Children must earn all of the items for the tree by playing a series of activities that focus mainly on language arts skills. Each activity can be set to any of three difficulty levels. In one activity, kids gather birds, each of which carries letters of the alphabet, into the correct (alphabetic) order on the wires. In another, kids collect food by catching letter-labeled food pellets in a basket. The word children need to spell appears at the bottom of the screen, and kids must move the basket to catch the letters in the correct order in order to spell them. On level 1, simple words like "dog" and "moon" are featured. By level 3, kids will be spelling longer or more complicated words, such as "balloon". Since the tree needs water, kids fly to the Cloud King's castle where they make "sky pictures" to make him happy. In the process, they learn about beginning letters of words and learn to spell words. The secret ingredient can only be found at the far side of the sky. Children help Savannah get to it by clicking on letters when their names or sounds (depending on the level) are called out.

Once all of the magical ingredients have been collected, children can enjoy an activity with the Sparkleberry Tree. Each ingredient that children give to the tree makes it happier and happier, until the tree is ready to make music. Children can record tunes that they play on the tree's colored berries, and then play them back. A few songs, like the ABC song, are demonstrated so that kids can copy and play these familiar tunes.

Although language arts is the main focus of the program's educational content, children are introduced to a few facts about nature throughout the program. They are told, for example, that "good soil lets plants spread their roots so they can grow big and strong". The main menu includes a few question mark hotspots that lead to live-action videos. These video clips feature Brenda Blue, and provide information about things like the sun, rocks, plants, and air.

A few points to consider: the feedback from the characters is sometimes repetitive, as are the instructions. Unfortunately, we couldn't find a way of bypassing these. Even when kids return to activities they have already played, they must sit through the instructions again. Although the feedback is fun and encouraging, it quickly becomes repetitive.

Still, the program is rather enjoyable and has positive subthemes -- learning about nature, and helping out others.

Technically Speaking
Minimum system requirements are Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP, Pentium 266 MHz, 64 MB RAM, 16-bit DirectX-compatible 2MB memory video card, and 8X CD-ROM. Mac users require a G3 266 MHz or faster, System 8.6-9.2, OS X in Classic Mode, 64 MB RAM (32 MB free RAM), and 8X CD-ROM. The program requires 35 MB of hard drive space.

Skills Covered
Children learn about nature, science, spelling, letter recognition, mouse skills, pattern extension, sequencing, word building, phonics, following directions, musical composition, and logical thinking.

Educational Value
Though the activities are not particularly inventive, they provide kids with some practice with letter recognition, alphabetic order, basic phonics skills, and early spelling.

Entertainment Value
The opportunity to play and learn with popular PBS characters will draw young fans to the software. The game features a mission that most children will want to complete, but the program doesn't have enough entertaining elements to bring children back to the game in the long term. Perhaps the addition of an exciting flying game could have added to the game's appeal.

Design
Help is always available, and navigation is rather clear. Three difficulty levels are offered, and kids can easily change the levels whenever they want. Testers complained that they had to sit through instructions they didn't need anymore. As a result, the game drags at times.

Replayability
Three difficulty levels offer kids the chance to replay the game at higher challenge levels. Certainly, the mission to collect all of the items to put the sparkle back in the Sparkleberry tree will motivate children to complete the game. However, there are not enough surprise elements in the program to have long-standing appeal.

Dollar Value
This title retails for $19.99 US.