Clifford the Big Red Dog: Reading

Clifford the Big Red Dog: Reading is a point-and-click educational game based on the main character from the children's book series written by Norman Bridwell. Clifford really is big, having grown from a tiny puppy to over 25 feet tall because of the love of his owner, Emily Elizabeth. Clifford and his family live on Birdwell Island, and in this game you, Emily Elizabeth, and Clifford will travel all around the island, helping the people who live and work there, and practicing reading skills in the process.

Once you sign in and choose a level - there are 3 difficulty choices - you'll go to Emily's bedroom, where you have access to the map that takes you around the island. Here is also where you learn about letters and the sounds they make, and where the books and prizes you win are kept.

From the map page, clicking on one of the eight areas will take you there. Each location comes with it's own activity, which vary in complexity according to the difficulty level you choose.* Clifford's big sneeze at the grouchy neighbor's house caused a mess. Listen to the neighbors speak the beginning sounds of each item and click on it to carry it to a box

• At the docks, a friend's parrots are all out of order. Match them up by listening to the sounds they make - an audio concentration game

• Monique is painting on the boardwalk and needs you to spell out words for her to paint pictures of.

• At the Dunk-the-dog booth, pop the balloons with the correct words on them, and send Clifford into the ocean with a splash.

• Emily Elizabeth's dad needs some inspiration and some help in his T-shirt printing business - drag the missing letters into place to make the words he needs.

• Emily's friend Nicky fell off his ladder while changing letters on a marquee - now he needs help getting them down and catching them in their own marked boxes.

• At the prize booth, cash in your six tickets and operate the Claw to pick up a prize.

• As mentioned, from Emily's room you can use the map. From the map, parents can get to a progress report by pressing Ctrl + R (Option + R on a Mac), and keep track of what their child has learned.

When you have completed a certain number of activities, Emily Elizabeth rewards you with a book, which comes with its own set of options: if you have a microphone you can record yourself reading aloud; you can listen while Emily reads it to you; you can color in the pictures, and you can print it out for later reading/coloring.

There are many reading/pre-reading skills covered in this game - among them: phonics, upper/lower case letter recognition, word-building, listening/following directions, letter sound recognition, spelling and vocabulary.