for the love of audiobooks

Perhaps it's because I'm nearing the end of my all-too-short career as a school librarian... or maybe because I'm in the midst of the insanity that is Putting on a Book Fair... but here I am, pecking away at my poor, deserted blog again.

(Actually, the real truth of it is that I think I'm beginning to pester my colleagues a bit too much by posting my links and thoughts to our district forum, so I decided I'd better move to space where my readers are completely voluntary.)

So it's me again! Thanks for being here.

The final straw driving me here (what a lovely mixed metaphor that makes) is a quaint little article by Stephen King on audiobooks. I love what he has to say in support of the audio format, and I simply couldn't agree more. I've been thinking about this a bit more lately both because of my 5-year love affair with Books on Tape (thanks, Mom, for introducing us) and because I've recently found some great ones, and also because P and I have been brainstorming a good audiobook to take on our vacation this week.

(Funny story about our vacation: we're going to New Orleans. Why? Because we've never been there? Because it's a fun place to visit? Because we want to support the revitalization of its tourist trade? No. We picked New Orleans for our last pre-baby vacation because it happens to be just a far enough drive for us to listen to Dan Brown's Angels and Demons on the way. We're now reconsidering -- after a friend explained that he and his wife listened to a parenting book on their last pre-baby vacation... and that makes me feel guilty enough to have already scoured the library for copies of Dobson and such...)

Anyway, I think King's article resonates with me now more than ever because I've been subconsciously dealing with that question - is "listening" really "reading"? I get asked this question when my students are wondering if it'll count towards our reading incentive programs ("If I just listen to this Lone Star book on tape, does that still count and can I still be rewarded?"). In the past, my answer is most emphatically yes! (Most of my own reading is actually listening! I'd probably get fired for not doing my job if listening "didn't count"...) But then one day recently, I logged into our Accelerated Reader program to take a reading quiz, and - as if for the first time - I realized that AR does indeed make a definite distinction between reading "independently" and being "read to." And from a pedagogical standpoint, this makes sense; if we are assessing students' ability to read on their own, well, audiobooks don't really qualify. That's not to say they don't contribute to good literacy - but I guess they contribute in a different way. And here is how Mr. King (or Uncle Stevie?) illuminates for me that 'different way': "audio perfects reading," he writes. And indeed, it does (unless you're stuck with a stinker, that is). It expands our literacy in new directions, teaching us the art of listening (a lesson that some of my students could really use) as well as that of truly understanding a text.

I would love to provide my top ten audiobooks, but instead, I'll direct you back to King. He's undoubtedly a better authority on the subject - and I myself plan to put several of his on My List. But I am proud to see Jim Dale (as in Harry Potter) on his list, as those were The Audiobooks that first hooked me on the genre, and so my mantra is, "Never say no to Jim Dale."
But I'd also like to recommend A Great and Terrible Beauty (by Libba Bray). It's what I'm listening to now - and not only is it very well read, but the story is captivating. (When I started it, I felt like you do when you sink into a perfectly hot tub - "Sheesh - why don't I do this more often?")

Let me know what you think.