I Love Spelling! by Avanquest Software

Description

DK – I LOVE SPELLING

Platforms

Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT

Editorial Review

DK Interactive's I Love Spelling is a souped-up spelling lesson loaded with characters, humour and more than 5,000 words ranging in difficulty from “here” to “Kalahari”. A game-show host with a skewed toupee leads kids to one of four planets: On “Aquatica”, intrepid spellers hear a word, then chase and burst bubbles containing the letters that spell the word, all while a gangster fish named the Codfather eggs them on; “Amphibia” is a pond-like planet where kids guess the mystery word by choosing the correct letters with the help of a bluesy frog–picture a game of Hangman with swampy ambience. On “Anagrama” kids turn scrambled letters into words by dropping placard-bearing bunnies down the correct hole, while planet “Arachnia” hosts a spidery spelling bee in which kids hear a word, then spell it out.

Two more games help kids recognise misspelled words and choose the correct spelling. In “Word Attack”, players must quickly click on the correctly spelled word from misspellings that hurtle toward them onscreen. Kids can easily ace the activity by clicking frantically until they randomly land on the correct spelling, so don't be too impressed if your child is a high scorer here.

Three levels, customisable word lists and places to peek at scores and misspelled words make this program parent friendly; a two-player function is another nice feature. Our biggest complaint: that this program lacks “the big goal”–the only rewards here are points, a weak “bonus round” and the ubiquitous printable certificate. A final compliment: puns and word play in the script reinforce the potential for fun in words and letters. (Ages 7-11) —Anne Erickson