Narrator Eric Mok strikes just the right tone as 11-year-old Danny Chung in this sweet middle-grade audiobook. Danny's parents spring a surprise on him: His grandmother from China, whom he's never met, arrives to live with them in England. She's going to be sharing Danny's room, and they can barely communicate with each other. Mok delivers Nai Nai's mix of Chinese and English and captures Danny's frustration at being on Nai Nai duty when he'd rather be drawing comics with his best friend, Ravi. But the more misadventures Danny and Nai Nai get up to together, the more he comes to appreciate his grandmother, who turns out to be, among other things, a whiz at bingo. It's a satisfying intergenerational story that balances the silly and the serious.
(Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: June 6, 2023
Duration: 4 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9798212379649
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Live Oak Media recently caught our attention with this new read-along book and cassette program. We listened first, and were so delighted we couldn't wait to get the book. The picture book made the experience even better, but the audio recordings was strong and vibrant by itself. THE GARDENER, Sarah Stewart's Depression-era story of a young girl sent to live with her Uncle Jim in the city has a sweet, wistful quality with narration alone, but coupled with David Small's soft-edged pencil illustration, it's a total delight. The reading is repeated on both sides of the tape, one with and without page-turning signals.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: N/A
Publisher: Live Oak Media
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Mirai's renderings of Kestrel, her family, and fellow workers at the institute thoughtfully depict the protagonists' growth.
Kestrel and her mother leave the home in California they share with Kestrel's grandfather, a pastor, to stay at a wildlife conservation institute in Montana. Narrator Mirai's youthful voice is a natural fit for this story of a young girl who at first resents being tricked into leaving California, but who later comes to realize that moving away from their strict home life was the right choice. Mirai employs distinctive voices for the adults, like Kestrel's stern grandfather and her uncertain mother, who begins gaining confidence. An author's note at the end discusses emotional abuse and how to find help.
Mirai's renderings of Kestrel, her family, and fellow workers at the institute thoughtfully depict the protagonists' growth. (Verse fiction. 9-14)Pub Date: May 26, 2026
Duration: 2 hrs, 42 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668175507
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2026
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