Millie Metre and Her Adventures in the Giant's Belly

$19.99, Win 95, 98, NT; Mac OS (CD-ROM)

Teaches: health, nutrition and digestive system

CTR Review

Millie Metre is a little girl with a sense of adventure and a thirst for knowledge. In the Land of the Giants, Millie agrees to journey into a giant's stomach to see what ails him. As children join in the exploration by clicking around in various screens, they'll learn about nutrition and our digestive system. Each area of the giant's stomach is hosted by a character-- Chloe, for instance, is master of the large intestine. She dispenses information on how her system firms up the waste left by action in the small intestine and then expels it from the body. She also addresses topics such as "wind" and "farts". Content is delivered with plenty of humor primarily via noninterruptible narration and animation. As they travel through the body, kids will also discover six mediocre games and eventually a golden pyramid-- the nutritional pyramid, that is. The program can be toggled between English, French and German, which makes it a strong language experience as well as an interesting science program. Although the content is on the "lite" side, the CD offers a playful way to learn about our body systems and related health issues.