An inspiring listen for budding environmentalists and for kids who love nature and science.
Kirby Heyborne narrates this hopeful exploration of why birds are so important to the planet in a tone of gentle amazement. Chapters focus on different ecosystems around the world and the crucial roles birds play in them, along with warnings about what might happen to those ecosystems (and to us) if the birds disappear. Young listeners learn about bird species that have gone extinct, often because of human activity, and about the groundbreaking conservation work people are doing today. Heyborne expertly delivers the many facts and conveys the author’s humor, but a periodic xylophone trill that indicates what might be a sidebar in the print book is intrusive.
An inspiring listen for budding environmentalists and for kids who love nature and science. (Nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 3, 2026
Duration: 4 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781668658031
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: March 25, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
Playful music and Emma Lysy's cheerful narration animate this brief but thoroughly enchanting audiobook for young listeners. The whimsical story unfolds as Little Star can't resist slipping out of bed every night to nibble on the delicious mooncake that her mother baked and hung in the sky to cool. In a story reminiscent of trickster folklore, Little Star's mischievous nibbling slowly diminishes the big, round mooncake in an imaginative allegory of the phases of the waning moon. Lysy's lively delivery enhances the growing sense of anticipation as Little Star wonders whether her mother notices the changes with each passing night. This is a delightful listening experience, and Grace Lin's Caldecott Honor award-winning picture-book illustrations can provide a stunning visual complement.
(Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Dec. 29, 2020
Duration: 4 mins
DD ISBN: 9781549104497
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Shy, unpopular Code is miserable when his grandfather disappears. His life goes from bad to bizarre when, on a school field trip, he trips over a hole and winds up in Mek Mound—once an ancient Okalahoman pyramid, now a land of metallic robots that threaten Earth. David Ackroyd’s narration is solid and precise. He gives a human sound to a myriad of robot personalities—a windy-voiced curmudgeon of an inventor, Code’s chatty robot buddy, and their threatening nemesis, Immortalis. Ackroyd delivers Code’s fears and hopes, as well as moments of humor, as he searches for a way to free his grandfather and vanquish the mechanical villains.
Ages 8+Pub Date: Jan. 11, 2011
Duration: 4 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9780307915245
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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