Rating: 
Summary: Beware Windows ME users!!!
Review: I purchased this game at Toys"R"Us and I installed it on my PC, it ran fine but when I went on-line the first time after the installation I could not get to any secure sites. I found out later that the program had crashed my browser, so I am posting this warning to any Windows ME users just to be aware of this problem.
Rating: 
Summary: My son loves this software!
Review: My four-year-old son is devouring this software! He likes to paint the flowers made out of shapes, choosing the correct colors then watching them turn into a rainbow when he finishes. There is a train that is powered by jewels, and word/pictures that float by on rafts. His favorite part is the rocketship that emerges with numbers on it, and he has to count how many little creatures to go in the ship. (I have discovered that he is very good at math!) When a certain level is reached, the child gets to choose dance moves to make Reader Rabbit and his pal the lion dance. Very clever! Each section has different levels of difficulty, but as of yet, the only one I've noticed really challenging is the rocket/math one. Although he loves the software, I didn't give it 5 stars because it seems like this one will be quickly outgrown, and doesn't challenge him like I had expected. It's fun, but buy this for younger kids or kids with no preschool experience so they can grow into it.
Rating: 
Summary: a big disappointment
Review: My son really enjoyed Reader Rabbit Toddler, so I thought this would be a good next step. Sadly, while this game has all the bells and whistles, looks wonderful, etc., it is not very playable. If a child has trouble completing the tasks, they will soon get bored.Many of the games actually require the knowledge they are purporting to teach. For instance, one of the games which is supposed to teach letter recognition is not actually playable if the child doesn't already recognise the letters. When you complete a section there is a long movie which plays, with a really cheesy broadway musical type of song. Once my son (a 3-year old) figured out how to play this movie, he would spend all his time playing it over and over again , learning nothing (and driving me crazy in the process). My son soon got bored, and I got him Dr. Seuss Preschool instead, Reader Rabbit ended up in the trash can, and family harmony once again prevails. I gave it two stars instead of one because my son did have fun with it for about 2-3 weeks.
Rating:
Summary: a big disappointment
Review: My son really enjoyed Reader Rabbit Toddler, so I thought this would be a good next step. Sadly, while this game has all the bells and whistles, looks wonderful, etc., it is not very playable. If a child has trouble completing the tasks, they will soon get bored. Many of the games actually require the knowledge they are purporting to teach. For instance, one of the games which is supposed to teach letter recognition is not actually playable if the child doesn't already recognise the letters. When you complete a section there is a long movie which plays, with a really cheesy broadway musical type of song. Once my son (a 3-year old) figured out how to play this movie, he would spend all his time playing it over and over again , learning nothing (and driving me crazy in the process). My son soon got bored, and I got him Dr. Seuss Preschool instead, Reader Rabbit ended up in the trash can, and family harmony once again prevails. I gave it two stars instead of one because my son did have fun with it for about 2-3 weeks.
Rating: 
Summary: Great graphics, but a short game
Review: My three year old son really enjoyed this game, but from the point of view of the parent, I thought it was much too short. The original Reader Rabbit Preschool is much longer and more challenging. Sparkle Star Rescue begins at an easy level and gets only slightly more challenging as the child plays. It can be finished in a few hours of play time. The child earns reward gems for playing, but earns the most important ones first. Once all the important gems are earned, he or she is encouraged to fit them in their slots and finish the game. Any extra playing he or she would have done is cut short by this, though the child is free to start the game over from the beginning. Overall, I don't think this game was worth the money but my son enjoys it.
Rating:
Summary: Great graphics, but a short game
Review: My three year old son really enjoyed this game, but from the point of view of the parent, I thought it was much too short. The original Reader Rabbit Preschool is much longer and more challenging. Sparkle Star Rescue begins at an easy level and gets only slightly more challenging as the child plays. It can be finished in a few hours of play time. The child earns reward gems for playing, but earns the most important ones first. Once all the important gems are earned, he or she is encouraged to fit them in their slots and finish the game. Any extra playing he or she would have done is cut short by this, though the child is free to start the game over from the beginning. Overall, I don't think this game was worth the money but my son enjoys it.
Rating:
Summary: Nice graphics but too much sparkle and sound effects
Review: Overall this is an ok cdrom. The activities in general suit the age group recommended for it. However there are a few things that detract from this software's effectiveness as a fun learning tool. The opening movie-like sequence is just a flashy distraction that could have been better designed, replaced or excluded. My niece usually bypasses it with a click and goes straight to the menus. The menu is interesting enough but some of the menu paths lead to the same place and I wonder what is the point of this. My biggest gripe is some of the sound effects that tend to drown out the instructions (a major disadvantage) and as far as I can tell, you have to click them off everytime you restart the program . Also, what is the point of being able to add users if you can't delete some of them? My niece likes to type a lot of letters without care to what she's typing so we have a long list of users who are either ABCDEFG, or AAABCDEDFGHIJK etc and there is no way to get rid of these that is obvious to me. The activities are easy enough to complete once you figure out what to do but it would have been more appropriate to be able to customize the experience i.e. have several levels for each activity so that the parent/adult can select the most appropriate level with less or more requirements for completion to get the brillite stones as a reward. My niece has managed to get a few of these in some activities but in others, she has yet to achieve the number of repetitions required to collect one because she usually gets bored and switches to another activity before she completes the required number. The colouring activity is creative and unique but some of the smaller shapes are difficult for preschoolers to target with the mouse without a severe amount of concentration and focus and so trying to colour these shapes is an odious task when it should be fun. Also, the counting activity with the rockets, (while very unique and creative), is a definite candidate for multiple levels of difficulty since at age 3, most pre-schoolers have not grasped subtraction yet and this activity requires that they be able to understand this concept to complete some of the mission tasks. In addition, the counting activity and some other activities need a more obvious and more visual completion/reward message for each time the task is completed. This is the one area where the graphics are lacking.
Rating:
Summary: Glitzy, but frustrating for younger kids
Review: The program requires a lot of fine motor skills. It's too frustrating for my 3 yr old. For example, there is a coloring page ("color all the squares blue"). There are so many of the squares, and they're so tiny, that even I get a little frustrated trying to maneuver the mouse onto each one. In addition, the product is set up around a theme of "save the stars". Kids at the younger end of the age range, such as my daughter, would probably benefit more from a program that lets them "wander at will" a little more. (Try Disney Preschool.) Or, at least, a theme that's a little more laid back. (For example, Pooh Preschool, where the goal is to help everyone finish their work so they can make it to a party.) I also highly recommend JumpStart Preschool.
My daughter is at the young end of the recommended age group, so maybe she will grow into it more. For 3 yr olds, I recommend staying away from this one.
Rating:
Summary: Big Step Down From Reader Rabbit Baby & Toddler
Review: This program has a lot of narrative preamble prior to the introduction of each simple (and very repetitive) game. If the object here is to teach children patience and listening skills, then maybe it's on target. However, in my opinion any child who is developed enough to have that kind of patience and listening skill is going to find the games completely unchallenging. So far I have been unsuccessful getting my boy to show the slightest interest in this CD.
Rating:
Summary: Big Step Down From Reader Rabbit Baby & Toddler
Review: This program has a lot of narrative preamble prior to the introduction of each simple (and very repetitive) game. If the object here is to teach children patience and listening skills, then maybe it's on target. However, in my opinion any child who is developed enough to have that kind of patience and listening skill is going to find the games completely unchallenging. So far I have been unsuccessful getting my boy to show the slightest interest in this CD.
| 
