I’m a huge fan girl of audiobooks. My very first teaching job was an hour and a half away from home and I never hated the ride because I was reading. When I was getting my Masters in Special Education I was also traveling an hour and a half each way to the U of A and once again–I enjoyed the ride. I looked forward to it.
I’m no longer a commuter. The walk from any room in my house to my desk doesn’t burn enough calories to warrant the consumption of an extra M & M. But that hasn’t stopped me from continuing my love affair with the audio book. I’d like to introduce you to my little buddy Bob. (I’ve named him Bob because he just looks like a Bob to me.)
Bob is my tiny, yet powerful portable Altec Lansing speaker. He’s my best buddy when I’m folding mountains of laundry–I could only like him more if he was actually folding and putting stuff away. In fact, Bob even keeps me company in the shower. He’s a gentleman and always averts his eyes–at least I think he does.
Audiobooks are not just a pleasure in my house–they are vital. My 10 year old son is dyslexic and audiobooks allow his intelligence to be accurately reflected in his reading material. He devours novels on audiobooks that he would never have access to unless I was reading to him aloud. I read to him all the time, but an audiobook allows him to have his own independence. He can read books I may not like, that he loves and he can have access to them whenever he wants to pull out a book. When he describes himself as a reader he tells me…”I’m just like my mom–I have a passion for books.” I am certain he would not feel that way without audiobooks in his life.
I’m also looking forward to hearing TOUCHING THE SURFACE in an audio format someday. I’m just as excited for my ears as I am for my hands and eyes. Both versions are special to me. There’s just something powerful about an audiobook, when the voices come alive and allow me the opportunity to let my mind wander and discover right along with the author. I want to do that with my own words…it’s on my bucket list.
And lastly, if I haven’t sold you yet, some books with tricky names or accents are just amazing to listen to in an audio format. Some of my favorites being THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, HARRY POTTER and THE HELP.
Last night I finished PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ. It was an amazing book–period. But let me tell you, listening to all the voices was the icing on the cake. It was amazing and now I’m hungry.
What was the last audiobook that you’ve read?
***Adding in the link that Chris mentioned below-Jim Dale on Harry Potter Audio
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Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, by Douglas Adams. It was a while back, on a long drive to the beach. The whole family enjoyed it.
Re hearing one of my own books someday: I actually loaded the ms of IN A FIX onto my Kindle, and listened to the robo-voice reader have at it. Such a hoot!
Kimmie-
Long live the audio book! Human cultures developed on oral traditions of storytelling and this communal experience is still available when a parent reads aloud as my wife and I do at dinner or when the family huddles around an audio book, especially in the car. The cool part is that unlike the early days of radio, you can pause an audio book to discuss, think aloud and pose questions or make predictions.
Thank you for recognizing their importance for individuals as well. You are right on the mark with kids who want and even need to move along to more complex stories, but don't have the skills necessary at that time to do their own decoding. One of our 5 graders very much wanted to be "in" on the Twilight saga like her peers. I met her and her mom in the library while they were considering taking it out and simply suggested the audio version. Mom seemed to feel that she suddenly had permission to go this route, though she quickly apologized for not having enough time to read with her daughter as if that was a sin. As you said about your own son, sometimes it is better for them to have the individual experience so they also gain a sense of independence.
For myself, audio books are so fulfilling. I'm not a fast reader and I keep a busy schedule, but when I'm driving to work and back the story is on and I'm in that world. I've also listened to many audio books while sheet rocking this house or doing some other manual task. I've enjoyed many books such as The Kite Runner though I could probably never sit down and get into it without the audio version pronouncing all the foreign words, providing appropriate accents that drew me into Afghanistan and allowed me to become lost in a very different culture.
Jim Dale of the Harry Potter series has an excellent plug for audio books which I've heard on many of the audio books from the same company. The following link is a similar clip with Jim explaining the power of audio books.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHJ35q9nJeg
Can't wait for Touching the Surface!
Chris
Chris-your comment was as wonderful as a blog post. Thank you for taking the time to be so thoughtful and for cheering on Touching the Surface. (((hugs)))
Linda-I soooo have to try that!!!!! *grin*
[…] to the Audio Publishers Association JUNE IS AUDIOBOOK MONTH!!! You probably know that I’m a HUGE audiobook fan, or as my son just yelled out…NERD! But he is too–so I thought I would have him be a […]