Casper Brainy Book is based on the children's movie, Casper, and tells the story of this friendly ghost's experiences with Dr. Harvey and his daughter, Kat. It features a well-written children's story carefully constructed to facilitate learning as well as enjoyment; colorful, well-designed screens, dozens of animation points; and several fun activities. In short, Casper Brainy Book is an excellent choice for those about to learn to read as well as young readers who want to explore the world of books on their own!
Casper opens up to a tuneful and well-executed animated sequence which leaves the user at a table of contents. Each of the story's 12 pages may be accessed directly or in sequence. Credits and the three games are also accessible from the table of contents, although the user must first find the key that unlocks each game before playing it. The keys are hidden on different screens throughout the book.
Each page features a colorful background with simple animated figures. The text for each page is clearly presented on the top of the page, and words change color as they are read. Thereafter users may click on individual words to have them said aloud, or on the first letter of the sentence to have the entire piece read again.
There is also a good deal of animation in Casper, consisting of a mix of scheduled and random occurrences. Each screen has at least a half dozen random animation points that are activated by exploring with the cursor, in addition to scheduled animations that occur after a page is turned or the text read aloud. Among other items are songs and a clip from the movie version of Casper.
The activities are each available in three levels of difficulty. One activity involves putting together pieces of a puzzle, another matching letters as they fall from the top of the screen and placing them over the correct letters in words on the bottom of the screen, and a third matching game-pictures to pictures at the easiest level, pictures to words at the most complex one. Each game is integrated into the story and is available in a wide enough range of skill levels. The most difficult level in each case is significantly harder than the easiest!
Installation was easy both in Windows 3.1 and Macintosh environments. Individual pages in Casper print out for coloring, although the animated characters that inhabit them do not print. Casper Brainy Book is a children's story with enough substance to its story and challenge in its game to make it worthwhile for a full range of elementary school age users.
