My Very First Mother Goose.
Farmer Joe Baby-Sits.
The Cricket's Cage.
Gymnastics.
"The Wonders of Our World" series
The Leftover Kid.
Everything You Need to Know About Geography Homework..
Super Skaters: World Figure Skating Stars.
Long Shot: Steve Nash's Journey to the NBA.
School Problems: Questions Parents Ask About School.
Lorien Systems Home Pages with TextHELP!
Cyberculture Studies
M&M's Software: Educational Shareware.
Edited by Iona Opie. Illustrated by Rosemary Wells.
Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 1996.
108pp., hardcover, $19.99.
ISBN 1-56402-620-5.
Grades Preschool and up / Ages 3 and up.
Review by Leslie Millar.
**** /4
excerpt:
The man in the moonIona Opie is considered the leading authority in the field of collecting and preserving children's games and rhymes. With her late husband, Peter Opie, she has edited many acclaimed books of children's folklore, including The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren, and I Saw Esau.
Came down too soon,
And asked his way
to Norwich;
He went by the south
and burnt his mouth
With supping cold
plum porridge.*******
Wash the dishes,
Wipe the dishes,
Ring the bell for tea;
Three good wishes,
Three good kisses,
I will give to thee.*******
Jerry Hall,
He is so small,
A rat could eat him
Hat and all.
My Very First Mother Goose opens with a message from Iona Opie which explains her love for nursery rhymes, especially for what they offer: "A suggestion that mishaps might be funny rather than tragic...and that laughter is the cure for everything."
There is much here to make readers smile, if not laugh outright. Covering more than 60 rhymes, most of which exude a delightful silliness, the book is divided into four chapters. Extra-large font text and full page illustrations are afforded generous amounts of room. The book's spacious layout adds to users' ease and pleasure of reading. In addition to an opening table of contents, the book also has a concluding first line index.
Award winning illustrator Rosemary Wells has used warm, inviting colours to animate these rhymes and has populated them with rabbits, mice and cats. A healthy assortment of other animals, including, of course, Mother Goose, herself, and a few humans also make an appearance. What a cheerful bunch they are, brimming with the innocence, joy and mischief that are the property of childhood.
Children will grow to love this book under the tutelage of adults who, in turn, will have the opportunity to rediscover how playful and profound words can be and how complexity hides in simplicity - in short, what a happy thing language is.
Highly recommended.
Winnipeg's Leslie Millar is a mother and substitute teacher.
Nancy Wilcox Richards. Illustrated by Werner Zimmerman.
Richmond Hill, ON: Northwinds Press/Scholastic, 1997.
22pp., hardcover, $15.99.
ISBN 0-590-24977-0.
Grades K - 2 / Ages 5 - 8.
Review by Leslie Millar.
*** /4
excerpt:
When they got back to the old house Farmer Joe decided it was time for Jennifer's nap.Nancy Wilcox Richards, who resides in Queens County, Nova Scotia, with her husband and two children, brings Farmer Joe back for a third appearance in "Farmer Joe Baby-Sits." The gentle farmer with unorthodox methods has been featured previously in "Farmer Joe's Hot Day" and "Farmer Joe Goes to the City."
But where was her blanket?
He pulled out books, puzzles and dolls,
Tutus, markers and balls...
but no blanket.
Jennifer found skates, a hoop and a tea set,
crayons and paints and a helmet...
but no blanket.
Oh, no!
In this instalment, Farmer Joe's job is to baby-sit, something he has never done before. The child, Jennifer, is dropped off with her toys and a list of instructions, one of which is that she must have an afternoon nap. For Jennifer to fall asleep, however, she must have her special blanket, and when it is lost during the pair's tour of the farm, the plot is established.
While the narrative is simple and reads aloud nicely, it could benefit from a little more explanation. For example, who is Jennifer, and what is her relationship to Farmer Joe? While readers may suspect that Jennifer is Farmer Joe's granddaughter, the text does not confirm such familial ties. Children might also want to know where Jennifer's mother and Farmer Joe's wife are going and why they would leave a child with a neophyte baby-sitter.
The details in Zimmerman's delightful watercolours fill in any holes which may be in the text. In keeping with his unconventional ways, Farmer Joe can be seen cutting wheat with a push-mower, planting corn by driving cobs into the ground with a mallet, and milking cows directly into bottles while wearing the bucket on his head. A stout pig assists Farmer Joe in his efforts while two plump groundhogs, who look like stuffed teddy bears, hover in the background making his life miserable. The aerial views of the farm are fun to look at, but, best of all, is Farmer Joe, himself. Pear-shaped and potbellied, he exudes comic sweetness - a loveable good nature spreads across his malleable features with the ease of butter in a frying pan. Young readers will enjoy listening to and looking at this story.
Recommended.
Leslie Millar is a mother and substitute teacher.
Stefan Czernecki.
Winnipeg, MB: Hyperion Press, 1996.
Unpaged, board, $19.95.
ISBN 1-895340-14-4.
Grades preschool - 4 / Ages 5 - 9.
Review by Dave Jenkinson.
**** /4
excerpt:
Hundreds of years ago in China, there lived an emperor of the Ming dynasty named Yongle (Yung-lo). His love of architecture drove him to create an imperial palace the likes of which had never before been seen. Surrounded by a great wall, the complex was called the Forbidden City. To make the structure even more grand, Yongle ordered that plans be drawn to create four towers - one on each corner of the wall.As Czernecki explains in his concluding "Author's Note," this Chinese folktale has its basis in historical fact although the cricket's role in designing the towers is obviously the "tale" portion. The book's opening page, reproduced in the "Extract" above, establishes the conflict. After several months of unsatisfactory designs, Emperor Yongle threatens Minister Wu Zhong, "If you do not present a suitable idea within three days you will lose your head." Repeating the Emperor's threat to Master Builder Cai Xin, Wu Zhong reduces the period by a day. In turn, Cai Xin transfers the problem to carpenter Kuai Xiang and gives him but a single day to produce an appropriate model. When Kuai Xiang shares the details of his distress with a friend who sells crickets in the marketplace, the friend gives him a cricket because "his song will surely bring you good luck and cheer you up as well." By day's end, Kuai Xiang, although cheered by the cricket's music, still lacks a design, and, as Kuai Xiang goes to bed, he says to the cricket, "I do not have long to live...but I will build you a larger cage and leave you in comfort before I go." The cricket, unsure that Kuai Xiang will build him the kind of cage he wants, uses his antennae to paint an appropriate design. In the morning, an amazed Kuai Xiang finds the plans and builds the cricket's home, but when Cai Xin sees the cage, he mistakenly identifies it as the structure the Emperor has sought, and so a cricket's cage becomes the design for the Forbidden City's watchtowers.
Czernecki's text and illustrations are placed on facing pages with both being effectively bordered with a rich yellow embroidered design, yellow being the colour only the Emperor could wear. Described as "an avid student of Chinese culture and history," Czernecki has employed Chinese mineral and vegetable pigments in creating his illustrations.
A most useful addition to school and public libraries' traditional literature collections.
Highly recommended.
Dave Jenkinson teaches children's and adolescent literature courses at the Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba.
Bobbie Kalman.
Niagara on the Lake: Crabtree, 1997.
32pp., library bound, $16.76.
ISBN 0-86505-631-5.
Grades 1 - 6 / Ages 6 - 11.
Review by Irene Gordon.
**** /4
This colourful, informative book, an excellent introduction to gymnastics for elementary school children who might be considering taking up gymnastics or who want information for a school report, describes the various pieces of equipment used and the moves done on each. The index is a unique combination of index and pictorial glossary. Gymnastics is beautifully illustrated with photos of actual young gymnasts doing their routines. Unfortunately, while the book explains that certain routines are only done by males, others only by females, and still others by both, it does not explain why. The lack of clarification around this point will likely leave some readers (including this reviewer) wondering.
Nevertheless, highly recommended.
Irene Gordon is a teacher-librarian who retired at the end of June after spending the last 14 years working in the library at Westdale Junior High School in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is presently co-editor of the Manitoba School Library Association Journal.
Neil Morris. Illustrations by Martin Camm and Ruth Lindsay with
additional photographs from various sources.
Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON: Crabtree, 1995-6.
32pp., $21.95 hardcover; $9.95 paper, each.
Deserts. ISBN 0-86505-827-X (hardcover) 0-86505-839-3 (paper)
Mountains. ISBN 0-86505-829-6 (hardcover) 0-86505-841-5 (paper)
Oceans. ISBN 0-86505-828-8 (hardcover) 0-86505-840-7 (paper)
Volcanoes. ISBN 0-86505-826-1 (hardcover) 0-86505-838-5 (paper)
Grades 3 - 5 / Ages 8 - 11.
Review by Gerri Young.
**** /4
Graced with beautiful drawings, photographs and useful maps, these four slim volumes contain much useful information. Each title begins by explaining its particular geographical feature and identifying where it can be found on earth. The books then proceed to deal with each subject's particulars. Deserts tells of sand, desert plants, animals, peoples and minerals. The world's deserts are named, and their locations are shown. The text also addresses concern over desertification. Mountains, in addition to describing forms, folds, faults, weather, mountain plants and people, lists famous ranges and highest peaks. With the increase in logging and tourism, the use and future of mountains is considered as well. Oceans is about tides, currents, ocean floors, coastlines, minerals, and life in the oceans and on the shores. Additionally, the book looks at the dangers of ocean pollution. Volcanoes explains the differences between dead and live volcanoes and identifies some of the famous ones. Further content examines different kinds of volcanoes, explains lava, geysers, springs, and shows the birth of an island. Finally, volcanic benefits are considered.
With small blocks of easy-to-read prose and a generous use of illustrations, this series is most appropriate for today's students.
Highly recommended.
Gerri Young resides in Fort Nelson, BC..
Joanne Stanbridge.
Red Deer, AB: Red Deer College Press, 1997.
176pp., paper $9.95.
ISBN 0-88995-160-8.
Grades 3 - 6 / Ages 8 - 12.
Review by Harriet Zaidman.
*** /4
excerpt:
But for some reason these days I only wanted to read The Happy Dooleys on Location. I read it again and again. I read it so often I practically memorized it. When I climbed into bed at night, I dreamed I was the twelve-year-old Lucinda, sitting prettily in the department store's window, modelling a velvet dress until a talent scout discovered her. I knew exactly how the other Dooleys reacted when my movie offer came and how it felt when we all moved to Hollywood and what it was like at the movie studio, where I charmed the aging actress and helped the leading man find his lost sweetheart, and how homesick we all became and how we returned at last to our big old house in Middleville, Illinois. I knew things about the Happy Dooleys that weren't even written down in the books.The Leftover Kid is an imaginative, humorous novel that uses Canada's most famous address for its setting. Willa Killick-Whimsey is an 11-year-old with a problem. Her mother has married Jordan Sweetwine, the Prime Minister of Canada, and has taken Willa to live at 24 Sussex Drive. To complicate matters, the Prime Minister is a widower with a set of 11-year old-quintuplet girls who have been protected and sheltered from the real world all their lives.
Willa is an ordinary fun-loving girl who can't get used to her mother marrying again, especially to the Prime Minister. She misses her father and romanticizes life before her parents' divorce. She can't adjust to the cloistered life and finds the quints horribly dull. They've never been to a MacDonald's or done most things other children their age have done because of the constant fear of kidnapping. Willa's rambunctiousness gets her into trouble with the Prime Minister and her mother, who, to Willa, is becoming a bossy socialite who favours the quints over her own daughter. Willa's curiousity uncovers a potential kidnapping plot, but her pre-teen gullibility causes her to miss the real danger. Her dad starts a sad, but funny, campaign to win his ex-wife back, and Willa assists without his knowing. The jumble is all resolved at the end. The dad and Willa resolve their relationship with Willa's mom, the enemy is caught, the quints become a little more human thanks to Willa, and the family situation settles down. It's not the way Willa had envisioned, but everyone can adjust to it.
Kids joining blended families often have feelings of alienation and long for their old family. Joanne Stanbridge acknowledges all the emotions that run through a child's mind in her portrayal of Willa. She also lets Willa play and learn while being upset at the same time. Willa is just a normal kid. Placing the setting of the book in the Prime Minister's residence is a nice Canadian touch in mass market books. The humour created by Willa's imagination and shenanigans make this book very readable for the target age group. Kids will be able to identify with Willa's ups and downs.
The adult characters of the mom, dad, housekeeper, and nanny are developed as Willa figures out how to deal with the world. The quints' personalities are only developed towards the end as Willa teaches them how to have fun. The Prime Minister is a man whose busy life doesn't allow him to have fun or be a father, but, with Willa's persistence and appeal to Sweetwine's sense of logic, they reach an understanding.
Recommended.
Harriet Zaidman is a teacher-librarian in Winnipeg.
Anne Zeman and Kate Kelly.
New York, NY: Scholastic, 1997.
133pp., cloth $25.99.
ISBN 0-590-53851-9.
Grades 4 - 6 / Ages 9 - 11.
Review by Alison Mews.
*** /4
Part of the Scholastic Homework Reference Series, this book is aimed at fourth to sixth graders trying to complete geography homework assignments. It was compiled from current elementary textbooks, from the American national curricula and from questions commonly asked of the Dial-a-Teacher homework service in New York City. Similar to an almanac, this resource book contains a comprehensive reference to geography, from a basic definition of geography to clearly illustrated explanations of landforms, maps, climatology, etc. It also gives overviews to the human aspects of geography such as population, migration and culture.
The introduction identifies the 10 most commonly asked geography homework questions and gives the pages on which these are answered. Questions include: Why do we have seasons? What are the longest rivers in the world? What are continents, how many are there, and what are they called? The answers to these questions are extremely brief, with simplicity and clarity, rather than in-depth explanations, being the rule. The design is eye-pleasing, with colour and fonts varied and bright, and page layout attractive. Along the margin of the right-hand pages is a colour bar and running chapter title which makes it easy to locate the index, introduction and chapters. Extensive use is made of charts, maps and illustrations which are large, multicolored and clearly labelled. The appendix contains a geographical glossary, an atlas, and a statistical chart of the world's countries which gives population, capitals, heads of state, etc. and which was accurate as of September 1996. Although the resource book has an American bias and includes additional information about US states, overall the focus is global and is, therefore, entirely appropriate for Canadian students.
Recommended for both home and school use.
Alison Mews is Coordinator of the Centre for Instructional Services, Faculty of Education, Memorial University of Newfoundland St. John's, Nfld.
Steve Milton.
Toronto: Key Porter Books, 1996.
48pp., hardcover, $12.95.
ISBN 1-55013-806-5.
Grades 4 and up / Ages 9 and up.
Review by Irene Gordon.
*** /4
Not only will Super Skaters be of great interest to avid figure skating fans, but it will also be very useful for school research projects. The book is introduced by a history of figure skating, from the first use of animal bones as skate blades some 4000 years ago, to the use of metal blades in Holland in the 14th Century, to the founding of the first skating club in the world in Scotland around 1650, to the present. As well, there is a description of how skaters prepare their programs, illustrated explanations of how the various jumps are done, a listing of the Olympic gold medalists in the four skating disciplines (men's, women's, pairs and ice dance), and an explanation of how competitions are judged.
"As more and more people in Europe and North America discovered the pleasures of skating, they began to skate together on ponds and lakes. The first skating club in the world, the Edinburgh Skating Club in chilly Scotland, came into being around 1650. To join the club, you had to be able to skate in a circle on one foot, then on the other foot, then jump over a pile of three hats. Perhaps these tricky exercises could be considered the first skating competition. "(Page 3)
While the above-mentioned sections are perhaps the most useful parts of the book, most people will be attracted to the book primarily for the pictures and biographical information on 21 of today's top figure skaters, including Canadians Elvis Stojko, Isabelle Brasseur, Lloyd Eisler, Shae-Lynn Bourne, and Victor Kraatz. The biographies are kept to one page in length. While the full page colour photos show the skaters in action, some of them, however, seem slightly out of focus or have poor colour quality.
Nonetheless, highly recommended.
Irene Gordon is a teacher-librarian who retired at the end of June after spending the last 14 years working in the library at Westdale Junior High School in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is presently co-editor of the Manitoba School Library Association Journal.
Jeff Rud.
Vancouver, BC: Polestar Books, 1996.
160pp., paperback, $18.95 Can, $16.96 US.
ISBN 1-896095-16-X.
Grades 9 and up / Ages 14 and up.
Review by Alison Mews.
*** /4
excerpt:
One day, when Stephen was about 11, he stayed out in the backyard and juggled his soccer ball for 612 touches, keeping the ball in the air off his feet, knees and head, John [his father] says, still shaking his head in disbelief. He came into the house and he fell down, exhausted. He was always doing things like that.That kind of determination continued and then mutated when Steve eventually turned his full attention to basketball. During his junior high and high school summers, he often played basketball for as many as eight hours a day. And when the other kids went home to eat supper, or out with their friends, Steve hit the playground alone, setting himself up with a regimented workout schedule. One day, he would assign 500 jump shots to be made before he would allow himself to leave court. The next day, it would be 200 free throws. Steve made a schedule and he stuck with it, refusing to go home until his job was complete. It wasn't like work, really. Steve looked at it as more of a challenge. But often that challenge meant going home in the dark, alone.
Long Shot is an inspirational biography of a young Canadian athlete who beat the odds and made it to the prestigious NBA league. The odds of an American basketball star getting into the NBA are 7,600 to 1, but for a Canadian the chances are microscopic. As indicated in the subtitle, this book chronicles the journey of Steve Nash towards his NBA draft pick rather than his career since. Jeff Rud is well-positioned to write this biography since, as the sports columnist in Nash's home town of Victoria, he has followed Nash's rise to stardom from his high school days.
In an effort to make this biography interesting and appealing to young people, Rud employs a variety of writing styles and sprinkles numerous photographs throughout the book. Written in a narrative fashion and covering Nash's life to present day, the first chapter introduces Nash and his early years. Chapter two switches back in time to Nash's thoughts as he relaxed on his condo patio before a pre-season college tournament. Readers are then treated to an in-depth description of the tournament and play-by-play of the first game. The remaining chapters take readers further back to Nash's high school days and proceed in a more linear fashion through Nash's life story. Because much of the text is composed of reminiscences, it is apparent that Jeff Rud had access to Steve Nash, his family and other key people. Readers are treated to a "you-were-there" description of Nash's meteoric rise. Rud's use of Nash's given name throughout increases reader intimacy.
Rud stresses that Nash's achievement is more attributable to hard work and practise than to talent and luck. The book's main messages are that Steve Nash is a role model for Canadian teenagers with dreams, and that determination and perseverance can pay off. Because of the inclusion of play-by-play descriptions and details of NCAA and NBA routines, it is doubtful that teenagers with dreams other than making it in basketball will be attracted to this book. However, readers who share Nash's dream won't be disappointed in this biography.
Recommended.
Alison Mews is Coordinator of the Centre for Instructional Services, Faculty of Education, Memorial University of Newfoundland St. John's, Nfld.
Joyce Nesker Simmons.
Toronto, ON: Pembrooke Publishers, 1996.
128pp., paper, $12.95.
ISBN 1-55138-057-9.
Adult/Professional.
Review by Willa Walsh.
*** /4
excerpt:
Dear Dr. Simmons:This book is an enjoyable "quick read" for parents experiencing school problems, such as the one above, which impact on their children or teenagers. It highlights many common educational and social concerns and responds with commonsense answers. The problems come in the form of letters from parents, teachers, and students - addressed to Dr. Simmons' column in the Toronto Sun newspaper over a period of many years. She is the "Dear Abbey" of the school world and offers the same sane, practical and compassionate type of response. She never minimizes the problem and always provides a balanced and informative answer - one that sounds authentic and based on a great deal of experience as a teacher.My son is in public school, and in his class there is a blind child. I do not like to sound selfish, but I worry about all the extra time the teacher has to give that child, and of course, that time is time away from her main duties to my son and the other children. Do you think I am right to worry about this? Believe me, I am not the only parent to express concerns about this.
Some of the content is aimed at schools in Ontario with their special features, but most questions address concerns which are applicable across the Canadian educational landscape. Sometimes the political correctness is carried too far, however, as when the author outlaws such expressions as "turned a deaf ear" because it puts down people with hearing problems! Figurative language is being used here without any intention of slighting persons with hearing disabilities - otherwise, deaf, blind, etc., would need to be expunged from our language altogether.
The author has impeccable credentials and her responses show that she is still an active classroom teacher. The complete lack of educational jargon is refreshing! Some topics included are: how to choose a new school, how to build a good relationship with the children's teachers, how to cope with new teaching strategies, split grades, and the transition from elementary to high school. Other chapters deal with homework, discipline, special needs children, and how parents can best help and assist in their child's education.
Parents will particularly benefit from this book as it builds good relationships. Hooray! for the author saying that parents should always go directly to the teacher with any problems or criticisms they may have - 90% of the "problems" can be solved right there and then. This is not a comprehensive or critical look at Canada's schools but rather a glimpse of everyday problems which occur. It is not a teacher reference book.
Recommended for parents with children in the Canadian educational system.
Willa Walsh is a secondary school teacher-librarian in Richmond, B.C.
By Martin McKay
Reprinted from the EdRes mailing list.
DESCRIPTION:
The TextHELP! home pages contain information on software products for use in Special Education. The site covers Dyslexia, LD and reading difficulties, with two "textHELP" programs, and also physical access problems, with a range of single switch, and on screen keyboard programs.
This is a fairly new site, and to promote visitors the site owners are currently making a Windows Screen Reader available free for download, and also offering a CD-ROM with MultiMedia demonstrations to interested schools, colleges, universities and support groups.
A discussion group, and notification of web changes are also available.
C-Edres Note:
The software offered at this site is Windows compatible, and can be networked. This is a commercial site, but offers software for people with disabilities that can be hard or difficult to find elsewhere. Schools with computer facilities should check it out. The software is available in both Windows 3.1 and Win95. Their catalogue can be ordered online.
The free TextHELP! software is a Win95 version with an 8-bit Male voice. 16-bit male and female voices are available from their catalogue (Win3.1 and Win95).
URL: http://otal.umd.edu/~rccs
By David Silver
Reprinted from the EdRes mailing list.
DESCRIPTION:
The Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies is an online, not-for-profit organization whose purpose is to research, study, teach, support, and create diverse and dynamic elements of cyberculture. Collaborative in nature, RCCS seeks to establish and support ongoing conversations about the emerging field, to foster a community of students, scholars, teachers, explorers, and builders of cyberculture, and to showcase various models, works-in-progress, and on-line projects.
In the future, the Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies hopes to sponsor a number of collaborative projects, colloquia, symposia, and workshops. Presently, the site contains a collection of scholarly resources, including university-level courses in cyberculture, events and conferences, and related links. Further, the site features an extensive annotated bibliography devoted to the topic of cyberculture. Finally, the site includes "conversations/collaborations", an online listing of scholars researching various elements of cyberculture.
Since its initial launch in January 1997, RCCS has developed two new major features. The first is "Conversations/Collaborations." Here, visitors are invited to browse through the research interests and undergoing projects of a number of scholars, researchers, and instructors affiliated directly and indirectly with the field of cyberculture. Moreover, visitors are encouraged to contribute their own entries, listing their interests and contact information.
The second new feature is called "Internet Interviews." This section includes a list of links to online interviews with a number of digerati. The list includes Nicholas Negroponte, Allucquere Rosanne (aka Sandy) Stone, Sherry Turkle, and Gregory Ulmer.
Review by L.D. Steele.
Reprinted from the EdRes mailing list.
DESCRIPTION:
The site claims to be the "BEST" Educational public domain and shareware library in the known universe. While I don't know what kind of library they have on Beetlegeuse, this one is pretty good.
The main page is straightforward with the following options: 1) NEW listings and FREE STUFF!! 2) Software Libraries 3) What is Shareware / Public Domain / Freeware? 4) Download a Text Version of the M&M Software Catalog 5) Need BLANK Diskettes?
The software is available in both Windows and MacIntosh formats. Each has a brief description of what the program is/does, the subject levels, and average grade level of potential users. At the end of each description is a notation as to whether the software is shareware (sw), freeware (fw) or public domain (pd). The "free stuff" listed is clip art, and an interesting elementary school Biology program (MacIntosh).
The Software Library is organized by computer system (MacIntosh, PC DOS, Windows, and Apple II). The main page of each computer system gives the average requirements for using the programs. Within each section, it is then further broken down by subject matter (Arts & Graphics, Computer Tools & Learning, games, Home Use, Language Arts, Math, etc.)
M&M Software offers to sell copies of the software found at the site for: 1-4 disks $4.95ea. 5-9 disks $4.45ea. 10-14 disks $3.95ea. 15-19 disks $3.45ea. 20 plus disks $2.95ea.
EVALUATION:
Most of the software at the site is shareware, this means that the creator offers a free limited trial offer and then ask/requires the user to pay a registration fee. The programs offered varied from games to useful learning tools. As with much educational software, there are many more MacIntosh programs in each category than IBM compatible programs.
The site is easy to navigate, and the pages are quick to download. The site's background is made up of "trains" that are 5.25" and 3.5" disks with details added. The background breaks up the bareness of the pages which are otherwise plain text and links. A "Search" tool would have been useful.
Overall M&M software is not a free service as the software must be ordered from the company not downloaded from the Internet. What you are getting in this site is a well organized array of educational software that saves you time and energy. Copies of the software found at this site may or may not be found elsewhere.
Copyright © 1997 the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.
Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN
1201-9364
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