"She shimmied. She shook. Sparks flew.” Like Josephine Baker herself, Lizan Mitchell's narration dazzles with verve and vivacity. The story of Baker's uninhibited rags-to-riches life is told in poetic, often staccato, sentences that Mitchell delivers with gusto, punctuating the action in a volcanic life that "erupted into the Roaring Twenties." Though Baker’s life was often tumultuous and was marred by the practice of segregation, this upbeat presentation is matched by Mitchell’s theatrical performance. A haven from segregation, Paris was pivotal in Baker's life, and the frequent use of French phrases poses no problem for Mitchell, who delivers them flawlessly. The concluding Artist’s Note will leave listeners yearning for a look at the brightly illustrated companion book. L.T. 2015 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
(Poetry/biography. 6-12)Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2014
Duration: 40 mins
DD ISBN: 9781470383886
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Ken Coleman's expertise as a baseball announcer enriches this history of the Boston Red Sox since the sale of Babe Ruth to the N.Y. Yankees. He leads off with a grim account of this transaction, which started the curse that has plagued the Red Sox ever since. The sermon-like tone will amuse non-believers and comfort listeners who are certain the team is cursed. Like the ups and downs of Boston's play through the years, the narrator's voice fluctuates--exuberant and then despondent--in tone and tempo accurately reflecting the mood of any given baseball season. The narrator is very successful at conveying the emotional roller coaster ride Red Sox fans have endured as a result of the curse of the Bambino.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: HighBridge Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
A perfect portrayal.
Nickel reads her imaginative picture-book biography of Hans Christian Andersen in a fairy-tale tone. She weaves the facts of the famous storyteller’s life together with a sense of whimsy, stressing rhythms and repetitions that captivate. It’s as if she embodies the storytelling spirit of the poor shoemaker’s son who possessed a nose “two times as long” and a heart “two times as tender” as everyone else around him. Nickel’s narration and writing are as inventive as Andersen, who, when rejected by theaters, dance studios, and choirs, created cut-paper characters while he told children his tales. The man who saw himself as an ugly duckling is finally admired as “the most beautiful swan of all.”
A perfect portrayal. (Picture-book biography. 5-7)Pub Date: March 3, 2026
Duration: 6 mins
DD ISBN: 9798898851132
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: yesterday
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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