Latest Poptropica adventure, Steamworks Island, now available for early access

Boston, MA August 17,A steam-powered adventure awaits visitors to the new "Steamworks Island" from Poptropica, the popular online world for kids. Poptropica Members now have Early Access to the 14th Island, to be added to the rapidly growing, safe and fun virtual environment. "Steamworks Island" will be available to the public on Sept. 9. Players arriving on "Steamworks Island" find an empty town filled with steam-powered technology that has been long abandoned and overrun by vicious "plant monsters." With the help of a robot sidekick, Poptropicans piece together clues to discover what happened to the vanished inhabitants of this intriguing new Island. "Steamworks Island offers Poptropicans another online adventure to both challenge and entertain them," said Jess M. Brallier, publisher of Poptropica. "As always, when they participate in Poptropica's newest safe, online game , no personally identifiable information is ever collected or shared, so they are having fun and learning in a safe, online world." Kids can stay up to date on news about upcoming new Islands and other exciting developments in the world of Poptropica on the official blog at blog.poptropica.com/. Poptropica Membership gives kids Early Access to new Islands, so they can be among the first to play and complete the new Island weeks before it becomes available to the public. Membership also gives kids unlimited use of all costumes and Gold Cards in the Poptropica Store, allowing them to customize their Poptropicans by choosing from their favorite costumes, special abilities and effects - electrifying their Poptropican, creating a meteor shower, spraying silly stream and much more. Parents can buy a Poptropica Membership for their kids for $3.95 for one month, $10.95 for three months or $19.95 for six months. There are currently 13 Poptropica Islands that are always free for visitors to play. Membership or Credits are not required for kids to be able to enjoy and play educational games on Poptropica. Players can earn Credits when they successfully complete an Island. Credits can be used in the Poptropica Store to purchase costumes and Gold Cards. Every month, more than 9 million kids explore Poptropica's virtual Islands. The players of this virtual world for kids come from more than 100 different countries and have their Web browsers set to more than 70 different languages, ranging from Spanish and Sanskrit to Vietnamese and Croatian. About Poptropica (www.poptropica.com) Poptropica is a virtual world in which kids explore and play in complete safety. Every month, millions of kids from around the world are entertained and informed by Poptropica's engaging quests, stories and games. Kids create a "Poptropican" character to travel the many Islands of Poptropica and use gaming literacy to enjoy a narrative that is often rooted in factual history. Problem-solving skills are honed as kids discover and solve mysteries unique to each Island. There are always new areas to explore in this ever-expanding world where kids can collect objects, read digital books and comics, watch movies and compete in head-to-head competition. Parents can always trust that their children are playing - and learning - in a safe online environment. Poptropica is published by Family Education Network, a part of Pearson (NYSE: PSO), the education, services and technology company. Pearson's other primary operations include the Financial Times Group and the Penguin Group.