The site actually published what its kid-testers said about various sections and what tweaks resulted. Now that is impressive. Zillions is Consumer Reports's answer to that question. There's an educational element to all this, of course - from bar graphs to percentages to analytical thinking. You could view this site as one heck of a fun, slightly subliminal shopping mall for kids - because every character's page links to its toy version and a shopping cart.
Problem is, it's fun for grownups too.
And maybe we've stumbled on a Web site that's figured out how to beat the dot-com doldrums, stay solvent, and give smiles to everybody's inner child. If they can't get enough of these cartoon friends in that passive sort of format, they can interact with them on the Web. Clifford and Caillou have companion Web pages at PBS.org , launched simultaneously with their TV shows last month. It's a biweekly collection of reviews of Web sites written by students for students and teachers. Each issue is put together by a different K-12 class somewhere in the United States.