reading with my ears (again)

This past weekend, my better half and I drove more than 900 miles in three days. Most of those miles were the getting to and from McAllen, TX, in the Rio Grande valley, where I taught a YA lit class on Saturday. While we do spend a great deal of car trips in conversation, we also took time to listen to two short audiobooks. They provided even more fodder for the conversations. Here is the audio for the trip south.



THE BIPPOLO SEED AND OTHER LOST STORIES BY DR. SEUSS from Books on Tape was a trip down memory lane. Both the better half and I recalled watching a video of the newlywed, then about 4, "reading" GREEN EGGS AND HAM to her newly arrived baby sister. I love the cadence of Seuss and this audio captures it. Neil Patrick Harris is perfect for the title track. He is joined in this audio by Anjelica Huston, Joan Cusack, Edward Hermann and others reading individual stories. The afterward (which was the foreword in the book) by Seuss scholar Charles Cohen is a must listen as well. I plan to listen to this one on those days when a little rhythm, rhyme, and nonsense are just the ticket to dispel the stress of work. <516>



The drive north from the Valley was marked by the paying of PETER AND THE WOLF narrated by Jim Dale with the Seattle Symphony (Brilliance Audio 2011). Can Jim dale do wrong when it comes to narration. NO! This was also a trip down memory lane for me as I had a recording of Leonard Bernstein narrating PETER AND THE WOLF when I was young and fancied myself a conductor in the future (and I think I am not far from that come to think of it). <517>