The Children’s Corner

By Jessica Teel

Column for Summer 2009

Olivia
By Ian Falconer
Read by Dame Edna Everage
Simon & Schuster

Dame Edna Everage is masterful at portraying Olivia the adventurous piglet. She brings the stories to life with a voice that sounds both playful animal and curious child. Although the stories with more descriptive action translate best to audio format, animal loving children will delight in this production. Classical piano accompanies each story. The music is a perfect fit and adds drama and emotional tones. In fact the piano is almost its own character – appearing dynamically after nearly every sentence. 


Mr. Popper’s Penguins
By Richard and Florence Atwater
Read by Nick Sullivan
Hachette Audio

This Newberry Honor Book doesn’t disappoint and will delight children and animal enthusiasts. Mr. Popper’s life is turned upside down when he receives a real, live penguin in the mail! Other penguins follow turning Mr. Popper’s basement into an ice rink filled with the South Pole’s charming birds. The fun really begins when Mr. Popper takes the feathered crew on the road. This audiobook is guaranteed to put a smile on your face. 


Hate that Cat
By Sharon Creech
Read by Scott Wolf
Harper Children’s Audio

Hate that Cat makes poetry fun for kids. Scott Wolf (Party of Five) sounds appropriately youthful. He fervently animates words and even punctuation marks. Hate that Cat also introduces kids to literary terms like alliteration and similes. Quotations from poets such as T. S. Elliot and Tennyson provide a broader context for the book’s exciting poems. 


Baseball Great
Written and read by Tim Green
Harper Children’s Audio

Real life sports star Tim Green has created a baseball mystery that will delight young sports players. Baseball Great follows Josh as he joins a youth championship baseball team. The transition is hard and he discovers some of his fellow players to be more violent than friendly. Josh and his budding journalist friend Jaden are determined to uncover any dastardly secrets lurking in their new world. Sports fans will really enjoy this realistic and compelling audio production. Author Tim Green is a wise choice for narration due to his experience in broadcasting. His audio performance is a home run.


Parties & Potions
By Sarah Mlynowski
Read by Ariadne Meyers
Listening Library

Kids will be spellbound by the latest installment of Mlynowski’s Magic in Manhattan series: Parties and Potions. The audiobook follows the escapades of several young witches who always leave time to develop crushes on cute boy-witches. Parties and Potions combines the mystical with the every day preoccupations of pre-teen girls. Ariadne Meyer’s performance will leave listeners on the edge of their seats. 


Suddenly Supernatural: Books 1 & 2 (School Spirit and Scaredy Kat)
By Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
Read by Allyson Ryan
Listening Library

Kat’s mother can communicate with the dead and suddenly Kate begins to see spirits herself. In Book One: School Spirit Kat can no longer deny her gift. Soon, Kat finds herself helping a spirit trapped inside her school. In Book Two: Scaredy Kat listeners will jump in their seats when Kat sees dead people. Listen in to see if Kat can face her fears by exploring an abandoned house that may hold clues about the disappearance of local boy. Will Kat solve the crime in time?


Lucky Breaks
By Susan Patron
Read by Cassandra Campbell
Listening Library

Lucky Breaks is the much anticipated sequel to Newberry Award winner The Higher Power of Lucky. Eleven year old Lucky’s adventures continue as she befriends Paloma who is tagging along with a group of geologists visiting Lucky’s town (population 43). Cassandra Campbell narrates with a smooth voice. Campbell’s intonations sound modern and youthful and her performance enhances Lucky’s spirit for adventure. 


The Mortal Instruments Book Three: City of Glass
By Cassandra Clare
Read by Natalie Moore
Simon and Schuster Audio

Vampire fiction is all the rage amongst young adult readers and City of Glass delivers with compelling writing, believable characters and a great audiobook performance by stage actress Natalie Moore. Twilight fans will surely revel in Clare’s delightful and riveting vampire trilogy. In Book Three, City of Glass, Clary is on the quest to save her mother’s life. Narrator Natalie Moore navigates this world of fantasy with a stunning performance.


Space Flight to the Unknown
Story and Music by David Schecter & Kathleen Mayne
Your Imagination Presents

Children can embark on an interactive voyage into the Universe on Space Flight to the Unknown. The creators of Your Imagination Presents have designed this CD to be an open ended story that stimulates the imagination of listeners. Mood evoking music helps listeners imagine the scenes in their heads. While the CD creates a strong narrative, most visual descriptions are left open ended. This enables listeners to use their own imagination to visualize the book’s scenes in their own heads. Children will want to listen to this CD over and over again since they can create different adventures with each new listen. Parents in search of interactive entertainment that will stimulate brain development will delight in this production. Your Imagination Presents productions can be ordered online at www.yourimaginationpresents.com or by calling 1-800-788-0892

The Problem with the Puddles
By Kate Feiffer
Read by Halley Feiffer
Listening Library

Big Sally and Little Sally - the Puddle’s dogs, are mistakenly left behind when the Puddles embark on a road trip. Follow along as both humans and canines stumble down the road. The Puddle family is full of lots of laughs and Halley Feiffer captures both human and animal characterizations perfectly.

The explosion in popularity of young adult fiction like the iconic Harry Potter series has proven that older children still love to read! What makes young adult fiction so exciting is that parents often enjoy this literature more than their children. With audiobook versions of young adult fiction parents can relax in the evenings along with their older kids. Why not kick up your heels at bedtime and listen to great and exciting fiction that both you and your children will enjoy. Turn off the TV and turn on your imagination – young adult audiobooks are great alternative entertainment for the whole family. – Jessica Teel

Column for 2008

Dolphin Song
By, Lauren St. John
Read by Adjoa Andoh
Listening Library

Dolphin Song is a conservation minded adventure story featuring Martine – an orphaned girl who lives on a game reserve in South Africa. Martine, whose best friend is a white giraffe named Jemmy, enjoys spending as much time with animals as her classmates. Martine is afraid however of sharks and frets with worry when her class plans a trip on a boat to visit the sardine migration off the coast. A ship wreck plunges Martine and her classmates into the sea and a living nightmare, but the children are magically rescued and brought to shore by a group of dolphins. The story then focuses on the disparate group’s survival attempts as castaways on an island. 

Dolphin Song narrator Adjoa Andoh’s English accent adds to the exotic flare of this adventure tale. She voices children and adults with equal ease and believability. She manages to propel fear and suspense into the novel once the children are cast at sea. Animal lovers will also enjoy the tale’s tidbits of information on animal behavior.


Haters
Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez
Read by Flora Diaz
Hachette Audio

Haters features seventeen year old Pasquala who leaves her comfortable life in New Mexico when her father gets a job in Orange County, California. The move is hard on Pasquala, who must say goodbye to her mystical grandmother, her best friends and a boy she has a fierce crush on. Pasquala’s acerbic wit and eye for humorous details helps her cope with the challenge of being a new girl at the local High School. The backdrop to life as a transplant is Pasquala’s immerging talents as a “seer” or medium. This is author Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez’s first young adult novel, and she masterfully portrays what it is like to be a teenage girl. Pasquala is an intensely believable character – plucky and smart despite having an absent mother and an eccentric home life. 

Narrator Flora Diaz skillfully captures the sarcastic yet lovable tone of Pasquala. Diaz manages to voice the character as sardonic yet never malicious or mean. Diaz sounds just like a teenager (even adopting an upward inflection to the end of her sentences), and young listeners will find her performance both believable and charming. As voiced by Diaz one can almost see Pasquala rolling her eyes, or biting her tongue as she notices all the funny details of her unconventional life. Teen listeners will find the audiobook version of Haters enjoyable due to Diaz’s stellar performance. Author Valdes-Rodriguez fills the book with references to music and pop culture that will likewise appeal to the young-adult audience. 


The Gravity Keeper
By Michael Reisman
Read by Nicholas Hormann
Listening Library

A young adult thriller about the laws of physics, The Gravity Keeper is fun and educational! Simon Bloom, an average sixth grader, finds himself in possession of a book full of formulas that control the laws of the universe. Follow Simon as he bends gravity and tries to keep the book out of the hands of people who will use the laws for evil and harm. Nicholas Hormann’s narration keeps the tension high with his excellent narration. Fans of Harry Potter will love this book which uses physics instead of “magic” to create a suspenseful thriller.


A Giant Problem (Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles)
By Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
Read by Andrew McCarthy
Simon and Schuster

The latest offering from the Spiderwick Series follows the Spiderwick gang as they take on a summer challenge –giant slaying. McCarthy’s subtle inflections reflect the insecurities of the children as they face this daunting task. McCarthy doesn’t overdo the differences between the characters despite their varying genders and ages. He manages to be realistic without sounding over the top – a difficult balancing act for adult narrators trying to sound like children. After learning the fine art of giant slaying, will the kids manage to save the day?


Artemis Fowl, The Time Paradox
Eoin Colfer
Read by Enn Reitel
Listening Library

Enn Reitel’s English accent and deep, commanding voice fit perfectly a young adult novel that blends science fiction with magic. Author Colfer is just as comfortable writing about body scans, James Bond like gadgets and artificial limbs as he is describing elves, giving Artemis Fowl a unique feel that is both modern and timeless. An ample prologue helps new readers catch up on unfamiliar territory covered in previous books. Artemis went missing for three years. Now back home, and age 14, he lives with special powers. Artemis races against time to save his mother whose organs are failing from a mysterious disease, and faces off with a cunning enemy – himself. Time travel will spin children’s brains and makes for an intelligent vehicle filled with plot twists and surprises. Fans of children’s science fiction will be intrigued by the modern day mysticism of Artemis Fowl. 

The Mystery of the Third Lucretia
Susan Runhold
Read by Krista Sutton
Listening Library

Mysterious music begins this adventure tale about two young artists in pursuit of an international criminal. Protagonist Kari and her best friend Lucas (a girl) spend their days painting, visiting museums and dreaming of traveling through Europe. It is refreshing to hear a story about girls who spend their free time doing non traditional things. 

The mystery begins 26 centuries ago in Rome with the historical figure of Lucretia. After introducing Rembrandt’s painting of Lucretia the story turns to the present – where Kari and Lucas bump into the creepy “gallery guy” who they observe staring at the painting. The plot thickens when the girls bump into him in London. This is a smart book that isn’t afraid to be feminist (Lucas’ grandmother is a feminist and environmental activist) and doesn’t ignore the rape and misogynistic scorn of the historical figure Lucretia. Author Runhold respects listeners enough to allow them to understand real life beyond the mall –all while managing to feel lighthearted. It’s a skillful balancing act indeed.

Whether talking about art history or Lucas’ brother “the meep” narrator Krista Sutton manages to sound young, hip and appropriately sardonic. Kari and Lucas are smart girls with witty tongues, and Sutton captures their age, tone and occasional sarcasm perfectly.

Katani’s Jamaican Holiday (A Beacon Street Girls audiobook)
By Annie Bryant
Read by Pamella D’Pella
Listening Library

The Beacon Street Girls series features a cast of smart, modern girls who serve as interesting and intelligent role models. Listening Library has released several of the popular books as audiobooks allowing the Beacon Street Girls to reach a wider audience. In Katani’s Jamaican Holiday, young Katani travels to the Caribbean with her Grandmother Ruby. Katani meets her Jamaican relatives, and listeners will join her adventures riding horses on white sand beaches and drinking in everything this new culture has to offer. Katani inspires one day to own a fashion design company, and she carries with her an “island inspiration notebook” to record her trip. Listeners will enjoy following Katani as she notices all the details, colors, smells and tastes of an exciting country. Katani is not only charming, but a young girl with a passion to learn new things and apply them to larger goals. 

Pamella D’Pella does a skillful job narrating. Her Jamaican accents are authentic, yet remain easy for western audiences to understand. D’Pella imbues Katani with the excitement of a young girl on a mystical vacation. Listeners will feel every bit as thrilled as Katani when she eats new foods and furiously fills her notebooks with design ideas for her clothing line. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with a smart and inspired girl like Katani? 

Little House on the Prairie
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Read by Cherry Jones
Harper Audio

Narrator Cherry Jones sounds just like the type of strong woman who would have traveled and lived the life of a Pioneer. Jones’s slightly scratchy voice sounds wise and experienced yet always conveys a wonder and joy amidst the natural world. Her voice seamlessly matches the era, and captures the spunk of a character so many of us grew up knowing – Laura Ingalls. Jones’ pacing is great. She keeps the action clipping along as the Ingalls head westward into uncharted territory. Although I grew up a big fan of the Little House series, there is a hint of racism towards Native Americans that doesn’t mesh well with present day values and language. Half pint seems half-racist and conscientious readers will be put off by Wilder’s antiquated tone in regards to Native Americans. 

Anne of Green Gables
By L.K. Montgomery
Read by Kate Burton
Listening Library

The audiobook version of Anne of Green Gables is a complete delight and a whole new generation of children will enjoy the escapades of Anne Shirley and her incredible wit, imagination and zest for life. 

I’ve always enjoyed the narration style of actress Kate Burton who performs many adult audiobooks. But there is something slightly disappointing about the way she voices Anne Shirley. Burton has the appropriate amount of enthusiasm, drama, and wonder of Anne. However she doesn’t sound young enough, but rather like an adult trying to sound young. Perhaps I’m just spoiled by Megan Follow’s amazing performance in the PBS film adaptation of Anne of Green Gables, but Burton left me wishing for a performance that sounded more age-authentic. 

That being said, Burton gives Marilla the perfect amount of good intentioned orneriness, and she voices Matthew with excellent balance as a tenderhearted push over. The couple’s increasing love for Anne is likewise developed and reflected through their voices as the book progresses. Kate Burton is one of the most skilled narrators in terms of pacing. She manages to speak quickly through non essential parts of the text, yet never so fast as to lose the audience. She also slows down to believable speaking tempos when voicing dialogue. Anne of Green Gables is a must have for every young-adult reader.


Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
By Lewis Caroll
Narrated by Jim Dale
Listening Library

Audiobook fans might recognize Jim Dale as the narrator of the Harry Potter audiobooks. Dale has won two Grammy Awards and seven Audie Awards, and lives up to his reputation in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Dale brings to life this timeless story, giving the iconic book all the justice it deserves. Not only is his English accent comforting and accessible to American ears, he speaks with an authority that instills both familiarity and wonder. I can’t imagine a better performance! Listeners of any age will revel in Lewis Caroll’s book which is a cornerstone of children’s science fiction. Forget the Disney knock offs – Caroll’s original words are as entertaining as they were when first written and his magical realism still inspires. 

This season I also want to highlight two independently published audio productions for younger children 

Mystery Island: a new dimension in creative play for ages 7 and older
Story and music by David Schecter and Kathleen Mayne
Your Imagination Presents

Mystery Island takes children on a fantastical journey involving hidden scientists, wild creatures, cloud covered islands, and lost civilizations. Your Imagination Presents’ productions are unique because listeners are “the star of the show”. The productions don’t provide specific visual details, but rather encourage listeners to visualize the story in their own unique way. The authors write, “most children’s audio stories describe in precise detail what the listener is supposed to be “seeing”, so children have few opportunities for creative input. Your Imagination Presents’ stories are visually stimulating – not visually specific – inspiring your imagination to provide the images.”

This concept in children’s entertainment is really special and unique and allows children to participate in the act of story telling. Mystery Island guides listeners using narration, however the specific visual details of the characters and scenery you encounter are left open ended. Dramatic music enhances the experience and provides constantly changing emotional tones. Running time is 25 minutes. What’s great about these productions is that children can listen to the stories multiple times and visualize a different tale. The authors encourage children to talk during the production or move, dance and act out scenes along with the characters. I hope to listen to more of these ground breaking multi-media productions in the future. Your Imagination Presents also sells Space Flight To The Unknown, an alien adventure story. 

To order visit: www.yourimaginationpresents.com/ 
Email: yourimaginationpresents@earthlink.net Phone: (800) 788-0892 or (818) 886-8863


Shoofly: an audiomagazine for kids
www.shooflyaudio.com  

Shoofly is an audio magazine produced for children ages 3-7. Available in CD or MP3 formats, each issue offers multiple tracks of children’s poetry, storytelling and literature. The goal of Shoofly producers is to excite the imagination and curiosity of young children’s minds through poetry and language. Shoofly succeeds and children will enjoy the different tones, topics and musical elements of every track. Some tracks are reminiscent of children’s sing alongs and are catchy tunes that young kids will love to dance and sing to. Other tracks tell short stories or are devoted to imaginative musical poetry. Squawking ravens, splashing water sound effects, and a multi cast shine on the track “The Boondocks” a bayou adventure tale featuring the interesting protagonist Mango Shine. “Fishball” is fun for kids and will intrigue parents as a story originally written during the great depression. 

To order Shoofly visit: www.shooflyaudio.com/  Phone: 1-888-929-9401 or
1-919-968-7846, email: jack@shooflyaudio.com 

Biography:

Jessica Teel, MA is a professional audiobook review writer published with www.audiobookcafe.com  and Audiofile Magazine.  She has also worked with children for over fifteen years as an English teacher, piano teacher, basketball coach, and social worker.  She lives in Homer, Alaska where she works as a freelance writer.  When not listening to audiobooks and writing, she can be found studying grizzly bears in Katmai National Park.

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