ABSTRACT
In 1994, Discis produced a CD-ROM of The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Late in 1995, at least two Mindscape CD-ROMs became available, potentially the start of a long series of Potter products in this medium.
One of the things which makes CD-ROMs so interesting is their capacity to combine many of the formats already described and to develop forms of text which actively invite new kinds of reading behaviors and strategies. The three Peter Rabbit CD-ROMs I explored demonstrate some of the potentials, limitations and complexities of this new format. All three texts are hybrids of earlier forms, but each draws on a different combination of form and convention. By far the most intriguing of the three is the Mindscape production, The Adventures of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny, its mixture of other traditions of text and format does actually offer different reading and fictional experiences, the implications of which may be far-reaching for young learners.
