Reader Rabbit Thinking Adventures Ages 4-6 (also known simply as Reader Rabbit Thinking Adventures) is a computer game in The Learning Company's Reader Rabbit series of children's educational games. It was released on October 5, 1999.
Plot[]
It's Sam's birthday, and Reader Rabbit decides to throw a surprise party for him in the Wordville Museum. Reader runs to the museum entrance and picks up a megaphone to make the announcement as the Wordville critters gather around and agree to pitch in and help with preparations. Babs agrees to make cookies and put treat bags together, Pierre agrees to make banner cards and paint wrapping paper for Sam's presents, Papa Bear and Baby Bear agree to organize toys and wrap Sam's presents, and Mat agrees to arrange dances and games with Professor Owl. Just then, Reader hears Sam coming, and tells the critters to hurry and get started with their preparations. When Sam arrives at the museum, he asks Reader where everyone is, coughing twice in the process. Reader, hearing Sam cough, convinces him to go home and take a nap, as if he has a cold, so he and his friends can start preparing the surprise party without Sam noticing, much to Sam's confusion.
After Sam is gone, Reader heads for his friends' locations to assist each friend with their respective party preparations, and agrees to bring finished party items to the museum in three sets of six each. After bringing the first six sets of party items to the museum, Reader gives the top stair at the museum entrance a fresh coat of paint and places a "wet paint" sign in front of the door to keep Sam from entering the museum. He notices Sam coming and hides. Sam looks at the sign on the entrance to the museum and walks up to it. He drags his finger over the stair, picking up a smidge of wet paint, telling him that he cannot go inside the museum. Reader, out of Sam's sight, sees this and grins while holding up a bucket of paint.
Meanwhile, after Reader has brought six more sets of party items to the museum, Spike is sitting on the grass outside the museum, blowing balloons. Unfortunately for Spike, since he's a porcupine, the balloons he tries to blow stick to his quills and pop. Sam comes along and asks Spike what the balloons are for. At first, Spike says the balloons are for the party, but then he notices Sam and tries to make him believe he's trying to build up his lungs and make himself hearty, leaving Sam skeptical.
Later, after Reader has brought another set of six sets of party items to the museum, Sam is seen sitting on a tree stump, looking bored. Just then, a birthday cake moves along the path in front of him, which is being carried by mice underneath. Sam asks the mice what the cake is for. As one of the mice is about to answer him, it stops, so that the surprise is not spoiled, and another one exclaims, "Run, there is a lion chasing us!" before they run off quickly, headed for the Wordville Museum. Sam is then shocked, until he realizes that he is a lion, leaving him confused again.
When all party items are finished, and Reader has brought the last set of six sets of items to the museum, he leads his friends into the museum and closes the door as they prepare Sam's surprise party inside. As the critters are finishing up, Reader hears someone coming to the door. The critters turn out the lights and get ready to jump up and surprise who's coming, who they think might be Sam at first, but it turns out to just be Spike, covered in popped balloons. Just then, Reader hears Sam coming to the museum, and the critters quickly close the door and turn out the lights again, Spike now included. Sam appears, slightly opening the door to the museum, peaking inside, before going inside while the room is dark. When Sam walks in, the lights turn on, and Reader and his friends jump up and surprise him yelling, "Surprise! Happy birthday, Sam!" Then, Sam gets in front of his birthday cake, with lit candles on it, as his friends sing a special song to him. After the song is finished, Sam blows out the candles on the cake, also blowing out some of the cake in the process due to his strong breath. At that moment, a photo is taken, and Sam thanks everyone for coming to his party.
Characters[]
- Reader Rabbit
- Mat the Mouse
- Professor Owl
- Papa Bear
- Baby Bear
- Babs the Beaver
- Pierre
- The Singing Birds
- Singing Squirrels
- Dancing Mice
- Charlie Chipmunk
- Spike the Porcupine
- Sam the Lion
Voices[]
American Version[]
- Jeanne Hartmann - Reader Rabbit
- Laura Rice - Mat the Mouse
- Pete Shoemaker - Sam the Lion, Pierre
- Sean O'Kane - Papa Bear
- Irene Trapp - Baby Bear, Singing Squirrels, Singing Bird #1
- Becca Barnes - Babs the Beaver
- Andrea Fulton - Professor Owl
- Susan Parks - Singing Bird #2
- Peggy Fischer - Singing Bird #3
- Roger L. Jackson - Spike the Porcupine (uncredited)
- "Some guy from audio with a squeaky voice" - Other Mice
- MC Hammer - Papa Bear Rapper
British Version[]
- Caroline Morris - Reader Rabbit, Baby Bear, Singing Birds, Singing Squirrels
- Lizzie Sigrist - Mat the Mouse
- Tom Eastwood - Sam the Lion, Papa Bear
- Stella Monsell - Babs the Beaver, Professor Owl, Singing Birds, Singing Squirrels
- Justin Fletcher - Pierre, Spike the Porcupine (uncredited)
- MC Hammer - Papa Bear Rapper
Gameplay[]
The player plays eight activities featuring logic-based puzzles to gather party items to take to the Wordville Museum for Sam's birthday party. Each activity can be set from three levels of difficulty as indicated by the numbers 1-3 that appear onscreen. Completing an activity earns the player a certain party item; each item must be earned in three sets of six (making eighteen total) before the party can begin. During each activity, the player can also look for a hint to where they can find a clickable animated surprise during the party after completing the game.
Activities[]
Owl's Treehouse[]
- Mouse Dance
- Gameplay: Complete the dance patterns of Mat's mouse friends.
- Skill area: Patterning: Completing Movement Patterns
- Item earned: Dance Pattern Sheets
- Donkey Directions
- Gameplay: Guide Mat to the donkey on a grid of squares by using labeled tokens.
- Skill area: Sequencing
- Item earned: Donkey Tails
Papa's Store[]
- Gift Wrapper
- Gameplay: Wrap Sam's presents using the correct boxes, wrapping paper, bows, and tags to make each one the same or different from one another.
- Skill area: Comparing and Contrasting
- Item earned: Presents
- Toy Sort
- Gameplay: Sort toys into the hula hoops by category.
- Skill area: Categorizing
- Item earned: Hula Hoops
Babs' Kitchen[]
- Treat Time
- Gameplay: Sort treat items on the correct squares by color, shape, size, or design.
- Skill area: Creating Arrays
- Item earned: Treat Bags
- Cookie Creator
- Gameplay: Decorate cookies by duplicating the icing pattern on the cookie Babs holds up.
- Skill area: Matching and Ordering
- Item earned: Cookies
Pierre's Studio[]
- Wrapping Paper Painter
- Gameplay: Complete each wrapping paper design by painting the white sections on the design with the matching colors.
- Skill area: Patterning: Completing Color Patterns
- Item earned: Wrapping Paper
- Banner Builder
- Gameplay: Make each banner card different from another in one or two ways by color, shape, and/or texture.
- Skill area: Similarities and Differences
- Item earned: Banner Cards
Print Shop[]
The player can visit a Print Shop, located to the right of the Wordville Museum entrance, which allows them to look at a selection of party invitations and wrapping paper designs to print.
Songs[]
Specifications[]
Skills List[]
- Matching & Ordering
- Similarities & Differences
- Organizing Information
- Experimenting with Ideas
- Patterning & Sequencing
- Categorizing Attributes
- Cause & Effect
- Memory
- Setting Goals
- Planning Ahead
- Predicting Outcomes
- Logic & Reasoning
- Problem Solving
- Decision Making
- Critical Thinking
Special Features[]
- 50 Interactive and Printable Activities
- More Than 25 Skills Covered
- Multiple Birthday Surprises
- 3 Skill Levels
- Automatic Help
- Parent's Progress Reports
- Customized Workbooks & Rewards
Re-releases and Compilations[]
Reader Rabbit Thinking Adventures Ages 4-6 was released in the Adventure Workshop: Preschool-1st Grade compilation in 2000, alongside Reader Rabbit Math Adventures Ages 4-6. In 2004, the game was re-released in the Adventure Workshop: Preschool-1st Grade: 5th Edition compilation, which also included Reader Rabbit sticker sheets.
In 2008, the game was bundled in Chick-fil-A Kids' meals as part of a promotion.[1]
Trivia[]
- This is the only game in which Sam the Lion and the supporting cast from Reader Rabbit Kindergarten and Reader Rabbit 1st Grade appear together.
- This is the second game to feature pre-recorded names, after Reader Rabbit: Playtime for Baby. A list of pre-recorded names used in this game can be found here.
- When the player uses an eligible name from the list, Reader Rabbit will say the player's name while talking to the player in various instances. This would also happen in the 2000 versions of Preschool, Kindergarten, 1st Grade and 2nd Grade.
- This is the first game in which a new player determines their birthday.
- When the player plays the game on their birthday, Reader Rabbit will have a Happy Birthday message to the player upon starting.
- Many graphics, scenarios, and the user interface from this game are re-used from Reader Rabbit 1st Grade.
- Mat the Mouse wears purple overalls in this game instead of her usual blue denim dress.
- Although Charlie Chipmunk appears in this game, he does not have any dialogue, nor does he have a significant role other than attending Sam's party.
- Reader Rabbit is shown wearing a red and blue striped party hat on the cover, but he does not wear it in-game.
- This is the only original game in the Reader Rabbit series to be enhanced by A.D.A.P.T. Learning Technology.
- This is also the only Reader Rabbit game enhanced by A.D.A.P.T. Learning Technology to not feature the word "Personalized" in the title.
- This is the last Reader Rabbit game to feature the 1994-2000 Learning Company logo ID at the beginning.
- The Chick-fil-A cover does not feature the "Ages 4-6" text label in the title. However, it features additional text on the lower left corner, suggesting that the game is "Ideal for Grades Pre K-2."
- On the cover of the GSP re-release of the game in the UK, Reader's head is depicted in his 2001 design, re-used from the cover of Reader Rabbit Preschool: Sparkle Star Rescue!. Also, Mount Brill from the said game can be briefly seen at the top right corner where the background fades out.
- This is the only subject-based game that does not have a counterpart aimed at children aged 6-9 with the same subject.
- The installation and Autorun screens have the words "Adventures" and "Ages" in all capital letters. Also. the purple banner where the "Ages 4-6" text sits in is missing.
- This is the last mainline game in which Pop appears. However, his final appearance overall was in the Personalized re-release of Reader Rabbit Math Adventures Ages 4-6, which was released a few months afterward.
- This is the last mainline game to feature the characters Reader Rabbit and Sam the Lion in their late 1990s designs, as well as them being voiced by their original voice actors, as Learning Creations is considered a bonus material.
- This is the only game Babs doesn't wear her hard hat and overalls. Instead, she wears a white chef's hat and apron.
Goofs[]
- In the video sequences, Pierre does not have white fur going from his lower face down to his belly, and his beret is red instead of black.
- Babs appears taller than usual in the video sequences, and her fur color is slightly lighter.
- Papa Bear is missing his apron in the opening sequence.
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
Sequences[]
Other[]
