Capers on Cloud Nine is one in a series of Reader Rabbit edutainment software for children from toddlers up to second grade. Intended for first-grade students (ages 5 to 7), Capers provides a fun framework for learning important developmental tasks.

In the course of stopping the rain of rain gear, kids have to work through different activities at three levels of difficulty. Activities include drills on spelling, phonics, science, arithmetic, using coins, and sorting patterns. Fortunately, none of these are done in a tedious or frustrating way. The game also offers an art activity where kids can make simple moving pictures.

Parents can check their children's progress and comprehension by consulting a grading section in the program. It lets kids and parents know how a child is progressing through the game's tasks.

Learning Creations is a separate program included on the CD-ROM that allows kids to draw, make music, or create a calendar. The drawing program is more open than the art activity in the game, and the music section teaches the basics of reading and writing music. The calendar lets kids decorate and mark a calendar onscreen. You can print out all three activities when a child is done.

The voices and music are both great, and are appropriate for the audience. The animation leaves a little to be desired--kids used to Rugrats might want a little more zip--but this doesn't detract from the game or the learning. --Jeff Quick

I highly recommend it.