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I have found all the Mr Men programs to high quality and of real educational value, and Mr Men Magic Storymaker is no exception. This package, comprising two programs, is a real delight to use. It is designed to enable 3 to 6-year-olds to create their own stories on the screen. I must admit that I've only used it with very young children. However their enthusiasm was astounding.

The first program is picture and word based with six carefully staged levels. The second introduces the concept of sentences and is definitely for the older children. The first program can be used without words - the scenes are created using icons. Both programs enable stories to be created with six different settings and a choice of eight different Mr Men.

They can do eighteen different things and have six different moods. In addition the weather can be set to one of six choices. The graphics are very good and appear on the screen instantaneously. The different weather conditions are not particularly inspiring - the snow is very disappointing.

The package includes an attractive booklet which can be used by older children to help them enter words and design scenes.

Facilities that are available in the software include the ability to reduce the volume level of the sound or to switch it off completely. Thankfully, pressing BREAK does not destroy the program but simply returns you to the start.

I can thoroughly recommend this software to any parent wishing to introduce young children to computers. It can also be used by early readers as a source of reading material and the focus of written work. Full marks to the Mr Men!

John Woollard