Tuning in to Audiobooks Why Should Kids Listen? Arnie Cardillo, Bruce Coville, Tim Ditlow, Ellen Myrick, and Teri Lesesne he Educational Paperback Association (EPA) annual shared a long ride with Teri Lesesne and discovered a kindred membership meeting might not seem like the most soul. Tim Ditlow mentioned that a Teri Lesesne had conducted T likely place to turn up the volume on audiobooks. some research with audiobooks and written about it in one of Among the sixty-odd publisher members, however, are three their catalogues. Arnie Cardillo didn’t know Teri Lesesne yet, audiobook publishers without equal in the world of recorded but he certainly would soon. Teri, when contacted, enthusiasti- books for young people. Tim Ditlow of Listening Library and cally agreed to join the audio panel. Lastly, Ellen Myrick, who Arnie Cardillo of Live Oak Media had both served terms on the had founded the publication The Heard Word at Ingram several board of the trade association, and newcomer Bruce Coville of years earlier, spoke to the assembled distributors and publish- Full Cast Audio had been one of the most popular speakers in ers about how to market audiobooks effectively in their own recent years in his guise as author. With such talent available, promotional materials. Her goal was to get them to recognize it was only natural that 2005 meeting co-chair (and audiobook audiobooks as an opportunity to be explored and shared at enthusiast) Ellen Myrick would lobby to include an audio ele- every level of their business. When the ninety minutes were ment in the program. over, Ellen Myrick wanted a room full of audiobook converts, and she found them. Because the EPA panel proved to be a It became clear that the audiobook panel needed an additional resounding success, the panel decided to submit a presenta- voice—one that had recognized credibility and authority about tion for the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans. Sponsored the impact of audiobooks on kids. Bruce Coville had once by ALSC, the panel found that once again, attendees were intrigued to learn about the process of making audiobooks and how audiobooks might meet the needs of children and teens. Tim Ditlow is Vice President and Publisher at Large for Random What follows is a summary of the presentation for ALA. The House Audio. three distinct types of audiobook recordings, along with some rationale for using audio with children and teens, should assist Arnie Cardillo is an audio producer for Live Oak Media. those librarians wishing to get kids reading with their ears. Bruce Coville is President of Full Cast Audio and a noted author of children’s and young adult books. Production Style #1: Readalong Ellen Myrick is an Editor for North-South Books and performed (Arnie Cardillo of Live Oak Media) on the Full Cast Audio production of Stop the Train. All Audiobooks Are Not Equal! Teri Lesesne is Professor of Library Science at Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas, and a member of the Just as there are different types of children’s books (picture Odyssey Committee. books, beginning readers, early chapter books, and middle- grade and young adult fiction), there are different types of 42 Winter 2007 • Children and Libraries 5n3_final.indd 42 12/17/2007 1:11:02 PM Tuning in to Audiobooks children’s audiobook productions. And a book’s format can text. Sound effects of a door slamming, a piece of paper being sometimes lend itself to different production styles, treatments, crumbled, a thud, and footsteps are all ways of making a greater and techniques. Simply stated, a picture book readalong is a impression or imprint of the word and action in the child’s mem- word-for-word audio recording that is meant to be listened ory. We also pay particular attention to where we place the sound to while the child is reading and following along in the book. effect in relation to the narration; that is, either right before, Producing a picture book readalong, however, is not a simple during, or after the reference in the text, depending on where it process (at least not the way we do it), and we approach our best combines with the words and illustration to have the most readalong production with two purposes in mind: to help chil- impact. Music speaks to the emotions, and so we use original dren learn to read, and to make the reading experience fun! music to reinforce the emotionality of the words and text. The use of specific instruments can evoke certain emotions or Multisensory and Associative Learning moods, such as violins and violas for sadness or suspense; flutes and woodwind instruments for warmth and happiness; and brass Learning is most effective when it is a multisensory experience. instruments for heroic acts. The use of specific instrumentation Infants and toddlers see, hear, and touch things in the world, and music styles also helps capture the essence of a book’s char- their parents name these things, and so they are taught and learn acters (a bassoon for a basset hound, a flute for a bird, a tuba for a to associate words with the things they sense. The same holds cow, and so on), or introduce children to different musical genres true in the world of the picture book readalong. In teaching read- (for example, salsa music for Gary Soto’s Chato’s Kitchen; blues ing to young children, educators have found that, if a child sees a guitar and harmonica for Walter Dean Myers’ The Blues of Flats word and hears it at the same time, the dual experience of seeing Brown; a jazz quartet for Chris Raschka’s John Coltrane’s Giant and hearing creates a double impression and deeper imprint of Steps). Increasingly, children’s books are being published about the word in the child’s memory than the act of just seeing the singers, musicians, composers, songs, and musical genres. It is in word. This double imprint and impression allow the child to these types of books in particular that the text and message of the more effectively retain words in his or her memory and make book become “music dependent,” and the music component in associations between the visual and auditory nature of words. the audio production conveys the author’s and illustrator’s intent more vibrantly than the book alone does. When we produce a readalong of a children’s picture book, we utilize this concept of multisensory and associative learning. We A Final Word about the Sound Mix and Human Voice try to draw the child into the world of the book, into the illustra- tions and words, by using sound effects, music, and production Finally, it should be stated that, no matter how many sound techniques that support the reading and imprinting process. elements, tracks, and techniques we use to support the reading Illustrations in picture books are there to help the beginning process, we ensure that the narrator’s voice takes center stage, reader understand and decipher the words and story. For the and that all other sound elements make up the supporting cast young child, the illustrations are integral to the telling of the and are placed in the background of the sound mix. It is also story; or, to put it another way, the text and story are picture- important to use these sound elements judiciously; that is, dependent. So, when we produce a readalong, we make sure that when and where they have the greatest impact on the imprint- ing process. Ultimately, we know that there are times when the pictures become “part” of the production. One way we do nothing takes the place of or makes more of a lasting impres- this is in the pacing of the narration. Without interfering with the sion than the human voice. natural flow of the text, we allow time for the child to look at the pictures and make associations between the story and the illus- trations that support it. We even take into account the time that the child needs to physically turn the page of the book and locate Production Style #2: Single Voice Narration the words on the next page. Most importantly, we are very careful (Tim Ditlow of Listening Library) to pace the narrator’s reading so that it is not too fast to frustrate beginning readers, nor too slow to cause them to lose interest. For an audiobook producer, selecting a narrator for an audio- book is what selecting grapes is to a vintner. It can take years Casting Narrators to develop the skill set to create a vintage list of recordings, and one must be willing to take the time to nurture the craft. There We try to cast narrators who are skilled in creating different voices are as many ways to cast an audiobook as there are audiobook (who can sound like a happy cow, a nervous mouse, a nauseous companies, and over the past fifty years one of the hallmarks of chicken, a young boy or girl, and so on), and we ask the narrator Listening Library is that we do not rely on one single approach to make each character different and distinctive from the others to casting. In other words, rather than rely on the same actors to help the child remember and recognize the various characters year in and year out to read our children’s titles, we believe that as the story unfolds. In other words, we want to make each char- each unique book deserves a unique voice. We know children acter believable and interesting to the young listener.