CCBC-Net Archives

[CCBC-Net] Hear These Words: Audio Books

From: Angela Leeper <angela.leeper>
Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2008 09:47:37 -0500

I love audio books for the same reasons Merri mentions below. I know many people who are hesitant to try them because they don't want to "let go" of the story. They want to give their own voices and nuances to the characters. I had these same feelings before trying audio books several years ago. Now I often keep in mind that all storytelling began as an oral tradition, and relish the enjoyment of "letting go" and allowing a skilled narrator to bring the story to me. Angela Odyssey '09

Angela Leeper Educational Consultant 817 S. White Street Wake Forest, NC 27587 919-556-1184 angela.leeper at earthlink.net


-----Original Message----- From: ccbc-net-bounces at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
[mailto:ccbc-net-bounces at ccbc.education.wisc.edu] On Behalf Of Merri Lindgren Sent: Monday, March 03, 2008 3:04 PM To: ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu Subject: [CCBC-Net] Hear These Words: Audio Books

Thanks, Anne, for launching the new discussion topic for the first half of March: "Hear These Words: Audio Books." All of the recent posts on reading aloud are the perfect lead-in to a conversation about audio books for children and teens.

I had the pleasure of serving on the first Odyssey Award committee over the past year, and during the course of that time I learned about the many ways an audio book can augment a written text, or detract from it. As the committee listened to audio books for everyone from preschoolers through older teens, I experienced a whole range of reactions; at times thrilled with a technically outstanding production, and at other times disappointed with a lackluster performance. An obsessive reader, I found that listening to audio books increased my ability to critically analyze a book -- the pace kept me from my usual "speed-reading" and made me hear every word. A quality narration added new angles and shading to the book's interpretation, and thoughtful embellishments of music and sound effects enhanced settings and mood.

Are you an audio book addict, or are you skeptical of the format? Do you use audio books with young listeners, and if so, what works and what doesn't?

Merri Lindgren

-- 
Merri Lindgren, Librarian
Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
School of Education, UW-Madison
608-263-3930
mlindgren at education.wisc.edu
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Received on Tue 04 Mar 2008 08:47:37 AM CST