The Dorling Kindersley (DK) Eyewitness Children's Encyclopedia offers a huge amount of educational know-how in well-researched bite-sized chunks.

Billed as the only CD-ROM encyclopedia created specifically for children aged seven to 11 (Key Stage 2), DK has worked very hard to create one of the most useful children's reference CDs on the market.

More than 600,000 words of text are included with 40 video clips and more than 700 biographies.

Geography and the natural world are particularly well represented, with more than 100 excellent maps and interactive features.

The CD takes a lot of time and trouble to explain some extremely complex concepts in words that are easy to understand.

In the main, the graphics are superb and the use of cutting-edge, text-to-speech technology and more than two hours of audio clips means the characters can literally speak for themselves through your computer's loudspeakers.

DK makes good use of animations to deliver its ideas. These are invariably attractive and absorbing.

The beautifully-drawn characters used as guides would make a wonderful, stand-alone cartoon series.

I spent far too long browsing the CD, finding those odd snippets of fascinating information that represent the hallmark of a successful encyclopedia.

The whole package is thoroughly impressive in both depth and breadth of research and presentation of information.

Price: £19.99.

Contact: 01480 496 600.

Feel good factor: 9 out of 10.