With a Southern accent and a deep, dramatic voice, narrator LaQuita James brings to life the inspiring story of Booker T. Washington, an emancipated slave with a dream of earning a college degree. From Washington's uneducated childhood to his determination to teach himself to read and his five-hundred-mile journey on foot from West Virginia to Hampton Institute in Virginia, James helps listeners relate to Washington's dedication and fearless optimism. When reading the endnotes, James's tone becomes bright and crisp, punctuating the timeline of Washington's life and accomplishments, and emphasizing his passion to help African-Americans pursue education by opening Tuskegee University. Upbeat music highlights the uplifting mood in this inspiring testimony to the power of perseverance and hard work.
(Picture book/biography. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2021
Duration: 21 mins
DD ISBN: 9781549130038
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Ken Coleman's expertise as a baseball announcer enriches this history of the Boston Red Sox since the sale of Babe Ruth to the N.Y. Yankees. He leads off with a grim account of this transaction, which started the curse that has plagued the Red Sox ever since. The sermon-like tone will amuse non-believers and comfort listeners who are certain the team is cursed. Like the ups and downs of Boston's play through the years, the narrator's voice fluctuates--exuberant and then despondent--in tone and tempo accurately reflecting the mood of any given baseball season. The narrator is very successful at conveying the emotional roller coaster ride Red Sox fans have endured as a result of the curse of the Bambino.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: HighBridge Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
A perfect portrayal.
Nickel reads her imaginative picture-book biography of Hans Christian Andersen in a fairy-tale tone. She weaves the facts of the famous storyteller’s life together with a sense of whimsy, stressing rhythms and repetitions that captivate. It’s as if she embodies the storytelling spirit of the poor shoemaker’s son who possessed a nose “two times as long” and a heart “two times as tender” as everyone else around him. Nickel’s narration and writing are as inventive as Andersen, who, when rejected by theaters, dance studios, and choirs, created cut-paper characters while he told children his tales. The man who saw himself as an ugly duckling is finally admired as “the most beautiful swan of all.”
A perfect portrayal. (Picture-book biography. 5-7)Pub Date: March 3, 2026
Duration: 6 mins
DD ISBN: 9798898851132
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: April 21, 2026
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