The World of Totty Pig: You Are Much Too Small

You Are Much Too Small!!!!!

A Review of The World of Totty Pig: You Are Much Too Small

William T. Yates

Remember when you were a little kid – and everyone told you that you

were too small to help? Well, Totty Pig is too small, also. In this

story, based on the book "You Are Much Too Small" by Betty D. Boegehold

and illustrated by Valerie Michaut, Crayon Multimedia has put together a

delightful CD-ROM for young children ages 3-8. Totty sees all the

members of her family doing things and she would like to help. In a 90′s

sex-stereotype role reversal, Father Pig is cooking and Mother Pig is

building a bookcase while Grandpa is adjusting the Grandfather clock and

sister is mowing the lawn. They all tell her she is too small to help.

Miffed, Totty goes off and puts up a tent where she will live by

herself. When all the family members start looking for Totty to help

them, she is nowhere to be found. All ends well, however, when Totty

agrees to come home, but reserves the right to have a place where she

can be alone when she feels like it.

Totty herself gives complete animated instruction on how to operate the

program and what all the buttons do. The story can be displayed in three

modes: Read the Story to Me! – complete narration with highlighted

words; Read & Discover! – no narration but with the highlighted

words, and Let Me Read the Story! – with no narration or highlighted

words.

When one of the no narration modes is chosen, the child can click

on various items in the frame to discover surprises. Several cute songs

augment the story line. By clicking on the word "small" every time it

occurs, the child builds up words to a phrase from Totty. Totty also has

a tent which can be decorated with various items and the result printed

out. Two signs can be printed also for later coloring. There is even a

screensaver with Tottys friend, Mouse. In addition to being able to

repeat the narration for each frame as often as desired, the songs can

be repeated when encountered in the story line or separately by going to

the Sing-Along Songs area.

The construction of this CD-ROM is well-thought out. The explanations

are clear and the operation is simple. The hidden items on each screen

can keep a child happily busy. The graphics and animation are

well-executed and the sound is excellent. Totty Pig is available in

Spanish and Japanese also. This CD can help a child gain confidence in

reading and just have fun.

School House Scorecard

Product:	The World of Totty Pig: You Are Much Too Small
Company:	Byron Preiss Multimedia Company, Inc. 175 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2122 New York, NY 10010 Phone: 1-800-945-3155 E-Mail: bpm@aol.com Internet: www.byronpreiss.com
Cost:	$19.95

System Requirements:

Macintosh or Power Macintosh; System 7.0 or later;
13" or larger monitor, 256 colors; 5 MB RAM (8 MB recommended);
double-speed or faster CD-ROM.
A PC version exists but I could get no info on the system requirements.

Breakdown:

Ease of Use 5
Learning Value 4
Entertainment Value 5
Graphics 4
Sound 5

Overall Score: