Frog and Toad Are Friends

"Frog and Toad" is a children's book series by American author Arnold Lobel, enjoying relative popularity in its home country. Only a few of them have been translated into Russian, under the title "Frog and Toad." The books recount the adventures of two friends, Frog and Toad. The editions feature beautiful illustrations in a classic style inspired by Beatrix Potter. We present an incredibly rare educational children's game, published in a limited edition and designed to improve English proficiency in elementary school-aged children.

At first glance, it might seem like an interactive book, but no—it's actually a set of five activity packs, framed in short stories about two amphibious friends. For example, they might get ready to play baseball, swim in a pond, or read to each other. We open various screens featuring animated characters, followed by tasks such as "arrange pictures or sentences in a plot sequence," "fill in the missing words," and so on. Sometimes, before accessing the tasks, you need to complete a small interactive activity, such as finding all the hotspots or objects in a location. The action is constantly accompanied by animations and dialogue—not only from the main characters but also from other characters, including animals. The final, fifth collection is especially worth mentioning, where you need to find the correct shapes among molds laid out on a table—for example, "find the red one, but not the heart-shaped one," and so on.

The disc leaves a positive impression. Beautiful old-fashioned graphics, simple but interesting tasks, and a charming setting. The only disappointing thing is the absolute impossibility of skipping dialogue, so a lot of time will be spent listening to the characters' conversations, which will also include audio instructions for the tasks.