This family classic, loved and enjoyed now by two generations, celebrates its 50th anniversary with a remastered CD edition. The sound is clearer and perhaps a little more crisp, but E.B. White’s voice is the same--avuncular and with a twang of New England and New York. It may either delight or annoy listeners, but it’s White’s reading style that sets this program apart from current audiobooks. He’s reading the story to us, much as a parent would read to a child. He’s not an actor, and though the character voices he does attempt--Templeton, the rat, is my favorite--are good, it’s not a bravura performance. White simply shares his story so intimately that adult listeners notice every nuance of his sentences and his exquisite choice of words. For children the story of Wilbur and Charlotte will be sheer delight. Fresh as it was fifty years ago, White’s story still has the power to mesmerize and teach us great lessons of friendship and life.
Family ListeningPub Date: 2002
Duration: 3 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Robb Moreira summons a mythic tone for this original spinoff of the Aztec creation story. In Higuera's story, the feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl's lesser-known brother, Xolotl, recounts "what really happened." Xolo has a dog's head, paws, and, most importantly, a love of humankind. Moreira's declamatory tones suit the epic nature of the story but also sometimes flatten the nuances of Higuera's characterizations. Listeners who don't seek out the print edition to accompany the audiobook will miss illustrator Mariana Ruiz Johnson's strikingly stylized figures, colorfully lush design, and critical narrative detail that's often communicated only in the illustrations. Those who do read and listen will occasionally find themselves zooming past wordless sequences that demand close attention. Both otherworldly and sweet--and perhaps best enjoyed in print.
(Mythology. 7-10)Pub Date: 2025
Duration: 1 hr
DD ISBN: 9798899735035
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Tara Novie's youthful voice reflects a sense of wonder for the topic of this audiobook: whales. While her bright delivery contrasts with the somberness of those majestic animals that were pushed out of former habitats by human expansion, she does convey a sense of hope as the Hudson River flows clear again and the whales return. In the second part of the audiobook, Novie's tone becomes more grounded as she details historical and environmental insights relating to the Hudson Highlands River's troubled past and activism that led to the 1972 Clean Water Act. Novie conveys the urgency of this environmental issue and humanity's role in shaping an optimistic future.
(Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: 2025
Duration: 22 mins
DD ISBN: 9781250386755
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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