Editor's Choice Software
Books by You
Reviewed by Angie Kibiloski
You all know John Lithgow from his role in 3rd Rock from the Sun, and other movies. What you may not know is that he has also written several best-selling children's books. Now he has leant his love of reading and writing to a new computer game by Knowledge Adventure, called Books by You (Retail $19.99). This software package allows kids to create their own unique stories, along with illustrations, and publish their work. John Lithgow is present as a video guide throughout the process, helping kids through each step and inspiring creativity. For any kid who enjoys reading and telling stories, Books by You is a fantastic way to encourage their imagination.
Children begin by choosing one of four template stories, The Alien and the Cheese for instance. Then they go through a process similar to the Mad Libs activities that we have all played with as kids. This means coming up with creative words or phrases to fill in the blanks to questions or sentences. For instance, the question could be, "Where was the strangest place that your Aunt Polly ever fell asleep?" They might answer "the kitchen table," "her flower bed," or any other place that their imagination can dream up. All of their answers to the questions will be incorporated, by the software, into the finished story. This process is completed for each of the chapters of the story, one by one.
The next thing to do is to go through the story, and make sure that each chapter makes sense and is to the author's liking. They may change the words from the answers given in the question round, if they suddenly think of something better, and can also change a healthy portion of the other pre-existing words in the story, to further customize everything. At different points there are illustrations that correspond to what is happening in the narrative. Your children can change the pictures by selecting from the options provided, or they can import their own favorite photos from a computer file. In this section they are also allowed to dedicate the book to someone special, write a paragraph "About the Author," and click on highlighted words in the text of the story to learn the dictionary definition for those words that are unfamiliar to them.
When the story is complete, and they have made all the changes and final tweaks that they want, they can publish their story. They can then e-mail it to their loved ones so they can read it online, print out their story from a home printer, or actually order a professionally printed and bound copy, either in hard or soft cover. The charge for this option begins at only $9.99. What a neat thing, for a kid to have a book they created themselves in their own library. They can also promote their work of genius by creating an announcement, press release, or promotional poster. For additional help, artwork, and tips, the website http://www.knowledgeadventure.com/booksbyyou/ is available.
Books by You is a really amazing learning experience, both from what kids can put into the story and what they can get out of the existing material and the process of creation. It allows kids to let their imagination loose, while being guided through a very user friendly process. They also get the fun of bringing John Lithgow to their desktop. This is a product that will keep your children engaged for hours, and the end result will be a unique story, created by them, that they can treasure forever. Books by You is fun, educational, and will have a positive lasting effect on your child's confidence and creativity. Get this great gift in time to place under your Christmas tree.
Features:
System Requirements:
Windows:
MAC: