Interactive Storybook DS Series 1

$20, Nintendo DS

Teaches: creativity, language, music, reading, counting

CTR Rating: 80%

CTR Review

This is a narrated collection of four mediocre stories along with four well-designed drawing, music and counting activities, each adapted specifically for the Nintendo DS touch screen. The stories are the The Three Little Pigs, The Snow Queen, The Bat and Kaguyahime. The stories could be more interactive, especially given the title of this program. In the 22 page version of The Three Little Pigs, each page is read aloud by a clear female narrator, with the words on the top screen, and the pictures on the lower touch screen. Touching one of the pigs with a stylus results in a snorting sound, and that's about all. You can't hear specific words, see illustrations labeled, toggle between languages and so on; all nice features for ebooks. Other gripes with the stories include reversed back and forward buttons and some poor localization techniques -- the names of the characters are still in Japanese. The other activities include a well-designed coloring book with fill, draw and stamp features; a very nice harp simulator that lets you record and or playback a song (although the notation is shown in Japanese), a drawing activity and a simple counting game. Despite the limited story features, this title offers enough to do with the minigames (hence the higher rating), to make it worthy of consideration.