Alright, well, here goes nothing. Here is my first attempt at posting something that might be relevant to any visitors that wander this way.
Here is a site I've discovered that I recommend. It's called Storyline Online and it host videos where famous actors read picture books aloud. It kind of reminds me a bit of the show 'Reading Rainbow'. I've listened to several and I was quite impressed! The actors read with passion and expression. The book illustrations were shown in a relevant fashion (some with simple added animation) and the actors occasionally used props, but it was really the expressive reading that stands out. The actors make the stories even better by creating accents or changing their voices as appropriate.
There are currently less than 25 books up, so there isn't a large selection, but they've made good choices on the books that they do have. A couple of them I had on my Preschool Literature page, and I added links on those entries to direct people to Storyline Online, in case people are interested.
Of the books I listened to, two were books I had been debating about adding to my Preschool Literature list. The first is "A Bad Case of Stripes" (listen to it here).
Here is a site I've discovered that I recommend. It's called Storyline Online and it host videos where famous actors read picture books aloud. It kind of reminds me a bit of the show 'Reading Rainbow'. I've listened to several and I was quite impressed! The actors read with passion and expression. The book illustrations were shown in a relevant fashion (some with simple added animation) and the actors occasionally used props, but it was really the expressive reading that stands out. The actors make the stories even better by creating accents or changing their voices as appropriate.
There are currently less than 25 books up, so there isn't a large selection, but they've made good choices on the books that they do have. A couple of them I had on my Preschool Literature page, and I added links on those entries to direct people to Storyline Online, in case people are interested.
Of the books I listened to, two were books I had been debating about adding to my Preschool Literature list. The first is "A Bad Case of Stripes" (listen to it here).
I had originally been planning to add this book to my Preschool Lit. selections, but, after reading some of the reviews, chose not to include it. It is a best seller on Amazon, but has a lower star rating than I would normally allow. Perhaps it deserves an inclusion over some of the less well known stories I picked, but I'm not positive of this. According to some reviews (and I can see their point), this is simply a 'scary' book. Some children, especially very sensitive ones, could be frightened by the illness that strikes the main character. The doctors are also certainly not shown in a good light and this might make it more difficult to get a child to see a doctor when it is needed. The moral (don't conform, be yourself) isn't very obvious to a small child, unless it is pointed out by a parent. These problems, combined, excluded the story from my list. However, it's a good book, a creative story and with lovely illustrations, so if a parent is confident that their child can handle these issues, I'd recommend it.
The other book I'd been considering adding to my list is 'Library Lion' (listen to it here).
The other book I'd been considering adding to my list is 'Library Lion' (listen to it here).
This is an easier book to talk about because I agree with the multitude that this is an excellent book which should be on my Preschool Lit. list. It had pinged on my radar at one point and it had fallen to 'runner up' category simply due to the fact that I had never read it. After listening to it read on the Storyline Online site, I changed my mind and feel it should definitely be included on my list. The story revolves around a lion who enjoys being at the library and helping out, despite the uncertainty of everyone else around him. In the end, the message appears to be that a person should conform to the rules, unless there is an emergency, in which case exceptions can and should be made. There is also an additional message about accepting those who are different. It's a sweet book and I can see why so many people love it.