Big Top’s Cartoon Toolbox Starring Felix the Cat

Big Top’s Cartoon Toolbox Starring Felix the Cat (Big Top Productions, ages 7 & up) is one of the most sophisticated animation programs around. Begin with the tutorial, which shows a short cartoon and then helps the user reproduce it step-by-step. Once you’ve done it, you’re totally prepared to create your own masterpiece.

Magic Theater by Knowledge Adventure

You can jump right in with Magic Theater (Knowledge Adventure, ages 6 & up). Basically, it looks like MacPaint with a good deal added on. Icons are explained as the mouse moves over them, but everything is pretty clear even without Help.

Kid Pix Studio by Broderbund

Kid Pix Studio (Broderbund, ages 3 to 12) offers an impressive range of activities. Choose from: Kid Pix, Moopies, Stampimator, Digital Puppets, Wacky TV, or Slide Show (in which you assemble the fruits of your labor as a slide show). This is a big program and you’ll need some time (and maybe some help) to get acclimated.

4 Paws of Crab by Live Oak Multimedia Ltd

4 Paws of Crab (Live Oak Multimedia Ltd.) is a surprise. It lives up to its billing as a “Narrative Thai Cookbook,” but it has much more. Nora Bateson, an American woman, and Bancha “Bird” Leelguagon, a Thai man, both in their late twenties, met in Thailand in 1989 while both were students. Bird worked in a restaurant and often cooked for Nora, and the idea of using food to cross ethnic and cultural boundaries struck them then.

Passage to Vietnam by Against All Odds Productions

Passage to Vietnam is the new title from Rick Smolan of Against All Odds Productions - the same company that produced From Alice to Ocean and the same photographer that produced the Day In the Life series of books. Once again, he’s got a hit.