[Editor’s Note: The following is a combined review with IRENE, LA VALIENTE (BRAVE IRENE) and SE VENDEN GORRAS (CAPS FOR SALE).]--These Spanish translations of well-loved children's books come complete with superbly produced audio counterparts. All the stories offer appropriate background music with animated, ear-catching narrators, who will add to any child's listening and reading pleasure, in addition to providing excellent language instruction for younger learners. In IRENE, LA VALIENTE (BRAVE IRENE) a raging snowstorm offers many challenges to young Irene as she seeks to deliver a ball gown that her mother has just finished for the duchess. Susan Rybin offers this translation with zest, clarity, and a light-hearted, child-like quality. Her diction is precise and moderately paced so that the Spanish learner or native speaker can follow with ease. Music and sound effects punctuate this charming performance. In SE VENDEN GORRAS (CAPS FOR SALE) an itinerant cap vendor wakes up from a nap to find his pile of caps has disappeared from his head onto the heads of numerous monkeys chattering from the tree above. This Reading Rainbow classic features music throughout, with an enthusiastic performance by Angel Pineda. His pacing and attention to detail are impeccable, including a superb rendition of an echoing voice moving down a hillside as the cap seller continues on his way. The story of OWEN asks how Owen's parents will help him relinquish his beloved blanket and silence Mrs. Tweezers's constant chiding. This delightful tale unfolds with playful background music and sound effects that underscore perfectly the many distinct voices created by narrator Blanca Camacho. Her tone of voice is especially well suited to the very young listener/reader. Each Live Oak Media and Weston Woods Studio production includes a cassette with the entire story on each side. Side One comes with instructions and page-turning signals; Side Two has no signals. The Weston Woods cassettes are accompanied by durable hardback books while the Live Oak’s package includes high-quality paperbacks. Children, parents, and teachers alike will treasure these enchanting read-alongs.
Ages 4-6Pub Date: Jan. 22, 1999
Duration: 7 mins
Publisher: Weston Woods Studios
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Liam Aiken narrates this prequel to the Series of Unfortunate Events in a somber, deadpan tone that heightens its dark humor. As a teenaged Lemony Snicket investigates a series of arsons in a town called Stain’d-by-the-Sea, Aiken creates voices that delineate character and help keep clear the large cast of Snicket’s associates, enemies, and enemies that turn out to be associates. Aiken’s tone of quiet urgency will keep listeners hooked through wordplay, mysteries, good meals, romance, and the appearance of a new villain named Hangfire, who hoodwinks adults, frames a librarian, and kidnaps all the children in town. This smart and funny listen will please Snicket fans and create new ones.
(Mystery. 8-14)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2014
Duration: 6 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781478955733
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
While narrator Liam Aiken evokes the wistful, dolorous tone of Snicket’s second mystery in his All the Wrong Questions series, he fails to deliver Snicket’s signature snark with appropriate vigor. In this episode, the main character, 12-year-old Lemony Snicket, continues the investigations that began in STAIN’D BY THE SEA with the case of the missing chemist, Cleo Knight. As Aiken delivers Snicket’s declarative sentences in a deadpan voice, his remote reading keeps listeners distant from the story. Furthermore, Aiken does not always play up the quirks of the town’s eccentric characters. When he does use individualized voicings, the story shakes off its languidness to some degree. Aiken’s melancholy narration echoes Snicket’s loneliness but doesn’t enliven the recording for young listeners. An attached PDF file includes the character Seth’s illustrations.
(Mystery. 8-14)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2013
Duration: 4 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781478924845
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
