The Invention of Hugo Cabret
by Brian Selznick
This book is an incredible achievement in both storytelling and illustration magic. This clever author is able to fuse both beautiful and ingenious illustrations with a wonderful story line. Young Hugo Cabret finds himself to be an orphan after his father is tragically killed in a fire. His father has left Hugo with no money, but has equipped him with an incredible mystery involving a robot and the cinema. Twelve year old Hugo must learn to fend for himself, while living in a Paris train station. This book is set in the height of the movie era, in the 1930's. This was when films were no longer silent Brian Selznick does an incredible job of incorporating a graphic novel/flip book feel. He does this by drawing pictures in sequence, and if you flip it you feel like you are watching an old fashioned movie. This book is about 500 pages, but it is an incredible read. Hugo's personality shines in each page as the mystery unfolds. I am a big movie fanatic, so this book was incredibly interesting to me. This book would be perfect for reluctant readers, especially boys because of the main character and the way the book is written. This book is absolutely deserving of the Caldecott Award and I am definitely going to include this in my library collection.
AUDIO BOOK EVALUATIONS
2008 Notable Children's Recordings
Hattie Big Sky by: Kirby Larson
Read by : Kirsten Potter
I felt that the narrator’s voice was quite engaging and I really enjoyed listening to this book by the narrator. I have read the book before, so when that happens, you hear the book through your own voice. This narrator managed to read it the way I envisioned it. The pacing was just perfect; I know that young children and adolescents will have no problem following along. Also, it didn’t make me fall asleep, so that is a definite positive. The book has some slow parts, but I feel the narrator did an excellent job of keeping the listener entertained. This audio book has a single narrator, which is quite appropriate for this novel because it doesn’t have a whole lot of action and the story is told using Hattie’s voice. I did like that the narrator would change her voice whenever another character was swaying something, which I found out is known as being fully voiced. The voice of the narrator, I felt matched the mood of the story perfectly. The usual chapter numbers are given to remind the listener where they left off. I had to listen to this audio book in intervals while I was in the car driving and I never felt lost. The sound quality is impeccable and the packaging was sturdy enough. The illustration on the cover was so pretty, it shows the main character staring at the sky. It is very fitting for this story. If I had this in the library it would last a while, but would probably need protective covering if it was checked out a lot. I couldn’t find any problems with this recording and felt it was fine. I would actually recommend teachers in middle school to have this for their students to use.
2008 YALSA Amazing Audio books
Read by : Kirsten Potter
I felt that the narrator’s voice was quite engaging and I really enjoyed listening to this book by the narrator. I have read the book before, so when that happens, you hear the book through your own voice. This narrator managed to read it the way I envisioned it. The pacing was just perfect; I know that young children and adolescents will have no problem following along. Also, it didn’t make me fall asleep, so that is a definite positive. The book has some slow parts, but I feel the narrator did an excellent job of keeping the listener entertained. This audio book has a single narrator, which is quite appropriate for this novel because it doesn’t have a whole lot of action and the story is told using Hattie’s voice. I did like that the narrator would change her voice whenever another character was swaying something, which I found out is known as being fully voiced. The voice of the narrator, I felt matched the mood of the story perfectly. The usual chapter numbers are given to remind the listener where they left off. I had to listen to this audio book in intervals while I was in the car driving and I never felt lost. The sound quality is impeccable and the packaging was sturdy enough. The illustration on the cover was so pretty, it shows the main character staring at the sky. It is very fitting for this story. If I had this in the library it would last a while, but would probably need protective covering if it was checked out a lot. I couldn’t find any problems with this recording and felt it was fine. I would actually recommend teachers in middle school to have this for their students to use.
2008 YALSA Amazing Audio books
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
by J.K. Rowling
Read by: Jim Dale
This audio book is of very good quality. Narrator, Jim Dale does an excellent job of fluctuating his voice when needed and adds excitement to the story, not that it needs anymore. The pacing is excellent, his voice is slow when needed and adds quickness to it during action sequences. He does an excellent job of fully voicing this very long novel. believe this was the best choice for this novel because the author does a great job of showing the personalities of each character by their words, so separate narrators are not needed. The inflection of his is voice is quite sufficient to convey the change is characters. The pronunciation of each word is perfect and his voice did not distract from the story line, it simply enhanced the listening experience. The author does take in a couple of deep breaths, but these are needed especially during the action scenes in order to give it the excitement needed. The quality of this audio is very high, I was not able to detect any white noise what so ever. Also, because of the long nature of this book, I believe they did a great job of letting the listener know what CD is being read and what chapter it is on. I did get lost a couple of times because the chapters are so long, so I tried to finish the chapter when before ejecting it from the cd player. This audio book simply begins with the words, “This is the seventh and final installment of the Harry Potter Series,” which to me excited me so much that I was ready to listen with my popcorn in hand. The sound effects added to this book were very appropriate and enjoyable. Nothing about this audio book was amateurish; everything was top notch as a book of this caliber should be. The end points for each CD were just fine, I would place them at logical. There are no extras to this audio book, which is just fine it doesn’t need any. The story itself was wonderful and engaging. The cover of the book matched the printed version and is very colorful and inviting. The packaging is very sturdy and would be a good addition to a listening library collection. I found the editing to be extremely meticulous, I could not detect anything wrong with it.
2008 Odyssey Award Winner
by J.K. Rowling
Read by: Jim Dale
This audio book is of very good quality. Narrator, Jim Dale does an excellent job of fluctuating his voice when needed and adds excitement to the story, not that it needs anymore. The pacing is excellent, his voice is slow when needed and adds quickness to it during action sequences. He does an excellent job of fully voicing this very long novel. believe this was the best choice for this novel because the author does a great job of showing the personalities of each character by their words, so separate narrators are not needed. The inflection of his is voice is quite sufficient to convey the change is characters. The pronunciation of each word is perfect and his voice did not distract from the story line, it simply enhanced the listening experience. The author does take in a couple of deep breaths, but these are needed especially during the action scenes in order to give it the excitement needed. The quality of this audio is very high, I was not able to detect any white noise what so ever. Also, because of the long nature of this book, I believe they did a great job of letting the listener know what CD is being read and what chapter it is on. I did get lost a couple of times because the chapters are so long, so I tried to finish the chapter when before ejecting it from the cd player. This audio book simply begins with the words, “This is the seventh and final installment of the Harry Potter Series,” which to me excited me so much that I was ready to listen with my popcorn in hand. The sound effects added to this book were very appropriate and enjoyable. Nothing about this audio book was amateurish; everything was top notch as a book of this caliber should be. The end points for each CD were just fine, I would place them at logical. There are no extras to this audio book, which is just fine it doesn’t need any. The story itself was wonderful and engaging. The cover of the book matched the printed version and is very colorful and inviting. The packaging is very sturdy and would be a good addition to a listening library collection. I found the editing to be extremely meticulous, I could not detect anything wrong with it.
2008 Odyssey Award Winner
Jazz
By Walter Dean Myers
Read by James “D-Train” Williams and Vaneese Thomas
This audio book comes with the printed version that children can use to follow along. This addition is certainly not a distraction, but enhances the listening experience. Children are able to view the beautiful illustrations, while listening to the narration of James “D-Train” Williams and Vaneese Thomas. I also enjoyed the background music they had, which is provided by a full jazz ensemble. This added to the experience by adding excitement to the songs and poems written by Walter Dean Myers. The clarity of the music and narration was wonderful. This full cast dramatization was a wise choice for a novel with this much musical appeal. The pronunciation of the words was perfectly, I found no faultiness in this manner. Also, the editing was just perfect; the introduction to each poem/song was pretty much flawless. The pacing performed by the narrators is just great; you can feel the “jazziness” coming from their voices and words. Their voices are appropriate for the tone of the book and compliment the illustrations to a tee. The breathing points were perfect for each poem and so was the pacing for the musical accompaniment. The packaging for this audio book is about average, it comes in the plastic little bag with the printed book. It is a perfect addition to an elementary listening library. The recordings are smooth and I heard no white noise. There are no chapters in this book, the beginning of each new song/poem is clear and does not distract from the tone or mood of the book. I did not hear any obvious breath taking and was never distracted by anything the narrators did. It is a wonderful audio book that I really enjoyed listening to.
By Walter Dean Myers
Read by James “D-Train” Williams and Vaneese Thomas
This audio book comes with the printed version that children can use to follow along. This addition is certainly not a distraction, but enhances the listening experience. Children are able to view the beautiful illustrations, while listening to the narration of James “D-Train” Williams and Vaneese Thomas. I also enjoyed the background music they had, which is provided by a full jazz ensemble. This added to the experience by adding excitement to the songs and poems written by Walter Dean Myers. The clarity of the music and narration was wonderful. This full cast dramatization was a wise choice for a novel with this much musical appeal. The pronunciation of the words was perfectly, I found no faultiness in this manner. Also, the editing was just perfect; the introduction to each poem/song was pretty much flawless. The pacing performed by the narrators is just great; you can feel the “jazziness” coming from their voices and words. Their voices are appropriate for the tone of the book and compliment the illustrations to a tee. The breathing points were perfect for each poem and so was the pacing for the musical accompaniment. The packaging for this audio book is about average, it comes in the plastic little bag with the printed book. It is a perfect addition to an elementary listening library. The recordings are smooth and I heard no white noise. There are no chapters in this book, the beginning of each new song/poem is clear and does not distract from the tone or mood of the book. I did not hear any obvious breath taking and was never distracted by anything the narrators did. It is a wonderful audio book that I really enjoyed listening to.
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