Young listeners will sympathize with poor Goat! Just when he thinks all is well, Unicorn comes along and upstages him. Good dancing loses out to great dancing. When the two converse on topics such as goat cheese and the advantages of goat horns over unicorn horns, Unicorn's admiration of Goat is most surprising. Is a friendship in the making? The characters may be animals, but Jared Goldsmith narrates with the mercurial shifts in mood that are typical of youngsters--disgruntled at one point and elated the next, indifferent and then intensely satisfied. While the differentiation between Goat and Unicorn is subtle, Goldsmith's voice is strong and his pacing deliberate--to providing listeners with thinking time for each startling revelation.
. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2013
Duration: 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781470371944
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Narrator Sorcha Groundsell brings to life 11-year-old Gwen MacKinnon, who is sent to spend several weeks with her Great-Uncle Matthew, sparing her a stay with her inattentive dad. There, she's delighted to make friends with his dog, Pumpkin, who accompanies her to the town library. Groundsell's tone imbues this story with intrigue, also fostering listener interest with her well-timed delivery. Her American accents are a bit exaggerated in contrast to the accents of the Scottish characters in the story. Scottish elements include a thoughtfully rendered girl who is leaving her small town in Scotland for Massachusetts in 1866, Clan MacKinnon, and the Lahdukan, small magical winged creatures in the library whom Gwen can see.
(Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2025
Duration: 7 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9780593915691
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Elena Rey ably voices a bustling cast of humans and monsters in this sequel to THE SCHOOL FOR INVISIBLE BOYS. Here, 12-year-old Kairos agent Sam Osborne takes center stage when he's assigned to find the papers of a deceased operative. Embedding in Seattle with his family, Sam assumes the identity of a Texas cousin, a device that allows Rey to slip nimbly between accents. She's particularly adept with her characterizations of children, especially Sam's target's earnest grandson, his word-loving best friend, and the teenage son of the family next door--none of whom are what they seem. Author Hutchinson opens his aperture considerably in this second series outing, but he provides enough backstory to orient new listeners as Rey confidently carries them forward.
(Supernatural. 9-12)Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2025
Duration: 7 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217015627
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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