Ruff's Bone

$19.95, Win 95, Win 3.1, Mac OS (CD-ROM)

Teaches: reading: story elements

CTR Review

This is a twelve-screen storybook about a dog (Ruff) who is sent on a wild search for his bone. His efforts to find the treat take him into a hollow tree -- underground, to a jungle full of teasing monkeys, to outer space with singing clouds, and even under the sea. In all of the scenes, nearly any object the child clicks on moves, sings and dances, or is part of some kind of skit related to the bone. All of the objects in the story are meaningful to children - dogs, cars, clouds, birds and monkeys - making this excellent for younger children. There are two modes of play: "read to me", in which the computer "plays" the story with no interaction; and "let me play." Although the "let me play" mode lets children turn the pages and click on objects, they must wait for the page to be narrated before making their selection. Our younger testers found this wait frustrating as they were anxious to get to their favorite animation (it is possible for adults to skip the narration by pressing a combination of keys). Similarly, child-testers found it difficult to skip pages. A tool allowing children to quickly move from page to page would have been useful, such as a sliding bookmark at the edge of the picture. Even with these design problems, Ruff's Bone is a very enjoyable Living Book with clever animations and a great storyline that can be set for English or Spanish. In case you're wondering, Ruff finds his bone and returns it to his master ... only to have it thrown away again. The program also makes a nice bedtime story.