IDG Books has discreetly minimized the Dummies logo on its new kids-and-parents computing series, packaging this set as “a cool reference for the whole family.” The three guides, covering software for kids aged 2-12, web skills for kids 7-15, and technology skills for teenagers, are written by separate authors, each attempting to share their specific knowledge and personal approach. But the Dummies formula has flattened the author’s individual voices (the layout, language, and tone of all three works is remarkably similar), and commercial partnerships appear to have compromised objective evaluations of software products: compare the items evaluated in the books with the sample software programs, screen shots, and video-loop advertisements included on the bundled CD-ROMs.

First, a warning about the CD-ROMs: The sample web software on each disk is AT&T WorldNet Service. Don’t install it for a look. A small disclaimer in the appendix warns users that the software is only usable in the U.S., and that if you already have an Internet service provider it will change your configuration and replace your current settings. There are other problems with the sample software, primarily system requirements and configuration problems that are not mentioned in the book.

Written by Pam Dixon, an award-winning California teacher and journalist who seems bright and cheery and much addicted to dated embellishment (“buff, rad, in your face, not!…”), Take Charge Computing for Teens and Parents is a relentless pep talk, very short on information about specific programs but full of education and career advice that should scare the pants off most parents.

Without a hint of equivocation, the author lays out a checklist for students from grades 7 through college (meaning university) listing the minimum hardware, software, and skills students “must” have to compete successfully in the emerging Darwinian future. Summed up in one of the book’s ubiquitous top-10 lists, this roll-call of mandatory skills includes the ability to create and produce papers on writeable CD-ROMs, the use of presentation software for school reports, project management, document sharing, video-conferencing, and embedding multimedia on your own web site.

The author also states baldly that if you are thinking about going into law or medicine, you should probably acquire an Iris light pen, which works with bibliographic software to capture citations directly from the Internet, CD-ROMs, and documents. The book also lists corporate internship sites from IBM to Oprah Winfrey, though the only Canadian reference in the book is to the B.C. Career Guide.

The two other books are straightforward and expendable. There are now many books (and web sites) that evaluate software, and a wide variety of web guides for parents and kids. The World Wide Web for Kids and Parents gives the usual surfing advice, a simplistic overview of browsers, a list of obvious “link farms” (available on most public library sites) and then spends a long time teaching kids how to put up a page on Geocities. The tone is friendly and encouraging and author Viraf Mohta sounds like a nice guy to have over for coffee when he isn’t busy with martial arts and/or working for Merrill Lynch.

Great Software for Kids and Parents was written by Cathy Miranker, of Boston’s Computer Museum. While ostensibly an evaluation of “cool tools and quick tips to help kids with schoolwork” the book is really a catalogue of software with partial demos on the accompanying CD-ROM. The appendix includes the 800 numbers and web sites of the publishers. You can probably ignore these last two books, which are already out of date. But read the teen guide to glimpse the brave new world arising. It’s not really a technology guide, it’s sociology – and if you’re a teacher, use this book to get your own skills and your school up to par before the axe falls.