This absorbing tale mixes scientific detail (explaining echo-location and bug-catching from a bat's perspective) with the world of fantasy (creatures can speak, and a war is brewing between the owl and bat kingdoms). SILVERWING also depicts the sometimes brutal reality of a wild world in which creatures may die of cold or be eaten by one another, and is better suited to older children or those listening with an adult. But adults and young listeners alike will appreciate John McDonough's outstanding narration, which creates great depth of character in the main cast while managing to distinguish the story's many "extras." McDonough makes the hours of listening fly.
Ages 8+Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2001
Duration: 7 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Gosage delivers these scientifically-sound oceanic anecdotes with an easy-listening appeal.
Narrator Ellie Gosage speaks to middle-grade listeners as a friend, her tone changing with each ocean-themed topic. Gosage’s conversational narration reflects the book’s plain language. Her tone ranges from amused, as in “Blubber Blunder,” about a town’s attempt to destroy an 8-ton whale carcass with a half-ton of dynamite, to impressed, as in “The (Dog’s) Nose Knows,” about one dog’s unique ability to locate floating whale poop from a half-mile away while on a boat. (The excrement is used to capture DNA information.) In a chapter about a grieving orca, Gosage’s narration is especially soulful.
Gosage delivers these scientifically-sound oceanic anecdotes with an easy-listening appeal. (10-12)Pub Date: Feb. 17, 2026
Duration: 3 hrs
DD ISBN: 9798217172764
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2026
Lyrical prose is the hallmark of this alliterative nonfiction ode to the earth's tropical, boreal, temperate, and kelp forests. Abigail Reno's narration is as soothing as the gentle music and nature sounds that accompany this top-notch production. In total, there are nine tracks, including the main story, the story with extra details, page-turn versions of each, and notes. The initial track is about 10 minutes, while the second has explanatory notes, for example, a discussion of a famed Japanese bamboo forest (complete with entrancing sound effects) and of Poland's enigmatic Bialowieza Forest, where all of the trees are in uniform "C" shapes. Reno's narration is equally compelling in the explanatory sections. Reno convincingly conveys the author's love and concern for the world's forests.
(Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
Duration: 1 hr
DD ISBN: 9798225060497
Publisher: Scholastic Audiobooks
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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