Review: Demon Dentist

Demon Dentist by David Walliams is a Middle Grade Audie Award Finalist this year. I was able to find a copy through my library's interlibrary loan program. Thank you public libraries for providing this service!!

The story was not my cup of tea, but the narration was fantastic. The story was about Alfie's dental adventures that turned out to be horrible, yet uplifting at the end. It made my stomach turn over and gave me shivers. As an individual who would prefer not to visit the dentist, this was a horror story. For those readers who enjoy a disgusting scare, this is the book for you. Walliams's style reminded me of Roald Dahl and Adam Gidwitz's Grimm series. For more story information, I would recommend Ms. Yingling's book review.

The narration on the other hand was wonderful! David Walliams, Jocelyn Jee Esien, and Nitin Ganatra shared the narration of the story. It was smooth dialogue from one character to another as well as genuine. Deborah Taylor spoke about authenticity of accents and it really hit home in this audiobook. Beyond the stellar narration skills of three actors, music was also added at the beginning, end, and between chapters. It felt like a grow-up version of a book and CD audiobook that has page cues. I think it really added to the story. Another addition was a sound effect to point out the use of made up words. A thoughtful touch for readers / listeners who are learning words and what is a true word versus a created word. I would definitely listen to this combo of voice talent, music, and smooth editing.

Reviewed from a library copy.

Audio Book Details...
Demon Dentist by David Walliams
Read by David Walliams, Jocelyn Jee Esien, and Nitin Ganatra
Music by Mark Morriss
Produced by Harper Audio
Number of Discs: 4
Total Time: 4 Hours, 46 Minutes
Release Date: March 2016
ISBN: 9780062443977

Review from Publishers Weekly

Review: The Door by the Staircase

Mysterious Madam Z arrives at the Buffalo Asylum for Young Ladies. Mary Hayes jumps at the chance for adoption to leave that terrible place. But does that mean jumping from the frying pan into the fire?

Katherine Marsh has woven together a very mysterious (at time frightening) tale. It's a retelling of a
Russian fairy tale / folk tale - Baba Yaga. Being unfamiliar with such tales, I walked into a whole new territory. The village is called Iris (narrator pronounced it "ear is"). The village was described as an occult town, which threw me for the loop, but I stayed with it. Iris is a tourist town that features magicians, illusionists, con men, charlatans, and such. Madam Z lives near Iris, but has her own kingdom where she lives and takes Mary home. Mary meets a young magician, Jacob, in the town and they discover the magic in Iris. Some magic is truly just tricks, but other magic is real and connected to Madam Z's world. They join forces to uncover if Madam Z is safe or harmful for Mary's future.

I appreciated the play between magic tricks and fantastical magic. I loved that Mary had a copy of Household Tales (fairy tales around the time of the Grimm brothers) that she read throughout the book. The Russian food described during the book was also very interesting. If you like Russian literature, folktales/fairy tales, or scary books, this would be one for you! I picked it up because it was a fantasy story, but it was a bit unsettling, or dark, for me.

A silly side note... In my imagination the door by the staircase, was never by a staircase. The mysterious door was next to the fireplace. There were no staircases in my imagined home of Madame Z. It's just fascinating how all minds are different and each reader will create their own Baba Yaga home when they listen or read this story.

Laurel Merlington read The Door by the Staircase. I liked her narration from the beginning. Mary sounded young and Madam Z sounds elderly and Russian which was how those characters were described. Jacob and Koshchey, the male main characters, sounded masculine to me. Yulik the cat was the hardest voice to hear for me. It was close to her natural narration voice, but Yulik doesn't speak until later in the book. This is the first book I've heard with Merlington and I would listen to her again.

Reviewed from an Audiobook Jukebox copy. Thank you, Dreamscape Media!

Audio Book Details...
The Door by the Staircase by Katherine Marsh
Read by Laural Merlington
Produced by Dreamscape Media
Number of Discs: 6
Total Time: 7 hours, 15 minutes
Release Date: January 2016
ISBN: 9781682628034

Review: Deep in the Swamp

Deep in the Swamp is a musical picture book! This title is also a 2015 Audie nomination for the Children's Titles for Ages up to 8 category.

Author Donna M. Bateman used the familiar song Over in the Meadow and created a book focused on the Okefenokee Swamp located in Georgia and Florida. The story counts up to 10 and includes critters, creatures, flora, and fauna. I was familiar with a few things mentioned in the book, but definitely not everything! A couple verses sounded a bit Seussical to me because of my unfamiliarity with the nature in the Southern part of the United States. (I am from the northern part of the Midwest.) All in all it was a great singing story! It's simple tune could be followed by children (and adults). If they are familiar with the song, they can anticipate what's happening next. I appreciated the extra information at the end of the book, Swap Flora and Fauna Facts.

Live Oak Media and Tom Chapin created a beautiful audio CD to go along with the book. The CD has three tracks:

1 - Narration with page turn signals (including story, song, and back matter)
2 - Narration with no page turn signals (including story, song, and back matter)
3 - "Deep in the Swap" song

The page turn signal is not a beep or ding; it's the sound of a page being turned. The narration is playful and smooth. Chapin has a deep voice, but he's lighthearted as he reads the story. The timing is well done. It can be followed on the page or just enjoyed without the book. I greatly appreciated the back matter being narrated. Not every book includes the facts in the back. Knowing the story is also a song begs for it to be sung. The story is narrated, but the song is included which is so much fun! Live Oak Media also added layers of sound effects, music, and voice duplication. The sound effects and music underneath were very subtle and did not take away, but added to the book's ambiance of the swamp. The voice duplication is the layers of animal children when they reply to their parent. As the count goes up, so do the number of voices being heard. It was an unexpected and delightful element of the narration.

I would recommend this title to any elementary or pre-school child and family. It's a fun book packed in information about the Okefanokee swamp. It's also beautifully crafted with a talented narrator and layers of sound to tickle the ear.

Reviewed from a library copy.

Audio Book Details ...
Deep in the Swamp by Donna M. Bateman, illustrated by Brian Lies
Read by Tom Chapin
Produced by Live Oak Media
Number of Discs: 1
Total Time:  17 minutes, 12 seconds (track 1)
ISBN: 9781430114604   

Review: The Drop Box

The Drop Box: How 500 Abandoned Babies, an Act of Compassion, and a Movie Changed My Life Forever by Brian Ivie


I heard about The Drop Box film from a local radio station, WEMI. They advertised it's short showing at area movie theaters: March 3-5, 2015. I also had some Facebook friends talking about going to see the movie. I was intrigued, but put it on the back burner with the thought, "It will be out on DVD soon." And now I am waiting for it to be available...

Exciting news for those who are waiting along with me, Brian Ivie (with Ted Kluck) wrote a book about his experience filming The Drop Box. It's an autobiography on how his trip to South Korea changed his life and led him to see the need for a Savior and become authentic. He writes about his childhood and his love of films. He started creating movies with his neighbors, friends, and family. Brian also watched hours and hours of movies. At the beginning of each chapter, he includes a film quote. The quotes are from a wide range of films - very impressive. I've heard and seen some of the movies he quotes, but not all of them.

The Drop Box book focuses on the journey of making The Drop Box movie, but also on Brian's life - his childhood, his films, his relationships, and his faith journey. It's a great faith story. I originally thought the book would be closer to my pledge of Read It 1st when I found out the movie also had a book, but I found it to be a companion piece to the movie. I believe readers can enjoy the book before or after viewing the film. The audience for the book is primarily adults from young adults to seniors. Brian was in college when he filmed The Drop Box.

ReadIt1st via kwout

Brandon Batchelar narrates The Drop Box book. His tenor voice suited the story very well. He sounded sincere and believable sharing someone else's story. I would listen to another recording by Batchelar. The recording was breathy. The listener can hear him take a breath during the reading, but it did not take away from the story.

My copy of the audiobook was a digital download. It downloaded in 21 parts - an image of the cover, a pdf of bonus materials, and 19 mp3 files. Eighteen of the files were the unabridged story of  The Drop Box and one audio file was a sample. Oasis Audio also shares a sample on their website. The bonus materials came on one pdf file with ten pages. The pdf shares additional material including acknowledgements, the filming crew, Kindred Image information, and notes. I thought bonus materials added to the audiobook. I always appreciate seeing the names of people (or characters) involved in stories. I'm not a good speller and if I want to share names it is difficult if I don't have the book as well as the audiobook. Thank you, Oasis Audio!

Reviewed from an Audiobook Jukebox copy. Thank you, Oasis Audio!

Additional information about The Drop Box and Brian Ivie can be found here ...

http://arbellastudios.com/
http://www.thedropboxfilm.com/
http://kindredimage.org/
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/btivie/the-drop-box

 ---

Audio Book Details...
The Drop Box : How 500 Abandoned Babies, an Act of Compassion, and a Movie Changed My Life Forever by Brian Ivie and Ted Kluck Read
Read by Brandon Batchelar
Produced by Oasis Audio
Number of Discs: MP3 download (19 parts) [4 CDs]
Total Time: 4.25 Hours
ISBN: 9781613756881
Released: March 2015

Dad is Fat

Dad Is Fat by Jim Gaffigan


Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan is a specialized book. Gaffigan is a comedian, but also a dad. He wrote essays about parenting and put them together in book. It's not a book about parenting tips and tricks, it's about his observations and interpretations, as well as, life events as a parent. He's a father of five children in a two bedroom apartment in New York City. Quite a different lifestyle then my life, but I can enjoy the humor of it. If the reader is familiar with Gaffigan's comedy routines, they will hear (or read) some of comedy segments, but they are part of the story not a written standup act.

Gaffigan stayed true to reading his book. He's a fun and unique comedian, but his standup is very different from his reading of the book. It's a non-fiction book, yes, it's humorous, but no it's not going to be dynamic with crazy voices.


Reviewed from a library copy.

---

Why is an adult audiobook on the Adolescent Audio Adventures blog?

Every once in a great while, I switch up my books. I enjoy Gaffigan's comedy and was excited to see his book available as an audiobook. I added it here, because this is my audiobook blog and parenting is a part of childhood. No, I would not recommend this title for children, but parents might appreciate it. Happy listening, friends!

Drizzle

Drizzle by Kathleen Van Cleve

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars


Polly Peabody's family runs an unusual rhubarb farm. How unusual? Chocolate rhubarb and giant bugs for starters. Beyond those, it rains every Monday at 1pm. But one day...the rain stops. The plants try to share what's wrong, but Polly can't comprehend what they are trying to communicate with no words and all action. Polly's life is shattering before her. Can she find the source of the missing rain? Will she be able to save her family's historic farm?


The title Drizzle captured my attention. The illustrator's depiction of the famous Umbrella ride looked very merry for the cover. The Peabody farm is a juice farm with a hint of magic. Van Cleve's tale isn't as merry as a carnival ride. It's growing up story. Polly is learning about self-reliance, courage, family, friends and bullies. She's discovering new views about the giant bugs and love for her aunt. I would recommend this story for any upper elementary/middle school student.


Maria Cabezas shares Polly's story very well. Her voice is very believable for the eleven year old character.

Reviewed from a library copy.


View all my reviews

 Audio Book Details...
Drizzle by Kathleen Van Cleve
Read by Maria Cabezas
Produced by Recorded Books
Number of Discs: 7
Total Time: 8 hours, 15 minutes

Death Cloud

Death Cloud by Andrew Lane


I love sharing the title of this book: Death Cloud. What a great mystery with two words. I ignored the cover of Bieber-fever hair and went straight to the description on the back: "It is the summer of 1868, and Sherlock Holmes is fourteen." No need to read the rest of the description! It's Sherlock Holmes in his teen years. What events in this novel shape the future Holmes we know and love?

Sherlock begins his adventure with summer vacation at an elderly relative's house. Right away, two men die from a mysterious disease. Could it be the return of the plague? Holmes decides to investigate with his new friend, Matty. Along the way, his American-born tutor joins the adventure. This is only the first in the many planned adventures of Young Sherlock Holmes.

This opening novel is full of death, fights and villainy. I enjoyed the mystery and found myself laughing out loud at it's oddities, too. Holmes outstanding logic and perception stand out abruptly while he seems to be learning all the fascinating knowledge he displays later in life. His education is full of Latin and traditional boys' subjects of the 1800's. The American tutor enters the picture with knowledge about the natural world, tracking individuals, noticing details, etc. I never envisioned Holmes learning his tricks of the trade from an American, so that was quite a shock. All in all, there will be more Young Sherlock Holmes adventures that will be entertaining to follow. If you enjoy historical mysteries, I would highly recommend following this series with The Agency series by Y. S. Lee.

Narrator Dan Weyman is very enjoyable - beautiful English accent with gentle transitions from character to character. His American accent brings to mind a mixture of Mark Twain and Bill Clinton.


View all my reviews

Audio Book Details...
Death Cloud by Andrew Lane
Series: Book 1, Young Sherlock Holmes
Read by Dan Weyman
Produced by Macmillan Young Listeners
Number of Discs: 6
Total Time: 7 hours