[Editor's Note: The following is a combined review with JACOB TWO-TWO AND THE DINOSAUR.]--The great Canadian author--best known for THE APPRENTICESHIP OF DUDDY KRAVITZ and JOSHUA THEN AND NOW--penned three juvenile novels featuring a neglected 6-year-old who says everything twice. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has done a marvelous job producing full-cast dramatizations of the first two of these novels. Narrated by Stephanie Morganstern, and featuring Jacob Daniel Tierney as Jacob, JACOB TWO-TWO AND THE DINOSAUR follows Jacob as he befriends a pet diplodocus (played by Vlasta Vrana) whom he must protect from the violent abuses of adult society. The story is simultaneously funny and touching, and always offbeat. In JACOB TWO-TWO MEETS THE HOODED FANG, the stammering 6-year-old is sent to prison at Slimer's Isle, ruled over by an evil pro-wrestler, the Hooded Fang. The story is simultaneously funny and touching, and always offbeat. These CBC productions, filled with music, sound effects, and dozens of voices, are top-top-notch.
Ages 6+Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2003
Duration: 1 hr
Publisher: CBC Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Reader Michael Prichard delivers a convincing rendition of Archie Goodwin, the burly right hand of the portly Nero Wolfe, world-renowned gourmand and detective. Prichard preserves the 1970s setting and 1950s origins of the story, bringing listeners a well-paced narration of murder and politics--a combination of elements that usually guarantees an exciting listen. This audio entertainment is as well formed and fragrant as one of Wolfe's hothouse orchids (the stout sleuth cultivates them by the hundreds in his town house greenhouse) as Goodwin walks us through an explosive murder investigation and political wheeling and dealing in a tough yet intelligent read.
Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2006
Duration: 5 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Audio Partners
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
This collection of eight short stories contains gentle tales of fantasy and magic--not the magic of wizards and wands, but of wishing mats and enormous cats and gifts brought by the winds. In a lovely English accent, Lizza Aiken quietly narrates these stories in which magic and good fortune often come to those who deserve it. Although her pitch changes little, she registers a range of emotions--from the sadness of a girl whose necklace of raindrops has been stolen to the joy of a child who moves from a hard life and a ramshackle trailer to a happy home amid the clouds. A NECKLACE OF RAINDROPS would make a soothing choice for a family car trip after a long day.
Ages 6+Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2016
Duration: 1 hr, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781101915721
Publisher: Listening Library
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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