Posts Tagged ‘Kids Audio Books’
Science-Fiction and Fantasy Children Audio Books Review 1
Children Audio Books website reviews Fantasy and Science Fiction Audio Books
Even though most children audio books have an element of science-fiction and although all of them are fantasy based, some kids story books are particularly science fiction and fantasy based. In our review of this week, we will be focusing on three science fiction and fantasy children audio books that we hope you will like.
Children Audio Books – How to Cheat a Dragon’s Curse
This children audio book goes for about 3 hours and 18 minutes in length, and has been published by Hachette Childrens Books. The publisher summary is as follows:
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was a Viking hero – dashing, brave, and ever so clever. But even Viking heroes have to begin somewhere…. Can Hiccup find the antidote to deadly Vorpentitis and fight the Doomfang? Can he brave the axe of Norbert the Nutjob and be the Hero yet again?
Reviews about this book point out that one doesn’t have to be a kid to enjoy the story, and that one just has to use his or her inner child imagination. They also praise the intonations of David Tennant’s voice (the audio reader) that keeps the reader in the thick of the action adventure tale.
Children Audio Books – The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
This children audio book goes for about 2 hours and 29 minutes in length. The story written by L. Frank Baum is narrated by Liza Ross. The publisher summary is as follows:
This great children’s classic, written in 1900 and immortalised in the Judy Garland film The Wizard of Oz, retains its charm in this reading by Liza Ross. Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion are all here in L. Frank Baum’s literary technicolor – along with some of the music that made the film unforgettable.
Another of the Interesting Fantasy Children Audio Books The Magic School Bus: In the Time of Dinosaurs
Children Audio Books Magic School Bus
This children audio book goes for about 31 minutes in length. The story written by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen is narrated by Polly Adams and Cassandra Morris. The publisher summary is the following:
The classroom is decorated as Dinosaur Land, but Ms. Frizzle, inspired by an archeological dig, craves a more authentic experience. The Magic School Bus turns into a time machine and transports the class back millions of years to an adventure in which they learn about dinosaurs, their habitats and diets, and even a Maiasaura nesting ground.
For other Children Audio Books review by Children Audio Books website, check the category Children Audio Books.
Fiction Children Audio Books for Fun
Children Audio Books for fun
Children Audio Books (also recognized as audio books) can be good fun for boys and girls, irrespective of whether they are enjoying them at home or while travelling. If you are going on a summer family trip with your own small children, be sure and carry a number of mp3 audiobooks with you; they could help to make the car, train, or plane trip much more enjoyable for your young children. There are at the same time a lot of other advantages of listening to children audio books. You will definitely find that audiobook editions of a large number of famous ebooks for young ones are on the market. Below is a sampling of some interesting Children Audio Books.
Children Audio Books 1. The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders
Children Audio Books – The Frogs
The audio book edition of The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders unveils another of the abilities of creator Jack Prelutsky; he is also a musician. Your small children won’t be able to resist the humorous poems set to music and sung by Prelutsky, who also plays the guitar together with John Guth. The musical arrangements by Guth feature bass guitar, mandolin, percussion, and keyboards. I know from practical experience that 2- to 4-year-olds really like to listen to this recording time and time again.
Children Audio Books 2. The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Book 1)
Children Audio Books – The Lightning Thief
Introduce your teenagers to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians collection with the audiobook release of the 1st book, The Lightning Thief. The actual collection has confirmed to be tremendously famous with middle school learners, as well as upper elementary age youngsters. This fantasy series features an captivating middle school pupil, Percy Jackson, and the fantastic revelations and journeys that change his life. Author Rick Riordan includes a lot of Ancient mythology in the series, to superb benefit.
Children Audio Books 3. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Harry Potter Series, Book One)
Children Audio Books – Harry Potter
Expose your boys and girls to the Harry Potter collection (or start rereading them all), starting with the audiobook release of the 1st book in the set, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. With this fantasy novel by J. K. Rowlings, you are going to appreciate hrs of mystery, suspense, wizardry, and pleasure. I’d advise this for families with youngsters 8-10 years old and older.
Children Audio Books 4. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Children Audio Books – Alexander
Everybody has a poor day, and the entire household will get a kick out of Alexander’s problems in Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. The audio book release of the tale is read by actress Blythe Danner. While I advise it for four to eight year olds, it will probably attract dads and moms at the same time.
Children Audio Books 5. A Bear Called Paddington
Children Audio Books – Paddington
The scenario of the little bear from darkest Peru who travels to The united kingdom and finds himself on Paddington Stop is a classic. The little bear is adopted by the Brown family who name him Paddington. Paddington gets into all sorts of entertaining hardships, and the Browns find their everyday life spun upside down. This kids audio book is read by actor and comedian Stephen Fry, whose English accent and sympathetic reading make it a pleasure. I recommend it for age ranges 5-9.
More Children Audio Books Resources
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Creating Personalized Kids Audio Books
Kids Audio Books are a great resource, but… only if you can make your children listen to them…
I came across a new method for creating children interest for my kids in Audio Books, that I want to share with you: It is not about fiction or non fiction audio books that you can read and play to your children. It’s not about kids story books that you can read, grab and play. It’s a revolutionary concept that I call “Creating Personalized Kids Audio Books“, and it’s as easy as writing.
It all came up to my mind when lately, one of my kids was having problems listening at school, or obeying orders, and in one word was having behavioral issues both at school and at home. Usually, in these cases, all parents can do is repeat time and time again to their children how they should behave, maybe recur to punishment if the child doesn’t do as directed. But I acted differently. I wrote my own story about a kid named Michael in the same situation as my child, having the same problems and acting the same way, and then in the fictional story, I related how Michael’s behavior affected his life, his friends, his playing, and all things dear to him (the same things that are dear to my kid).
Then, I transformed the story I wrote in mp3 format (not by reading it), but by using natural voices software, and I began playing it to my kid. The experience was amazing! Can you imagine a kid begging to listen to a story preaching him how to act or react before sleeping. This was very funny. Moreover, my kid began asking for a follow-up for the story.
So, in my opinion this is a new way of raising your kids, by giving them indirect advice and preaching through fictional audio books that they would love and ask to listen to.
In case you need a demonstration of the above process, just write a short essay about a fictional story of a children having a behavioral pattern, send it to me, and I will process it and send it back to you in mp3 format so that you could try for yourself.
The 39 Clues, Book 1: The Maze of Bones
39 Clues Book 1 – The Maze of Bones
UNABRIDGED Audio Book – a best seller Children Audio Book
- by Rick Riordan
- Narrated by David Pittu
What would happen if you discovered that your family was one of the most powerful in human history? What if you were told that the source of the family’s power was hidden around the world, in the form of 39 Clues? What if you were given a choice – take a million dollars and walk away…or get the first Clue? If you’re Amy and Dan Cahill, you take the Clue – and begin a very dangerous race.
This Kids Audio Book is available for immediate download. Its duration time is 5 hours 10 minutes. Check it in our store at Kids Audio Books Store
2 free kids story books and 1 free Children audio book
This week, I am offering the members of the Childrens Audio books website the following:
2 free kids story books (in pdf format):
- A story of stars (by Steven Doornbos)
A touching story of a 7-year old who visits his grandfather and learns the truth about the stars
- A story of stones (by Steven Doornbos)
Kyle is lost in the woods and discovers hidden meaning within stones he collects
1 free children audio book (in mp3 format):
- How to Tell Stories to Children (by Ellie Dixon)
Great resource for teachers/parents/supervisors. Secrets of successful storytelling plus wonderful stories to tell
If you wish to receive any of the above, please become a member of our website and send us an email.
This offer will be available till the end of next week. So hurry up. More offers for free children audio books are coming, so stay tuned.
Librivox – Great source of free childrens audio books
I came across a great source of Free Kids Audio Books on the Internet. Actually, I came across the site while looking for audio books, not childrens audio books specifically, but it looks their audio collection contains a lot of children titles.
Librivox.org (Notice the .org extension, because there are other sites but with different extensions)
The good thing about this site is that it is public domain, and it is maintained and fed by volunteers. Thus, if you feel you can contribute, do not hesitate, and meanwhile enjoy the great source of kids audio books it provides.
(Now on Technorati – token S6VK3ABHWPUH)
Kids Audio Books – What to choose?
Kids Audio Books used to play a major part in our entertainment as kids, and this wasn’t yesterday. Still at that time, we didn’t make a difference between a good sound children audio book, and a poor quality one. This is because our perception was different. Today however this is no longer the case.
Actually, when I was a kid, long before the CD was in place, we used to play audio books cassettes, over and over, till the cassettes could no longer play, or get trapped in the cassette players. The sound was acceptable, or so we thought.
At that time, we used to search for radio stations, and as soon as we got a perceivable signal, we were satisfied with the sound we received, although at times, it was noisy, with a lot of interference noises. Now with the advent of technology, this is no longer something we can bear or even think of. If you don’t understand what I mean, take an old favorite cassette of yours and play it (if you can put your hands on a cassette player), you will immediately notice that the cassette sound is no longer acceptable to you, even if you are not sound oriented. This is because you are now accustomed to a much better sound quality.
The same is true for audio books in general, and particularly kids audio books. Now, without having passed through the old technology as we did, children take technology as something acquired. If today I show my kids a cassette, they will ask me what it is, and if I play a cassette to them, they will beg me to stop it, not because they don’t want to listen to its content, but because its audio quality stops them from reaching for the content. It’s not an acceptable sound for them.
Now, what’s specific to kids audio books is that in addition to the sound quality of the recording, the narrating voice need to be:
- Acceptable from a kid point of view
- Entertaining
- If possible, close to one of the parents voice
You will come through many sites promoting kids audio books on the internet. Some offer good quality, some offer good price, some offer freebies. But while going through these, here are my recommendations to you:
- Always choose your sources with your kids in mind, knowing that they are demanding in terms of sound quality
- Always listen to your downloads or purchases before playing them to your kids
- Always listen to part of the recording before making a purchase
Finally, if you find good sources for kids audio books on the internet, please do not hesitate to share them.
Children Audio Books – What they can do for your kids
Children Audio books are today the number 1 learning coupled with entertainment tool for children. This is why:
- They are easy to digest
- They are easy to start / stop / play to accommodate children different learning and listening skills
- They teach children a very important skill which is to listen and assimilate
- They are a learning tool, although children do not feel it
- They offer the largest variety of themes, fiction stories, so that you cannot think of a book today that hasn’t it’s audible version
- They offer sometimes abridged versions of the original audio book
So, if you haven’t already gotten in the habit of making your children listen to audio books, now is the time to do so. From 4 years and up, children cannot but get captivated by kids audio books, and by getting them to have this need, you cannot imagine the benefit you would be doing them.
Children Audio Books with parents voice!
Lately, I have come across a website that is promoting a method for parents to read and record audio books for their own children. The concept is nice, even though in my opinion, it would be much richer and entertaining if these kids audio books recorded by some parents can be made available and shared with others. Maybe, contributing parents can have free access to titles, and others would have to pay some small charge for downloading the children audio books.
Anyhow, the concept as it is is interesting for the following reasons, as stated in their website:
- The recorded kids story book sound is very professional, with great music and sound effects that kids will love.
- The system as it is designed show the parent when to speak and which line to read. When you are happy it is sounding just right, it produces a high-quality MP3 with all the music and sound effects for a listening experience that is fun and worthwhile.
- There is a a wonderful choice of titles to suit everybody’s choice. From The Snail and the Whale and Laura’s Star, to Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs, with new titles being added all the time!
- There is a free trial for every one.
The website address is the following Childrens Audio Books with parents voice. If you happen to try it, please share your experience with us, and if you care, share your children audio book, and we will make it available here for download by others, and we will form eventually an Audio Book Club.
Top 10 Children Audio Books of All Times
A new study shows that Kids audio books are mostly sold online (60%), then through music stores (30%) and the remaining percentage through libraries and department stores. This is quite amazing, knowing that some years ago, the higher percentage was that of libraries, and this means that libraries either lost a huge share of the audio books market, particulary the children audio books market, or that they never gave that market a real importance in the first place.
The latter is most obviously the reason of the new repartition. Go to a library and ask for their range of kids audio books, they will take you maybe to a small corner where they can show you tens of titles, of the thousands of titles available online. Besides, knowing that audiobooks do not have the feel of the normal books, there is no emotion when at a library store, one takes an audio CD in his or her hands, and as a matter of fact, he or she can get a lot more information about the title while online.
According to the same study, the top 10 kids story books sold online in the form of audio books are the following (not in order):
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
- Harry Potter Complete Series
- Cinderella
- Brown Bear and friends
- Animal Tales
- Peter Pan
- Alice in Wonderland
- The City under the back steps
- Winnie the Pooh
- The Golden Compass
It can be noticed from the list above that 5 out of the top 10 audio books are classical children audio books, which confirms the fact that kids story books are never out dated.