bought reader rabbit toddler for my 2 year old. (She turned two in sept). It was the first game she was permitted to play, her first real exposure to using the computer. On the plus side, it did a great job teaching her to use the mouse. All of the activities can be accessed without needing to coordinate clicking. That's good because it's pretty tough for little hands to do that sometimes. The little games are okay. There are 3 that are mainly practicing mouse movements, 1 just fun one, 2 straight matching, and 2 matching with strategy. She had a hard time getting the baby basket bingo game where you match a baby animal (hidden in a basket) to its mother or father, based solely on the sound it makes. She knew which animal made which sound, but she didn't seem to realize that a baby cow can only belong to a mommy cow. (and not a mommy duck for example). She really loved this game. She wanted to play it non stop for a few weeks...Maybe 3. And then she mastered it. She still likes to play it every day, but it only takes 10-20 minutes of it for her to get bored. For some 2 year olds 10-20 minutes is a lot, but not mine. She'll happily sit through a feature length movie, or read book after book after book, just so you get an idea. There is a second CD that comes with it but all the activities except one are way too old for toddlers. Activities that involve actual math (adding 2 digit numbers, etc). So that's not real useful. There are a few annoying things, but they are small. For example in the letter matching/phonics activity their example of an "S" word is shoe. True, it does start with an s, why not use a word that is not an exception to the "S sound" rule. Sock or soup or something... Also, there's no way to turn of the instructions for each game. Ellen gets frustrated as she has to sit there listening to them again and again. Also, in the bubble castle activity, there are always 5 animals, so they are always counting to 5. Some variety might have been better for teaching the kids counting. And lastly, you HAVE to use the CD to run the game. My husband (a computer science ph.D student) tried several ways to just run it from the hard drive, but it is impossible. So we have the problem of the 2 year old who wants to take the disk in and out of the drive to play her game. Anyway...Bottom line, your kid will like it. Your kid will learn to use the mouse. Your kid will probably outgrow it quickly. Try to find it on sale.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but...
Review: I bought reader rabbit toddler for my 2 year old. (She turned two in sept). It was the first game she was permitted to play, her first real exposure to using the computer. On the plus side, it did a great job teaching her to use the mouse. All of the activities can be accessed without needing to coordinate clicking. That's good because it's pretty tough for little hands to do that sometimes. The little games are okay. There are 3 that are mainly practicing mouse movements, 1 just fun one, 2 straight matching, and 2 matching with strategy. She had a hard time getting the baby basket bingo game where you match a baby animal (hidden in a basket) to its mother or father, based solely on the sound it makes. She knew which animal made which sound, but she didn't seem to realize that a baby cow can only belong to a mommy cow. (and not a mommy duck for example). She really loved this game. She wanted to play it non stop for a few weeks...Maybe 3. And then she mastered it. She still likes to play it every day, but it only takes 10-20 minutes of it for her to get bored. For some 2 year olds 10-20 minutes is a lot, but not mine. She'll happily sit through a feature length movie, or read book after book after book, just so you get an idea. There is a second CD that comes with it but all the activities except one are way too old for toddlers. Activities that involve actual math (adding 2 digit numbers, etc). So that's not real useful. There are a few annoying things, but they are small. For example in the letter matching/phonics activity their example of an "S" word is shoe. True, it does start with an s, why not use a word that is not an exception to the "S sound" rule. Sock or soup or something... Also, there's no way to turn of the instructions for each game. Ellen gets frustrated as she has to sit there listening to them again and again. Also, in the bubble castle activity, there are always 5 animals, so they are always counting to 5. Some variety might have been better for teaching the kids counting. And lastly, you HAVE to use the CD to run the game. My husband (a computer science ph.D student) tried several ways to just run it from the hard drive, but it is impossible. So we have the problem of the 2 year old who wants to take the disk in and out of the drive to play her game. Anyway...Bottom line, your kid will like it. Your kid will learn to use the mouse. Your kid will probably outgrow it quickly. Try to find it on sale.
Rating:
Summary: No regrets on this purchase!
Review: I bought this software based on others' reviews here. What a great buy! Our son turned 2 last month. We have an old iMac we gave him, and we thought we'd buy him Reader Rabbit to introduce him to computer use since he's taken an unhealthy interest in ours. The software installed easily, and by default makes itself start up when the computer turns on to save children from having to navigate program menus. The first time we sat our son in front of it he laughed and squealed and couldn't get enough of it. Since the software can be operated without a keyboard, we removed it (he was banging on it pretty hard), and he just navigates his way through everything with just the mouse. His favorite games are the Bubble Castle and the Fingerplay Theatre. Our son is behind in his language skills, and at the end of the first day (thanks to bubble castle) he could count to five! The best part though is the overwhelming cuteness of Fingerplay Theatre. He clicks a song, such as Twinkle-twinkle, and follows the rabbit's hand motions on the screen and then goes wild at the end clapping his hands and screaming YAY. I really could go on and on here, but let me summarize by saying after one week of Reader Rabbit, he knows more about colors, counting, alphabet and songs than he's learned in months of baby einstein videos. Best twenty bucks I've ever spent. Two technical shortcomings, but I'm reaching: There should be a "sleep" mode when he walks away from it and leaves it on, and possibly a way to disable the exit star (he sometimes clicks it by accident and inadvertently leaves the program).
Rating:
Summary: Good Program
Review: I purchased this program to help my 3 year old son sharpen and develop his basic preschool skills. I found this program to have a good theme and my son was very interested in the character's various actions, songs and dances used to accompany the instruction. Skill levels can be chosen to pace the progression dependeing on the need of the child. The program is very user friendly to an adults helping their children. Progrmas are easily exited out of and information can be saved to log the progress of the children users. I recommend this software to parents who want to help their preschoolers get a head start on Kindergarten education.
Rating:
Summary: Very good for the young ones
Review: My grandson started playing this one at about age one and still enjoys it at almost 3. He also likes Reader Rabbitt Preschool which is more challenging than Reader Rabbitt Toddler. He navigates the program by himself, moves between activities unassisted and has mastered all of the activities. A great rainy-day activity.
Rating:
Summary: Skip this one
Review: My son (now almost 4) is pretty academically bright and pretty good with a computer mouse. We bought this game for him just before he turned 3 last year. What a disappointment! Now, we are a big computer game family, and our son has played a few other titles which we have loved (Little People Discovery Airport, Ollo Saves the Fair, Putt-Putt, and a few others). We loved Reader Rabbit Toddler and Reader Rabbit Baby, which were designed very well. Unfortunately, Reader Rabbit Preschool did not stack up. As usual, the game has a creative story behind it, and there is a goal that involves collecting things. These are wonderful motivators. However, the game skill levels seem either much to easy (matching bugs) or pretty advanced (counting out just the right number of bugs to fill a rocket, including addition and subtraction as the game increases in difficulty) for a "typical" preschooler. I should add that I used to teach preschool and kindergarten, so I have an idea of what is developmentally appropriate. This game ranges from boring to frustrating with very little in between. Some activities, such as the "painting" activity at the waterfall, require very very good mouse control, as the shapes tend to be very small, and the child must click in just the right areas. I highly recommend skipping this game. Our son is now happily playing Reader Rabbit Kindergarten (the Summer Camp one)with very little trouble.
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