Audiobook CDs on your iPod

Hooray! Santa filled your stocking with a shiny new iPod! Time to play with your new toy...

Are you a Windows user who wants to add your audiobooks on CD to your iPod? Do you download free MP3 audiobooks from public domain websites such as LibriVox? Try these tricks for ripping the CDs so that they will be recognized as a single audiobook that will remember your place with a bookmark.

iLounge has a great introduction called The Complete Guide to iPod Audiobooks - from purchasing from online vendors to adding your own CDs. Includes a link to their spoken word discussion forum.

Michael Alderete's Aldoblog has a great How to Import Audio CD audiobooks into iTunes post showing step-by-step how-to directions.

Here's a VERY detailed method from Stan Brown on Converting CDs to iTunes Audiobooks.

You can purchase an excellent software product called MarkAble for $15.

Apple has a download for Mac users called Audiobook Builder.

And while you're at it - take a look at Openculture's 10 Ways to Make Your iPod a Better Learning Gadget

Plus, check out the Free Downloads from iTunes web site for no-cost weekly features from iTunes - often includes audiobooks.

Digital Rights & the Audiobook

Digital Rights Management. Downloaded audiobooks from the public library or web-based vendor can find listeners hobbled by piracy protection. Stephen Downes has an interesting post in his Half an Hour blog on Economics in a DRM-Free World (thanks to Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk blog for the link).

But the tide is turning. Read about the first major online distribution of audiobooks without copy protection in this NY Times article on DRM-free audiobooks at EMusic. Major publishers are testing this low-cost MP3 method of distributing audiobooks. Want to find out more? Visit EMusic's audiobook site to see what they are offering. Soon, Amazon followed with their MP3 website, which carries audiobooks - but clearly is slanted towards music. Just try to easily search for audiobooks on the site! But Amazon's purchase of Brilliance Audio clearly shows the online behemoth's desire to expand its reach into the audiobook world. Read more in this Publishers Weekly article.

Some writers are bypassing the print medium entirely, Authors who serialize their works for free on the Podiobooks website follow many of the ideas in Downes' post, in a digital route that reminds me of how Charles Dickens' novels were first available in popular magazines (the blogs of the 18o0s!).

The issue of fair compensation for authors when their works are distributed digitally is most certainly important. Publishers are to be commended as they seek new methods to "print" works digitally, while ensuring an author's livelihood. Audiobooks are yet another entertainment medium in the intellectual property proving ground. It will interesting to see how things stand in 2009!

Happy Listening to All!

I received this holiday greeting from Recorded Book's Plugged-in to Reading. I love this audiobook snowman! So I am passing the holiday wishes along to you!

The Making of a Star Wars Audiobook

Columnist finds gold in Pullman's trilogy by toggling

I found this article written by busy mom & Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Catherine Mallette to be a refreshing take on the Pullman Golden Compass controversy. I especially liked reading her description of how she "toggled back and forth from real books (at night) to audio books (on the trips to Target and to work)" - except for that "real book" remark. I think that I will firmly embrace the term "toggle" for how busy literature-lovers consume books in any means available!

"Zits" on Audiobooks

Sunday's "Zits" featured poor Dad trying an audiobook in his car - I found it here.

75 Years of Talking Books

Maya Angelou reads "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" for the Talking Book service in 1970. Listen to a clip.

Celebrity readers are not a new reflection of the booming popularity of today's audiobooks. Fun fact: In 1937 Gregory Peck auditioned as a Talking Book narrator. A report said "Damn nice fellow. Pretty good reader. Might try out when we get some books." The American Foundation for the Blind has an interesting online exhibit of 75 years of Talking Book services for the blind. The key role of Talking Books in the history of audiobooks can be explored here:
http://www.afb.org/talkingbook/home.asp

The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, through the Library of Congress, administers the distribution of Talking Books for the vision impaired & those with learning disabilities. Every school intervention specialist & parent should be informed about the services provided at no cost to identified children. Find out more here:
http://www.loc.gov/nls/children/index.html

Audiobooks are great for everyone, but the role of Talking Books in the lives of the blind & handicapped deserves greater recognition. How about including audiobooks in a local "Read-a-thon" and donate to the AFB?

From Audiobook to Film - Brendan Fraser & Inkheart

I find it very fitting that Brendan Fraser stars in the soon-to-be-released film of Cornelia Funke's Inkheart (more here). He did the wonderful audiobook of Inkspell, the sequel to Inkheart - here's an audio clip.

Fraser’s audiobook narration of Funke’s Dragon Rider is also a personal favorite of mine – listen to a clip.

Fascinating to learn that Funke wrote Inkheart’s character Mortimer Folchart with Fraser in mind. Here’s a photo of the two together.
Too bad Lynn Redgrave isn't in the Inkheart movie - she did the outstanding Inkheart audiobook - listen here.

Headphone Heaven

More holiday gifts for the audiobook addict! Here are three super buys on top-rated headphones from Amazon. Treat yourself or get a stocking stuffer. Or be like me and buy a pair & a spare!

Panasonic RP-HC500 Noise-Canceling Headphones: details from Amazon

JBL Reference 220 Headphone: details from Amazon

Sennheiser CX300-B: details from Amazon

Grammy audiobook nominees announced

But don't get too excited. Here's a fun fact: There is no requirement that Grammy judges actually LISTEN to the nominated titles. And there are 109 Grammy categories. So are judges possibly voting for popularity or star-power narrator? Hmm...

Here are the spoken work nominees (from http://www.grammy.com/):

Best Spoken Word Album For Children
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows / Jim Dale / Listening Library
Making The Heart Whole Again: Stories For A Wounded World / Milbre Burch / Kind Crone Productions
The One And Only Shrek /Meryl Streep & Stanley Tucci / Audio Renaissance
Who's Got Game? The Ant Or The Grasshopper? The Lion Or The Mouse? Poppy Or The Snake? / Toni Morrison / Simon & Schuster Audio
Wickety Whack - Brer Rabbit Is Back / Diane Ferlatte / Diane Ferlatte

Best Spoken Word Album (for adults)
The Audacity Of Hope: Thoughts On Reclaiming The American Dream / Barack Obama / Random House Audio
Celebrations / Maya Angelou / Random House Audio
Giving: How Each Of Us Can Change The World / Bill Clinton / Random House Audio
Sunday Mornings In Plains: Bringing Peace To A Changing World / Jimmy Carter / Simon & Schuster Audio
Things I Overheard While Talking To Myself / Alan Alda / Random House Audio

Kindle & Audiobooks

Here's a post from Michael Alderete’s Weblog on Amazon's Kindle and audiobooks. A VERY expensive MP3 player!

Audiobook accessories

Wow! The perfect gift ideas for the audiobook lover in your life...
An audiobook chair from Lands End
Great earmuffs from Herrington
And to assuage the withdrawal of those who are addicted to Jim Dale's Harry Potter audiobooks... Take the Harry Potter Myers-Briggs Personality Quiz!
http://piratemonkeysinc.com/quiz.php

What??? No Audiobook Geek?

Clearly, there needs to be an addition to this list:
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=2086153791&size=o&context=set-72157601200807582

But I do fit the Con Geek profile occasionally - complete with bags o' swag!

Two books a week at age 102

Audiobooks from National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped Talking Book Library allow 102-year-old Roy Nelson enjoy literature. Great story:
http://www.fresnobee.com/citylife/story/232059.html

The Library of Congress honors audiobook readers who are over the age of 100 with membership in the Ten Squared Club - and there are over 1,600 members! I hope I get my club gold pin someday...
http://www.loc.gov/nls/10squared/index.html

Inside the audiobook studio

Awesome video that shows a quick peek inside the glass booth during the recording of "The Boy with Two Belly Buttons." http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/freak-tv-how-are-audiobooks-made/

Test your audio skills!

No, it's not an audiobook, but this site will test the listening skills of Baby Boomers:

http://www.televisiontunes.com/game.html

I must say that I did best on the cartoon themes. Enjoy!

Teen audiobooks: adults love them, too

Nice post today by Ricklibrarian. I love this quote:

I like some teen audiobooks because they have engaging characters and their stories move along at a quick pace. They often have irreverent viewpoints, satirizing adults who are bound by the conventions of the adult world. They also remind me how horrible and wonderful that it is to be young.

Read what he says about The Canning Season:
http://ricklibrarian.blogspot.com/2007/12/canning-season-by-polly-horvath.html

Bargain audiobooks

Looking for an easy way to include audiobooks in your classroom or school library? Take advantage of your public library's downloadable titles. Initiate a program for your students to apply for their own public library card through your classroom. In my school, I require all students to have a library card so that I can teach the use of the public library's online databases. To use the public library's downloadable audiobooks, you must have a non-iPod player - a barrier for many of my students. So I have purchased inexpensive MP3 players that are cataloged & may be checked out by students. Post-Thanksgiving sales have lots of players for less than $20 - no need for anything fancy. Have a how-to-download workshop for students & staff, demo how to use their library card to download audiobooks onto their own MP3 player or your school players, and you've created new audiobook evangelists! After last year's how-to-download workshop, I had a bunch of teachers who bought MP3 players for themselves & family members for holiday gifts (the biggest enthusiast was our social studies teacher's truck driving father). And once you've hooked a teacher, they will encourage their students to listen. Worried about copyright? Most downloaded audiobooks "expire," but to be extra careful, be sure to delete content from your school MP3 players as they are checked in.

ALAN 2007: Presentation notes & title list

Sounds True to Me: Authentic Audiobooks for Adolescents
Presented at the 2007 ALAN Conference by Mary Burkey featuring audiobook narrator Michael Boatman

Voice
is like verbal fingerprints that a writer imprints on the page.
It is a mix of individuality, confidence, engagement with the topic, and reader rapport, and something that keeps the reader reading.
• Spandel, V. (2005). Creating writers through 6-trait writing assessment and instruction, (4th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Story
Once upon a time, oral storytelling ruled.
It was the medium through which people learned their history, settled their arguments, and came to make sense of the phenomena of their world.
• Teaching Storytelling A Position Statement from the Committee on Storytelling (1992)

http://www.ncte.org/about/over/positions/category/curr/107637.htm

Medium
a means by which something is expressed, communicated, or achieved a form of storage for computer software, such as magnetic tape or disks
• Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English Third Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.

Audience
the assembled spectators or listeners at an event origin: Latin audientia, from audire ‘hear’
• Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English Third Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.

Reading
the action or skill of reading an interpretation of a text
• Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English Third Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.

Voice of Youth
Buddha Boy / Kathe Koja / Full Cast Audio
So Much to Tell You / James Marsden / Bolinda Audio

Flipped / Wendelin Van Draanen / Recorded Books
The Girls / Amy Goldman Koss / Full Cast Audio
Dead Fathers Club / Matt Haig / HighBridge Audio
Alice, I Think / Susan Juby / HarperCollins Audio
First Part Last / Angela Johnson / Listening Library
Born to Rock / Gordon Korman / Brilliance Audio
Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie / Jordan Sonnenblick / Scholastic Audio

Voice of Difference
Boy Meets Boy / David Levithan / Full Cast Audio
A Corner of the Universe / Ann M. Martin / Listening Library
Stuck in Neutral / Terry Trueman / Recorded Books
Alt Ed / Catherine Atkins / Recorded Books

My Heartbeat / Garret Freymann-Weyr / Listening Library
Accidents of Nature / Harriet McBryde Johnson / Listening Library
The Curious Incidence of the Dog in the Night-time / Mark Haddon / Recorded Books
When Zachary Beaver Came to Town / Kimberly Willis Holt / Listening Library

Voice of Culture
The Power of One / Bryce Courtenay / Bolinda Audio
When My Name Was Keoko / Linda Sue Park / Recorded Books
The Book Thief / Markus Zusak / Listening Library
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency / Alexander McCall Smith / Recorded Books
The House of the Scorpion / Nancy Farmer / Recorded Books
The Wee Free Men / Terry Pratchett / Harper Children’s Audio
Whale Rider / Witi Ihimaera / Bolinda
Bindi Babes / Narinder Dhami / Listening Library
Homeless Bird / Gloria Whelan / Listening Library
A Pack of Lies / Geraldine McCaughrean / BBC Audiobooks America

Voice of Region
Dairy Queen / Catherine Gilbert Murdock / Listening Library
Bucking the Sarge / Christopher Paul Curtis / Listening Library
Parrot in the Oven / Victor Martinez / Harper Audio
Buried Onions / Gary Soto / Recorded Books
Blues Journey / Walter Dean Myers / Live Oak Media
Secret Life of Bees / Sue Monk Kidd / HighBridge Company
Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood / Benjamin Alire Saenz / Recorded Books
To Kill a Mockingbird / Harper Lee / Caedmon

Voice of the Author
The Golden Compass / Philip Pullman / Listening Library
The Misfits / James Howe / Full Cast Audio
A Great and Terrible Beauty / Libba Bray / Listening Library

Witness / Karen Hesse / Listening Library
The Cay / Theodore Taylor / Listening Library
Esperanza Rising / Pam Muñoz Ryan / Listening Library
Angela’s Ashes / Frank McCourt / Simon and Schuster Audio
A Hole in My Life / Jack Gantos / Listening Library

The Voice of the Narrator
Michael Patrick Boatman. Actor (Hamburger Hill, Spin City, China Beach), author (God Laughs When You Die), audiobook narrator (The Cay, Bucking the Sarge, the voice of Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins)


Thanks to Random House Audio for sponsoring the appearance of Michael Boatman.

Material compiled & presented by Mary Burkey November 2007. Contact mburkey@columbus.rr.com

Sounds True to Me: Authentic Audiobooks for Adolescents PowerPoint

ALAN 2007 PowerPoint:

View Upload your own

Audiobook Resources

Compiled by Mary Burkey November 2007. Contact mburkey@columbus.rr.com

Articles:

Beavin, Kristi. "Audiobooks: Four Styles of Narration." Horn Book Magazine Sep. 1996: 566-573.

Beers, Kylene. "Listen While You Read." School Library Journal Apr. 1998: 30.

Burkey, Mary. "Sounds Good to Me: Listening to Audiobooks with a Critical Ear." Booklist 01 June 2007: 104.

Clark, Ruth Cox. "Audiobooks for Children: Is This Really Reading?." Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children Spring 2007: 49-50.

Dowell, Jennifer M. “The Alchemy of Children’s Audio.” AudioFile Apr./May 2001: 18-23.

Fallows, James. "Reading by Ear." Atlantic Monthly Jan. 2001: 16-17.

Goldsmith, Francisca. "Earphone English." School Library Journal May 2002: 50.

Grover, Sharon, and Lizette D. Hannegan. "Not Just for Listening." Book Links May 2005: 16-19.

Harmon, Amy. "Loud, Proud, Unabridged: It Is Too Reading!" New York Times 26 May 2005: G1-G2.

Harris, Karen. "What Makes a Book Narrator?" Booklist 01 Jan. 1998: 833.

Jemtegaard, Kristi Elle. "Audio Poetry: A Call to Words." Horn Book Magazine May 005: 357-364.

Jemtegaard, Kristi. "Readers vs. Listeners." Booklist 01 Apr. 2005: 1399-1399.

Seper, Chris. "To Curl Up With a Good Book, Listen Up" Plain Dealer 23 May 2005: B1.

Kozloff, Sarah. "Audio Books in Visual Culture." Journal of American Culture Winter 1995: 83.

Marchionda, Denise. “A Bridge to Literacy: Creating Lifelong Readers Through Audiobooks.” AudioFile Aug./Sept. 2001: 19-21.

Mediatore, Kaite, and Mary K. Chelton. "Reading with Your Ears." Reference & User Services Quarterly Summer 2003: 318.

Varley, Pamela. "As Good as Reading? Kids and the Audiobook Revolution." Horn Book Magazine May 2002: 251-262.

Wysocki, Barbara. "Louder, Please." School Library Journal Mar. 2005: 10-14.


Online links:

The Art & Craft of Narration: http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/features/A1267.html

Audiobooks & Literacy: http://www.randomhouse.com/highschool/RHI_magazine/pdf/serafini.pdf

Audiobook Lexicon: http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/features/fea1007.html

Audiobook Reference Guide: http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/guide_search.cfm

Audiobooks on Satellite Radio: http://www.xmradio.com/onxm/channelpage.xmc?ch=163

BBC’s Streaming Audio: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/help/whatisbbc7.shtml

Creating Lifelong Readers Through Audiobooks: http://www.audiobookshelf.com/abridge.html

How Earphones English Started: http://www.audiobookshelf.com/eom_feb04.html

Librivox Free Public Domain Audiobooks: http://librivox.org/

Listening Library’s Teacher Resources: http://school.booksontape.com/s_promo_pam_spencer.cfm

Notable Children’s Recordings: http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/childrensnotable/notablecreclist/currentnotable.htm

Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production: http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/booklistsawards/odyssey/odyssey.cfm

Podiobooks: http://www.podiobooks.com/

Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

Radio Drama Resources: http://www.ruyasonic.com/

Recorded Books Resource Guides to Research & Classroom use: http://www.recordedbooks.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=school.resource_list

Selected Audiobooks for Young Adults: http://ala.org/ala/yalsa/booklistsawards/selectedaudio/selectedaudiobooks.htm

Tamora Pierce’s Audio Biography: http://www.tamora-pierce.com/bio2.htm

Teens Help Give Voice to Audiobook Boom: http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2006/11/emw454751.htm

A Visit With the Full Cast Audio Family: http://pdfs.voya.com/VO/YA2/VOYA200606VisitAudio.pdf

Voice Acting: A New Career Opportunity: http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/features/VoiceActing.html

Young Adult Audiobooks: http://www.randomhouse.com/highschool/RHI_magazine/pdf/ditlow.pdf

Why Listen at All: http://pdfs.voya.com/VO/YA2/VOYA200708audiotalk.pdf

Theater of the Mind: Audiobooks Live on Stage! PowerPoint

NCTE 2007 Power Point:

View Upload your own

Theater of the Mind: Audiobooks Live on Stage! Program Notes

Presented at the 2007 NCTE Conference by Mary Burkey, Bruce Coville, and James Howe


Voice
is like verbal fingerprints that a writer imprints on the page.
It is a mix of individuality, confidence, engagement with the topic, and reader rapport, and something that keeps the reader reading.
• Spandel, V. (2005). Creating writers through 6-trait writing assessment and instruction, (4th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Story
Once upon a time, oral storytelling ruled.
It was the medium through which people learned their history, settled their
arguments, and came to make sense of the phenomena of their world.
• Teaching Storytelling A Position Statement from the Committee on Storytelling (1992) http://www.ncte.org/about/over/positions/category/curr/107637.htm

Medium
a means by which something is expressed, communicated, or achieved
a form of storage for computer software, such as magnetic tape or disks
• Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English Third Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.

Audience
the assembled spectators or listeners at an event
origin: Latin audientia, from audire ‘hear’
• Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English Third Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.

Reading
the action or skill of reading
an interpretation of a text
• Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English Third Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.

Timeline
2000 BCE : Clay tablets 220 AD: Block printing 1455 AD: Printing press
1871: Recorded sound 1917: 1st Children’s audiobook 1997: 1st audiobook download

Of the ten uses Edison envisioned for recorded sound “Phonographic Books” was number two
– and music was number four!

Listening…
Increases fluency
Raises reading comprehension
Enlarges vocabulary
Boosts pronunciation skills
Supports struggling readers
Expands literature experiences for proficient readers
Improves test scores

Evaluating Audiobooks

Audio Publishers Assoc. Audie Award
http://www.writerswrite.com/books/awards/audie.htm

YALSA’s Selected Audiobooks http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/booklistsawards/selectedaudio/selectedaudiobooks.htm

Notable Children’s Recordings http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/childrensnotable/Default1888.htm

Odyssey Award
http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/literaryawds/odysseyaward

Full Cast Audio/Tamora Pierce’s Audio Biography:
http://www.tamora-pierce.com/bio2.htm

Teens Help Give Voice to Audiobook Boom: http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2006/11/emw454751.htm

A Visit With the Full Cast Audio Family: http://pdfs.voya.com/VO/YA2/VOYA200606VisitAudio.pdf

Suggested Audiobook Titles

Meeting the Standards with Audiobooks:

Music:
What Charlie Heard / Live Oak Media
When Marian Sang / Live Oak Media

Mathematics:
The Doorbell Rang / Live Oak Media
How Much is a Million? / Weston Woods

Dramatic Arts:
Buddha Boy / Full Cast Audio
A Corner of the Universe / Listening Library

Language Arts:
Blues Journey / Live Oak Media
Graven Images / Listening Library
Heartbeat / Recorded Books

Visual Arts:
Ish / Weston Woods
The Pot That Juan Built / Weston Woods

Foreign Language:
Chato’s Kitchen / Live Oak Media
When My Name Was Keoko / Recorded Books

Science:
Snowflake Bentley / Weston Woods
Time of Wonder / Recorded Books

Mathematics:
The Doorbell Rang / Live Oak Media
How Much is a Million? / Weston Woods

Social Studies:
Duck for President / Weston Woods
Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey / Live Oak Media
Revenge of the Whale / Audio Bookshelf

Sure-Fire Audiobook Hits & Just for Fun:

Alex Rider series / Anthony Horowitz / Recorded Books
Artemis Fowl series / Eoin Colfer / Listening Library
The Bartimaeus Trilogy / Jonathan Stroud / Listening Library
Boy Meets Boy / David Levithan / Full Cast Audio
Born to Rock / Gordon Korman / Brilliance Audio
The Cay / Theodore Taylor / Listening Library
Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie / Jordan Sonnenblick / Scholastic Audio
A Fine, Fine School / Sharon Creech/ Live Oak Media
The Girls / Amy Goldman Koss / Full Cast Audio
The Golden Compass / Philip Pullman / Listening Library
Horace & Morris series / James Howe / Live Oak Media
The House of the Scorpion / Nancy Farmer / Recorded Books
I, Coriander / Sally Gardner / Listening Library
I Lost My Bear / Jules Feiffer/ Weston Woods
The Misfits / James Howe / Full Cast Audio
I Stink / Kate & Jim McMullan/ Weston Woods
Lon Po Po / Ed Young / Weston Woods
A Pack of Lies / Geraldine McCaughrean / BBC Audiobooks America
Peter and the Starcatchers / Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson/ Brilliance Audio
Princess Diaries series / Meg Cabot / Listening Library
Private Peaceful / Michael Morpurgo / Recorded Books
Raven's Gate / Anthony Horowitz / Recorded Books
Sammy Keyes Mysteries / Wendelin Van Draanen / Live Oak Media
So Much to Tell You / John Marsden / Bolinda Audio
The Tale of Despereaux / Kate DiCamillo/ Listening Library
To Kill a Mockingbird / Harper Lee / Caedmon
The Trail of the Jedi / Jude Watson / Listening Library
The Wall and the Wing / Laura Ruby/ Brilliance Audio
Will You Sign Here John Hancock? / Jean Fritz / Weston Woods


Complied & presented by Mary Burkey November 2007. Contact mary.burkey@gmail.com