Songs for Junior Rangers
Pick of the Day: Yellow Star
By on May 17, 2013 Leave a Comment
Tavia Gilbert’s spot-on narration brings all of the characters to life in Jennifer Roy’s Yellow Star, a story-in-verse offering a glimpse of the experiences of her aunt in the Lodz Ghetto during World War II. Be sure to read the starred audiobook review of the personal account of a young girl.
SYNC Offers Free YA Audiobooks All Summer
By on May 14, 2013 Leave a Comment
SYNC is back in session again this year, offering two free complete YA audiobook downloads every week from May 30 to August 21. This is the third year for the program, in which a contemporary young adult audiobook is paired thematically with a classic audiobook title.
Pick of the Day: What Came from the Stars (AUDIO)
By on May 14, 2013 Leave a Comment
Graham Winton’s narration brings to life Gary Schmidt’s beautiful fantasy, What Came form the Stars, about healing and forgiveness. Check out the starred review of this must-have audiobook for middle school students.
Pick of the Day: Shadow on the Mountain (AUDIO)
By on May 9, 2013 Leave a Comment
Margi Preus’s Shadow on the Mountain is set in Norway during the Nazi occupation and expertly narrated by Jeff Woodman who gives perfect voices to all the characters. Don’t miss the starred review of this audiobook about a lesser-known part of World War II history.
Pick of the Day: The Last Dragonslayer (AUDIO)
By on May 3, 2013 Leave a Comment
Don’t miss the starred review of Jasper Fford’s The Last Dragonslayer, the first title in his “The Chronicles of Kazam” trilogy, a book populated with outrageous individuals and fantastic creatures. Elizabeth Jasicki’s narration of this audiobook is spot-on.
Teens Review OneRepublic’s ‘Native’ and New Kids’ ’10′ | Music Reviews
By on April 30, 2013 Leave a Comment
“The boys” still have their stuff on New Kids on the Block’s ’10′, the follow-up to their 2008 ‘Greatest Hits’ reunion album, while OneRepublic has continued to add polish and range on their highly collaborative new album, ‘Native’.
Pick of the Day: Marching to the Mountaintop (Audio)
By on April 26, 2013 Leave a Comment
Ann Bausum explores the connections between the 1968 Memphis sanitation strike and Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in Marching to the Mountaintop. Check out the review for this wonderful audiobook for listeners in middle school and above.
2013 ALSC & YALSA Audio Picks: The year’s best notable recordings and amazing audiobooks for children and teens.
By on April 16, 2013 Leave a Comment
It’s time to update your audiobook collection, so don’t miss ALSC’s Notable Recordings and YALSA”s Amazing Audiobooks lists for 2013.
Fact and Fiction: Pairing Stories and Informational Audiobooks | Listen In
By on April 9, 2013 1 Comment
When stories and informational audiobooks are paired together, they create a winning combination that can help students establish a foundation of knowledge about certain topics.
Multimedia Reviews: February 2013
By on February 1, 2013 Leave a Comment
Be sure to check out School Library Journal’s February 2013 DVD and audio reviews, including 12 starred reviews.
Listen to a Life Essay Contest Now Open
By on December 5, 2012 1 Comment
What student isn’t intrigued by time travel? The annual Listen to a Life Essay Contest gives kids a chance to travel through time and learn about the past, while discovering a direction for their own future. The contest also helps build critical 21st-century skills. Now in its 13th year, this is a powerful learning experience that changes lives and communities.
Stories for Winter Nights| Listen In
By on December 1, 2012 1 Comment
Cold winter weather provides the perfect setting for putting on headphones to listen to a good book. For over 50 years, Search Institute, a nonprofit organization, has worked to improve the lives of young people by examining and offering ideas to combat risky behaviors and determining what kids need to succeed. They were early adopters of the adage “It takes a village to raise a child,” believing that the entire community must band together to help [...]
Pick of the Day: Welcome to the Village! (CD)
By on November 30, 2012 Leave a Comment
Welcome to the Village! CD. approx. 37 min. Prod. by Aya World Prods. Dist. by NewSound Music. 2012. ISBN unavail. $13.98.
PreS-Gr 4–The voices of hundreds of children can be heard on Aaron Nigel Smith’s latest recording. Best known for his work on the PBS show Between the Lions, Smith will surprise listeners as he skillfully mixes original songs with traditional and classical tunes that he arranged in this well-programmed, charming album. Opening with the traditional Nigerian song, “Fanga Alafia” (the [...]
Pick of the Day: My Name Is Not Easy (Audio)
By on August 30, 2012
My Name Is Not Easy. By Debby Dahl Edwardson. 6 CDs. 6:30 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4558-7955-7. $64.97.
Gr 7 Up–In the early 1960s, children from Iñupiaq, Athabaskan, and Caucasian backgrounds are enrolled at a Catholic boarding school in Alaska in Debby Dahl Edwardson’s National Book Award finalist (Marshall Cavendish, 2011). Luke (white people can’t pronounce his Iñupiaq name) and his brothers Bunna and Isaac are flown to Catholic sponsored Sacred Heart School far from their village. Six-year-old Isaac is [...]
At the Core: Audiobooks Promote Critical Reading Habits | Listen In
By on August 1, 2012
As teachers and librarians return to school this month, many will be tasked with implementing the Common Core State Standards (www.corestandards.org) into their lesson plans. The Common Core mission states that: “The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers.” They aim to promote critical thinking through student engagement with high quality literary and informational [...]
Listen In | Catch A Wave: Get kids listening and beat the summer wipeout
By on June 1, 2012
As the days of summer approach, thoughts turn away from structured routines and toward opportunities for fun. Unfortunately, research continues to indicate that extended learning breaks contribute to diminishing literacy skills such as fluency, vocabulary acquisition, and reading comprehension. The dreaded summer slide! In this column we explore this phenomenon and offer some ways that school and public librarians can work with families to keep kids reading—with audiobooks.
