Reader Rabbit is an edutainment software franchise created in 1986 by The Learning Company. This series currently makes up the greater part of a franchise of grade-based and subject-based titles, where the games for infancy through second grade feature Reader Rabbit. The games for third grade through sixth grade instead feature The ClueFinders.
As one might presume, the first game in the series taught language arts, featuring a variety of simple games designed to teach schoolchildren basic reading and spelling skills. Originally, the title character's name was changed to reflect a change in subject, as with Math Rabbit, but it has apparently since been decided to retain the character's original name regardless of the subject area covered by a particular game. "Reader Rabbit" is presumably a play on "Peter Rabbit."
Characters[]
Major[]
Reader Rabbit (character)[]
Reader Rabbit is the protagonist of all the games. He is a grey rabbit with a red and blue striped sweater he is wearing. In Reader Rabbit Math Adventures Ages 6â9, when the Sealion is wrecked, he has a plan to fix it while Sam the Lion and Penelope the Parrot are on a search for parts. In the games with the younger version of the character, he wears a red shirt and blue pants rather than his trademark red and blue striped sweater. In the 1989-1991 games, he wears a red sweater and blue overalls and in the 1992-1995 games he wears a red sweater
Sam the Lion[]
Sam is one of Reader Rabbit's best friends. He is a lion who likes to go on adventures. He also appears as a cub in Reader Rabbit Math Adventures Ages 6â9 where he was driving a ship in the flashback. He also teams up with Penelope the Parrot in all activities except the one that involves fractions on pizza and the song he sings is Sam's Song. In the games with the younger version of the character he wears a green shirt.
Matilda the Mouse[]
Matilda (nicknamed "Mattie" or "Mat") is one of Reader Rabbit's best friends. She is a mouse who likes to do everything and wears a yellow shirt,a blue dress with white buttons and a blue ribbon on her tail (only from 1989â1994) . As a main character in Reader Rabbit Kindergarten, she finds some things that Spike is stealing. In Reader Rabbit Toddler, she visits Reader Rabbit and goes into the book where it has so many fun worlds you can select. Mattie makes plenty of jokes! The song she sings is Mat's Song
Charlie Chipmunk[]
Charlie is the head councillor in Reader Rabbit Kindergarten and a stage manager in 1st Grade. He wears a red baseball cap and a red and white striped shirt.
Wonder Pony[]
Wonder Pony is a very elegant pony. She is blue with a blond mane and tail. her first appearance was Lets Start Learning.
Mimi Rabbit[]
Mimi Rabbit is Reader's younger sister. She rarely appears in any of the games and is apparently four years old. She may not only appear more often in the games with the young version of Reader Rabbit, but may also appear in the DVDs of Reader Rabbit.
Ernest the Train[]
Ernest is a blue train who appears in Reader Rabbit's Reading 1 and 2.
Buster the Transforming Car[]
Buster is a red, blue and orange car who made his first appearance in Reader Rabbit's Interactive Reading Journey 2.
Paige the Adventure Manual[]
Paige is Reader Rabbit's pink manual who made her first appearance in the 2001 versions of Preschool, Kindergarten, 1st Grade and 2nd Grade.
Chester[]
Reader Rabbit's safe for keeping things in and he made his first appearance in the 2001 versions of Preschool, Kindergarten, 1st Grade and 2nd Grade.
Grandma Rabbit[]
Reader's grandmother.
Grandpa Rabbit[]
Reader's grandfather.
Minor[]
Penelope the Parrot[]
Penelope is a very bright green parrot featured in Reader Rabbit Math Adventures Ages 6â9. She has been found on an island by Reader Rabbit and Sam the Lion. She likes to fly. As you click on the icons for math activities, she will be your guide. She is also the responsibility of the pizza activity where you can help her put the right ingredients in the dough for making pizza. In the trap activity, you can pick out the money from her hand.
Pirats[]
The Pirats are pirate rats in Reader Rabbit Math Adventures Ages 6â9. They are "enemies" of Reader Rabbit and friends. There are a few of them. In Reader Rabbit Math Adventures Ages 6â9 there is a little cave thing in the upper right part of the map with a flag (if any pirats are there yet) and when there is a flag, it means a pirat is there. The flags change colors when a new pirat is there. If you go there, each pirat has a song they sing if you click on them. And after the sails are drawn, Sam the Lion reveals the Pirats and they scurry away for good!!
When Reader and Sam find themselves beached on a deserted island, the Pirats catch on to their presence and Ratbeard is quick to assume that they showed up to steal their precious cheese. He becomes determined to stop them even though they don't actually meet face-to-face throughout their time on the island. Ratbeard gets the idea to launch a massive water balloon at the duo when they try to flee the island on their new ship, in the hopes of sinking them. Even after it is pointed out that Reader and Sam never stole their cheese, Ratbeard goes forth with his plan anyway. When Sam and Reader, along with Penelope flee the island, the Pirats launch the water balloon from their ship via catapult. Unfortunately, the weight of the balloon sinks their ship, and causes a tidal wave that sends Reader Rabbit and his friends all the way back home. The Pirats are forced to swim back to shore, with Ratbeard, furious at his defeat, swearing revenge on Reader and his friends. However, the gang never ran into the Pirats again until Sam got the cheese.
Captain Ratbeard is the leader of the Pirats and the nastiest member of the group. He wears a hat, boots, a coat, and a belt with a sword attached to it. Due to his name, he has a red beard with a mustache. He has been found by Sam the Lion in the beach version of the sail-drawing activity and is the first Pirat to be part of the time activity. The song he sings is "Captain Ratbeard's Song."
Pearl is a fat female Pirat who wears a fuchsia dress and a short yellow curly wig. She wants to be rough and tough in her way. She has been found by Sam the Lion in the cavern version of the sail-drawing activity and is the third Pirat to be part of the time activity. The song she sings is "Rough And Tough As Me."
Vermina is a thin female Pirat who wears a light blue shirt with a rope-like belt, dark blue pants and a long brown straight wig. She is the kindest Pirat who has a beautiful voice. She has been found by Sam the Lion in the beach and jungle versions of the sail-drawing activity and is the first Pirat to sit by the fire in the cave. The song she sings is "This Is A Life For Me!". In this song, she dreams of having a wonderful life for herself. (P.S. she is the nicest one)
Cheester is a fat male Pirat who wears a shirt with sky blue and white stripes on, dark blue pants and a hunk of cheese on his head. His desire may be counting a lot of treasures he sees. He has been found by Sam the Lion in the jungle version of the sail-drawing activity and is the second Pirat to be part of the time activity. The song he sings is "Cheester's Song".
Riley is a thin male Pirat who wears a shirt with light orange and white stripes on and dark orange pants. He has a cockney accent. He has been found by Sam the Lion in the cavern version of the sail-drawing activity. The song he sings is "Riley's Song".
Patch is a medium sized Pirat. he is seen sitting on a rock and the song he sings is "Patch's Song".
The Performing Hamsters[]
These hamsters first appeared in Learn to Read.
Nellie is a gray hamster and the song she sings is Nellie's Song.
Calhoun is a brownish red hamster and the song he sings is Calhoun's Song
Lefty is a brown hamster and the song he sings is Lefty's Song
Mitt the Monkey[]
Mitt is a monkey who is very talkative. He is featured in Reader Rabbit's Preschool,Reader Rabbit Personalized Reading Ages 4â6 and Reader Rabbit Personalized Reading Ages 6â9.
Ed the Dog[]
Ed is a cook in Reader Rabbit's Preschool.
Ben the Ant[]
Ben is the leader of ant band and he makes his first appearance in Reader Rabbit's Interactive Reading Jorney 1.
Tally the Counting Cat[]
Tally is a good mathmetician and she appears in Reader Rabbit's Preschool. and Interactive Math Journey For Grades 1-3.
Nanny Toucanny[]
Nanny (nicknamed "Nan") made her first appearance in Reader Rabbit's Interactive Reading Journey 1"
Wheel Bear[]
The Wheel Bear is a brown bear who wears a T-shirt and sits on a wheelchair. He is featured in Reader Rabbit Personalized Reading Ages 6â9 and seen in books 5 and 6.
Chef Pierre[]
Chef Pierre is featured in Reader Rabbit Kindergarten. He is a grey and black raccoon that wears a white apron and a white chef hat. He has a French accent.
Artist Pierre[]
Artist Pierre is featured in Reader Rabbit 1st Grade. and Thinking Adventures Ages 4-6. He is a grey and black racoon who wears a black or red beret.
Baby Bear[]
Baby Bear is in Reader Rabbit Kindergarten and she is a bear cub. His father always sleeps in his bed and when the first two balloons have been brought in, he mistakes them for "baboons".
Papa Bear[]
Papa Bear is Baby Bears father and runs a store. He wears a white apron.
Mama Bear[]
Mama Bear is Baby Bears mother.
Spike the Porcupine[]
Spike is a porcupine and is featured on Reader Rabbit Kindergarten. He wears a red baseball cap that is usually backwards and a pair of red and white sneakers. In Reader Rabbits Kindergarten, he takes an item from all the characters and the song he sings is Spike's Song.
Lenny Loudspeaker[]
Lenny Loudspeaker is a loudspeaker that announces things to the campers in Reader Rabbits Kindergarten. In addition, if the player clicks on him he will give offbeat facts about nature. He is also fond of cracking jokes, often in the form of puns.
Babs the Beaver[]
Babs is featured in Reader Rabbit Kindergarten. She is a brown beaver with buck teeth. She wears blue overalls with a yellow construction hat. She has a southern accent.
Professor Olivia Owl[]
Olivia is a great reader and she has a parrot named Penelope.
Holey Mole[]
Holey Mole was featured in a 1997 Reader Rabbit Kindergarten game. He works in a mine tunnel, and is depicted as a mole in a construction worker-type outfit.
Sylvia Skunk[]
Sylvia Skunk was also featured in the 1997 Reader Rabbit Kindergarten game. She wears a yellow sleeveless shirt and green shorts and has a short ponytail. In a 2001 Reader Rabbit Preschool game, she appeared as the main singer for 7 sing-alongs.
Go-Go Gophers[]
The Go-Go Gophers were also featured in the 1997 Reader Rabbit Kindergarten game. They were a couple of gophers who wore bow ties.
Songs[]
- Captain Ratbeard's Song
- This Is A Life For Me
- Baby Basket Bingo
- Cheester's Song
- Rough And Tough As Me
- Riley's Song
- This Is A Life For Me@
- Spike's Song
- Sam's Song
- Mat's Song
Products in the franchise[]
1986
- Reader Rabbit
- Math Rabbit
1987
- Get Ready to Learn
1988
- Get Ready For Reading
1989
- Reader Rabbit 1
1990
- Reader Rabbit 2
1991
- Reader Rabbit 3
- Ready for Letters
1992
- Reading Development Library 1
1993
- Reading Development Library 2
- Interactive Reading Journey 1
1994
- Reading Development Library 3
- Interactive Reading Journey 2
1995
- Reading Development Library 4
- Lets Start Learning
1996
- Learn to Read
1997
- Toddler
- Preschool
- Kindergarten
1998
- 1st Grade
- 2nd Grade
- Interactive Reading Journey For Grades K-1
- Interactive Reading Journey For Grades 1-2
- Interactive Math Journey For Grades 1-3
- Reading 1
- Reading 2
- Math 1
- Math 2
External links[]
- Reader Rabbit Software and Workbooks - The Learning Company
- Reader Rabbit at MobyGames
pt:Reader Rabbit