The Living Books series is a series of interactive animated mulitmedia children's books, first produced by Broderbund and then spun off into a jointly-owned (with Random House) subsidiary, which were distributed on CD-ROM for Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows. The series began with the release of Just Grandma and Me (an adaptation of the book by Mercer Mayer) in 1992; other titles in the series included The Tortoise and the Hare, Arthur's Teacher Trouble (and other adaptations of books by Marc Brown), Dr. Seuss and Berenstain Bears titles. Nicely produced "play-through" videos on most Living Books titles can be found on YouTube and Several former Broderbund leaders are now releasing the titles on iOS and Android as Wanderful interactive storybooks.
CD-ROMs in the series[]
- Just Grandma and Me - Mercer Mayer (1992) in Japan and Spain (V 1.0) Version 2.0 released in 1997, which included a game.
- Arthur's Teacher Trouble - Marc Brown (1992) in Spain.
- The Tortoise and the Hare - Aesop (1993) in Spain, An original Living Books story that is not based on any real books, because Mark Schlichting, founder of Living Books, retold this classic fable. This version uses hilarious twists and cartoon animal characters.
- The New Kid on the Block - Jack Prelutsky and James Stevenson (1993).
- Ruff's Bone - Eli Noyes (1994) in Spain, The second original Living Books story, but it's actually produced by Colossal Pictures and created and written by Eli Noyes, the producer of the 1964 short claymation film Clay or the Origin of Species. The style is different from the other two original Living Books games.
- Little Monster at School - Mercer Mayer (1994) in Spain.
- Arthur's Birthday - Marc Brown (1994) in Spain (V 1.0) Version 2.0 released in 1997, which includes two games.
- Harry and the Haunted House - Mark Schlichting (1994) in Spain, The third Living Books game that is not based on anyone's books. This is the only original Living Books story that was officially created by Mark Schlichting, founder of Living Books. This was actually written and published in 1987 as a paperback book.
- The Berenstain Bears Get in a Fight - Stan and Jan Berenstain (1995) in Spain.
- Dr. Seuss's ABC - Dr. Seuss (1995) Sing-a-long is included.
- Sheila Rae, the Brave - Kevin Henkes (1996) in Spain, A game and 7 sing-a-longs are included.
- The Berenstain Bears in the Dark - Stan and Jan Berenstain (1996) 2 games are included.
- Green Eggs and Ham - Dr. Seuss (1996) 3 games are included.
- Stellaluna - Jannell Cannon (1996) A game is included.
- Arthur's Reading Race - Marc Brown (1996) 3 games are included.
- The Cat in the Hat - Dr. Seuss (1997) A game is included.
- Arthur's Computer Adventure - Marc Brown (1998) Five games are included.
- D.W. the Picky Eater - Marc Brown (1998) New menu system. Four games are included. Last book released in the Living Books series.