Guest Review of The Ranger’s Apprentice

We’ve been featuring the audiobook reviews from guest blogger Jana Warnell, an elementary school librarian in Montana. You can read her review of Clementine here. Check out more reviews and librarian insights from Jana at her blog, http://janasbooklist.blogspot.com/.

The Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan
Running Time: 7.75 hours
YALSA Select Audiobook for Young Adults

I have several people who have recommended The Ranger’s Apprentice series to me, but I have never been that interested in reading them. Next year, however, I am going to be a middle school librarian and I really felt I should get at least the first book read so that I can talk with students who are interested in this series. Amazingly, I won the first book, The Ruins of Gorlan, in a contest from Recorded Books! I wasted no time in listening to the book.

The audio book is narrated by John Keating. He is British and very good at accents. He does one of the characters, Halt, with a Scottish type accent that is wonderful—it really brings the character to life. For the other characters he mostly changes the pitch and tone of his voice. This works well for the story which is the start of a series that now has eight books in it.

The main character is Will (one of my favorite character names—characters named Will always turn out to be so noble). He is an orphan who finds himself assigned to become an apprentice to a ranger named Halt. The rangers are servants of the king, but are each assigned a fife and a baron to serve under. They are basically spies.

The book takes us through the start of Will’s training, but also introduces us to another orphan, Horace. We see his training as a warrior apprentice—and follow the ups and downs of he and Will’s friendship. I was glad that, although Will was the main character, the author gave us another character to get to know. I hope in future books Will and Horace continue to work together.

I love it when narrators of audio books treat the audience as intelligent and John Keating does. I felt like I was part of the story, not just a listener. It was easy to immerse myself in the world of the book and I was sorry to see it end. I look forward to listening to more books in the series.

Next week, check back to read Jana’s review of Newbery Honor Book The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner.

What Are the Top 20 Children’s Audiobooks?

The Fuse #8 blog at School Library Journal has been tallying up the results of the Top 100 Children’s Novels Poll. That got us wondering, “What are the Top Children’s Audiobooks?” While many of the books would be the same, adding audio into the mix may change the list a little. So we want to hear from you!

We’ll be compiling a list of the top 20—beginning readers, children’s books, children’s classics, or YA novels are all acceptable submissions. Please see below for rules. Everyone who sends in a list of nominations will be entered to win a the grand prize: a set of 10 audiobooks from the top 20!

1. Leave a comment below listing your top 20 children’s audiobooks, from number 20 all the way up to number 1, in order. Feel free to leave a sentence or two describing your favorites. If you don’t have 20 favorites, list as many as you’d like.
2. Submissions will close on May 30, 2010. We’ll tally up the results, assigning points to titles based on their ranking in your list.
3. We’ll pick one random grand prize winner on June 14, 2010. That winner will receive 10 CD audiobooks from the compiled top 20 audiobooks list. Grand prize audiobooks will be chosen by Recorded Books.
4. Contest is open to all K-12 educators in the United States. Recorded Books reserves the right to confirm eligibility and alter rules to this contest at any time.

Send us your audiobook tips and you could be featured!

First of all, don’t forget to enter our January contest to win a free audiobook! We’re currently hard at work on the 2010 Recorded Books K-12 catalog, and we love including stories and testimonials from our customers. If you use audiobooks in your classroom or school, send us a quick statement telling us what you think of them. We don’t need anything too fancy—just jot down your experiences with audiobooks and send them our way via email, blog comment, or twitter.

Some ideas:
1. Share a story about a particular student who has shown improvement since being introduced to audiobooks.
2. Tell us about a teacher/librarian audiobook partnership or intervention program that uses audiobooks.
3. Share your favorite lesson plan using audiobooks.
4. Tell us why you and your students like audiobooks.
5. Tell us what your favorite RB audiobook is.
6. Tell us how you use audiobooks in your classroom.
7. Tell us how you found out about using audiobooks to improve fluency, comprehension, and motivation.

Be sure we can contact you via twitter or email if we choose your story or quote!

P.S.—We appreciate you sharing with us, so if you are featured in the catalog, we’ll provide you with a freebie or two!

September Contest Winner

Congratulations to Nikki Coates, our September contest winner! Nikki, you’ll receive one copy of Dear Mr. Henshaw on CD to share with your students. We asked respondents to share stories about who inspired them, and we got some great responses! Here are a few of our favorites, but we encourage you to read the rest of the inspiring stories as well—perfect for a pick-me-up on this day of remembrance:

Nikki Coates: I have many people who have inspired me in my life. However the one that I think of first would be my chemistry teacher from high school. I used to hate all kinds of science, I was even nervous taking chemistry I didnt think I would pass. Science was always boring and hard for me. I had my teacher for chemistry my sophomore year and ap chemistry my senior year. Yes, I took two years even though I didnt need to. My teacher made it enjoyable and fun to learn. After being in her class for two years I started thinking about becoming a science teacher. However; once I started doing some observation hours I changed my mind and wanted to become a special ed teacher. I want students to learn and have fun and see that school isnt as bad as it seems!

John Bradford: My Catholic high school chaplain, Father William Schooler, inspired me. A true humanist, he encouraged the students to think for themselves – even if that put him at odds with the school administration or the other faculty. The books in his office were always available for loan, and he introduced me to C.S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and comparative religion.

Victoria Mazur: My fourth grade teacher, Miss Judy, was an inspiration to me as a budding writer. She allowed me to read voraciously and did not censor my creativity. Her incentives included a meal at her home (that would probably not be permitted now) and I will always remember my introduction to alfalfa sprouts. I threw up on the way home.

MaryAnn: Eleanor was the most amazing children’s librarian! Her enthusiasm inspired generations of readers in her public library, and her storytimes were legendary in the County. Most amazingly, she could locate a book just from a brief description of a character or situation. One day I heard a young lady ask her for a book tin which a girl sat on a porch and chewed gum…and Eleanor’s face lit up. Off she flew to the stacks, returning with the right book! She introduced me to the classics, to illustrators, to storytelling and to public service, and I would be thrilled to be remembered as her student!

Mike Jones: One person in my life who had a tremendous impact on me was my high school football coach. This coach didn’t just inspire, he forever changed me and the path my life took once I started playing for him. No one in my life had ever pushed me so hard, made me work so much, been so tough on me, or cared as much as he did. This man believed in me more than I believed in myself, and through his dedicated, persistent effort, he was able to reach me in a way that no teacher, coach, or person had ever done before. The main, and most important things that that this coach taught me had nothing to do with football but are tools that I will use the rest of my life; the ability to apply myself to the highest levels and work through whatever obstacles or adversity come my way.

If you didn’t get a chance to share a story about someone who inspired you, we’d still love to hear from you on this post. And as always, stay tuned for another contest next month!

Look for our new catalog for librarians!

We’ve dedicated our Spring 2008 K-12 catalog to librarians. In addition to the favorite products of teachers and librarians, you’ll find special tips and ideas especially for librarians using audiobooks. Also check out our contests for the chance to win free stuff for your school! In Part Four of our series featuring White Marsh Elementary, librarian Peggy Ekhaus shares her feelings about how Recorded Books make great authors accessible for all students …

How do you incorporate audiobooks into both your classroom and library instruction time at your school? Enter our contest and tell us and you could win!

Audiobook educators caught in the act!

So, just who is using audiobooks in schools, anyway? Lots of great educators! If you use audiobooks in your classroom or library and would like to be featured, contact us and let us know!

Send submissions to educator at recordedbooks dot com.

	Clover Taylor, a librarian at Western Albermarle High in Crozet, VA, purchased Playaway audiobooks for use with struggling readers.
	Kris Peterson is a cross-categorical special education teacher at Eisenhower High in New Berlin, Wisconsin. Recorded Books offers many specialized products that are great for special education, such as SmartReader.
	Lee Ann Spillane is a National Board Certified Teacher with an endorsement in gifted education. Lee Ann designed and implemented a Reading-Writing Center at University High School in Orlando, Florida using audiobooks. The model is now being adopted district-wide.
	Mary Burkey, a teacher and librarian at Olentangy Liberty Middle School in Columbus, Ohio, is the past Chair is ALA’s Notable Children’s Recordings Committee and the 2008 Chair of ALA’s Odyssey Award for Audiobook Excellence. She says, “I am happy to be part of the Recorded Books educator family!” Recorded Books offers many ALA Notables, such as The Cricket in Times Square.
	Jerry Jarrell is a librarian at Stone Middle School in Paris, Texas. Recorded Books offers many collections that are perfect for expanding your library’s audiobook selection.
	Wanda Warmack, in addition to being Faulkner University’s Reading Specialist, teaches children’s literature and reading courses and often uses audiobooks. Congratuations on your Ph.D., Wanda!
	Darlah Carman is a teacher, librarian, media specialist, and is the President of the Kentucky School Media Association. She finds audiobooks a valuable resource in her classroom and library. Thanks for passing the word, Darlah!