Author, illustrator and designer Daron Lowe has just released an interactive, animated CD-ROM entitled `Johnny the Caucasian Gombey'.

A perfect Christmas gift for children aged three to 12, it tells the story of a boy who, despite, the odds, made his dream of becoming a gombey in Bermuda come true.

Mr. Lowe worked on the project for 18 months, but says he has no regrets now that it is completed.

"The Johnny CD-ROM has been my biggest challenge to date,'' he admits. "From the illustrations, learning simple animation techniques, and how this behaves in two differing computer environments was a steep learning curve.

(Nonetheless) I believe it is worthwhile, seeing and hearing an idea when it comes to life.'' The story is narrated with the sounds of the Bermuda gombey, and also includes Johnny's catchy theme tune, sung by his wife Hyacinth.

Mr. Lowe's children, Elijah-John, Patience and Daniella-Jade, whom he describes as "my main inspiration in creating vividly illusstrated books that always have a hint of their Island home in them'', also take part.

The CD was produced by Dwight Jones at Studio B, and is currently available at the Christian Bookstore on Burnaby Street, as well as at Advantage Computer Solutions Ltd. on Washington Street (across from the bus terminal).

It is compatible with the Macintosh Operating System (PowerPC), Windows 98 and NT. You need at least a Pentium II 166 MHz and 32-megabytes of RAM to run it on your home computer.

"The Johnny CD-ROM is accessible to most users,'' Mr. Lowe explains. "To date it has been fully tested and found to behave best on Pentium II and III machines, and the iMac.'' For further information telephone Mr. Lowe at 293-7283 or 297-1549.

Dream come true: Daren Lowe, author and illustrator, tells the story of Johnny, who realises his dream of becoming a Gombey