Arthur's Teacher Trouble. (CD-ROM storybook) (Software Review) (Evaluation)
by Carol Ellison

Arthur's Teacher Trouble is the second in Broderbund's series of interactive CD-ROM storybooks called Living Books. It brings Marc Brown's children's book to the computer screen with musical accompaniment, interesting animated effects, and a voice to tell the story. In it, you'll find the same storyteller theme, lustrous high-resolution graphics, onscreen play, and multilingual narration found in Broderbund's original Living Book, Grandma 'n Me.

But unlike Grandma 'n Me, which was rated for children ages 3-8, Arthur is for somewhat more advanced readers, ages 6-10. Like Grandma, Arthur's tale can be told in English or Spanish. Language is an option you select at the title screen, and from there you can also click on Preview to get a look at what's coming up in Broderbund's next Living Book. Then you can select whether you want to have the story read to you or to play inside it.

If you have the story read, you see the text from Brown's story highlighted onscreen as it's read in Arthur's voice. Children can read along, recognize the words, and follow the animated action as Arthur and his friends struggle through Mr. Ratburn's third grade class and prepare for the school's big September Spell-a-thon.

All this (and more) happens when you choose to play inside the story. Doing so takes you to an interactive mode which brings the elements onscreen to life when you click on them. Each screen is a page out of Brown's book, and the animated illustrations fairly duplicate those in the s copy that Broderbund includes with the software.

At every turn, the reader gets introduced to subtle humor and imaginative activities that will delight children and charm adults. Arthur, like Grandma 'n Me, teaches as it entertains and lets children become players in the storybooks they read. These Living Books delight at so many levels they'll make you want to buy a CD-ROM player if you don't already have one for your home computer. Broderbund (415) 382-4400 $44.95-$59.95 Circle Reader Service Number