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Happy Numbers is another in the "Happy" series by Bourne, and it maintains the promise of the first title in the series, Happy Letters. It is aimed at a very young audience, this time between three and six, probably with an adult to help where necessary. Again the sound can be turned off, and I tended to do that rather often.

A large number is drawn filling most of the screen. The child then enters an input by pressing the appropriate number key the correct number of times. As each key press is made, a flower is added to the right hand side. If the correct input is made, the face smiles, and a flower is added to the score.

Should the answer be incorrect however, the flowers change colour and only a stalk is added to the score. A useful extra feature is that on an incorrect input, the same large scale number is drawn so that the child might compare the two.

There is the usual monitor screen, which allows the adult to assess the progress of up to five children. Should particular problems appear, the sequence of numbers given to a child may be set in advance by the adult to strengthen weaknesses.

It is good to see that the BREAK key is at least partly protected, returning the user to the main menu. It is also encouraging that such good quality programs are being made available for the Electron, emphasising the fact that it is an ideal machine for education both at school and at home.

This program is good value and will prove useful for any young family.

Phil Tayler