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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Audio CD)
by northernlovely
Roald Dahl is one of the most well known and respected names in children's literature and I absolutely love his books. When I was younger, CDs were a relatively new thing, and I was so happy to get a personal CD player with some music CDs and audio books. Unlike some sets which come with the actual book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ... is a stand alone CD of the story read by the author himself.
I won't go too much into the story as I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read (or heard!) it, but it's one of Roald Dahl's best known works as it's been made into a movie twice and actually has a seuquel in Charlie and the Great Glass Elavator, though this has yet to be made into a movie.
The story tells of little Charlie Bucket, a poor boy living in a one room shack with his mum, dad and both sets of grandparents. Money is very tight and Charlie doesn't think he stands a chance of winning one of Willy Wonka's golden tickets - tickets hidden inside chocolate bars granting a day's access to the secretive Wonka Chocolate Factory, and a lifetime supply of Wonka chocolate. But luck is on Charlie's side, and his visit to the Chocolate Factory is full of fun, and is ultimately life-changing.
It's a lovely story and Roald Dahl is an excellent storyteller with an expressive voice, giving life to the story and making it exciting. The CD is separated into chapters so you can listen to a chapter at a time and go back to it as and when. It has sound effects, music, and really brings the story into a your imagination, it's such a well made audio CD.
Based on that I will give it 5 out of 5, it's not as easy to find with the advent of MP3s and the movies being out on DVD / Bu Ray but I managed to find a copy online for £5 and I'd recommend you doing the same if you want a copy of it as I'd imagine it's quite hard to find on the high street though larger book stores just might have it or be able to order it in.
It's an enchanting, well-read tale and if it gets my daughter as into reading as I was, then I'm all for it. It helps with independent reading, creative thought, and literacy.
A fantastic book on Audio CD, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a firm favourite in my household.
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Revolting Rhymes and Dirty Beasts (Audio CD)
by jo1976
We own a much-loved boxed set of Roald Dahl paperbacks but, for some reason, the set doesn't include either Revolting Rhymes or Dirty Beasts. When I spotted both books combined in an audiobook format, I thought it would be the ideal way for my children to enjoy these two fun books in a really accessible format.
There are two ... versions of this audiobook currently available but I rented the earlier version featured here which has both Geoffrey Palmer and Pam Ferris narrating the audio. Given that this CD features two completely separate Roald Dahl books, I assumed that one narrator would be reading one story with Pam Ferris reading the other. In actual fact, both Palmer and Ferris read together which works incredibly well, as it gives one of them the opportunity to narrate the rhyme with the other providing particular character's voices
Both Revolting Rhymes and Dirty Beasts are written entirely in rhyme, with Revolting Rhymes being Dahl's hilarious take on some of the more traditional fairy tales. Here we have a new and fun spin put on Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk and The Three Little Pigs, amongst three other familiar stories. The 'stories' are essentially transformed into poems which works brilliantly in this format as this means that the CD is broken down into small chunks, ideal for listening to on short car journeys.
My particular favourite is Cinderella, which has a particularly empowering twist to the original story with Cinders discovering that Prince Charming is not at all charming and, rather than passively waiting to be rescued, she takes control of her own destiny most effectively! This particular poem did take me by surprise a little as it uses the word 'slut' which is not a phrase that I'd particularly like my boys to be using! Within the context of this story, however, it's used as more of a term for 'dirty' rather than the sexualised way in which we tend to use it nowadays and I really don't think my boys even noticed the word anyway.
Likewise, Little Red Riding Hood is much more feisty than the vulnerable character we have all grown up with and a much stronger role model for young girls growing up surrounded by stereotypes and talk of 'princesses'. This Red Riding Hood isn't going to need rescuing - particularly when she has something concealed within her knickers! As with all of the poems, the reading and the pace makes it entertaining to listen to and easy to memorise, without any effort.
Dirty Beasts is a collection of humorous poems about specific animals and creepie crawlies which follows straight after on the same disc, which is much more convenient than having to swap between different CD's. All of the rhymes are indexed separately, making it easy to skip, repeat or fast forward to specific favourites. Out of this collection, our favourites are 'The Scorpion', 'The Anteater' and 'The Porcupine.' I did have to explain the Porcupine to my five year old initially, however, as a lot of the humour within that tale surrounds a misunderstanding between a very hungry anteater and an American boy's old Aunt. (My son didn't quite grasp the subtlety of the American boy's pronunciation of the word 'Aunt' as 'Ant' which, as you can imagine with Dahl's twisted sense of humour led to tragic consequences!)
Dahl's fantastic humour and his control of the rhyme and rhythm of the fairy tales and poems in both collections means that they flow quickly and easily, making them a delight to listen to. Having two different narrators working together offers so much variety, particularly as the actors' voices are so versatile anyway and really able to convey the necessary emotion of individual characters.
I particularly enjoy Geoffrey Palmer's impression of an increasingly hysterical young girl in 'The Scorpion.' This is one of the shorter tales but the one we listen to most frequently as the ending has both my two year old and five year old in fits of giggles as the poor girl ends up with 'Sting a Ling' on her bottom!
In terms of age recommendation, I would say the appeal of this audiobook ranges from around two up to ten years old (fortunately covering the ages of my own children!) My oldest son was a little unimpressed with my choice of CD for the car when I first produced this one - particularly as the first story introduced is the traditionally feminine Cinderella- but he was soon just as enthralled and entertained as his younger brothers. At the higher end of the age range, in all honesty, I genuinely enjoy listening to this CD - even as an adult- and it is one that I'm happy to enjoy rather than just tolerate for the sake of keeping the kids quiet in the car!
This audiobook can currently be purchased from Amazon for £9 but I rented my copy for free from my local library, on a child's library card. Usually I would recommend renting for audiobooks as most are unlikely to be listened to repeatedly but this particular CD is one that I could actually imagine being enjoyed on a regular basis without becoming boring or repetitive, particularly for younger children who tend to like the familiarity of rhyming stories and are happy to listen to them over and over again.
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Andersen's Fairy Tales (Audio CD)
by bringingsexyback
THE STORIES
This audio CD features 8 stories by Hans Christian Andersen. The stories include The Little Match Girl, The Ugly Duckling, The Little Mermaid, The Emperors New Clothes, The Princess and the Pea and Thumbelina. They are readings of the story using just one female narrator who puts voices on for different ... characters and this is nice because it sounds more like a story than a play.
THE CDs
These stories are on 3 CDs with a running time of 3 1/2 hours. The cover of the CD case shows an illustration as it would look in a Hans Christian Andersen book and it is very quaint. Each CD is decorated with a scene from one of the stories featured on that CD.
THE NARRATOR
I think this narrator is very good for classic children's tales like these. She has got a happy voice that shows emotion as she's telling the story. She does not go over the top with character voices and you can always tell it's her but she is very good at creating memorable voices so that you know who's talking all of the time. She has got the sort of voice that children like because it is soft but there is plenty of inflection and changes of tone.
WHAT I THINK
I was gifted this set of story CDs when I gave birth to my oldest daughter and now they are older my children listen to it regularly. I do not allow them a television in their bedrooms so they have developed a love for story CDs, this is not a favourite but it is played a lot.
The stories are very good and even though they have been abridged there is not very much missing from them. The tales flow smooth and the narrator has got an interesting voice that makes children want to listen, my daughters favourite is The Ugly Duckling so I like that the stories are uploaded singly onto the CDs so you can skip through them like tracks on a music CD.
I take this with us if we are going on a long car journey because it is better for the children to listen to than the radio. It is also soothing for my seven month old daughter when she is strapped into her car seat while we are travelling. My other daughters like hearing the moral to the story and I like the way the narrator emphasises these but she doesn't ever sound like she is preaching at the people who are listening.
5 Dooyoo Stars.
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