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April 24, 2007

Bruce Coville: Experiencing Literature Aurally

I was very excited to hear that Bruce Coville was coming to the NJLA Conference. For years my kids and I have read and listened to his books. More recently, I have become a fan of his company, Full Cast Audio, and the works they produce. Full Cast Audio is, as the name indicates, a book that is performed by a full cast. But the readings are not dramatic abridgements: they stay true to the original text. As Bruce said in his presentation, full cast narration is like "creating a movie from the book without screwing up the plot."

Bruce is a strong proponent of audiobooks for both adults and children. He became interested in audiobooks during a cross-country trip with his 14-year-old daughter. The books they listened to were a highlight of the trip. Bruce recommended that all families listen to audiobooks on family trips. The family car is the last place where all the family spends time together. Rather than each member being isolated, with kids watching DVDs in the back seat, families can share the joy of listening to audiobooks together. (I know that my family's yearly trip to Maine would have been much less pleasant without the large stack of audiobooks we cart along with us!)

Here is some of the history of the audiobook. The first audiobooks were created 75 years ago by the Foundation for the Blind. In 1952 the first commercial audiobook was recorded. It was Dylan Thomas reading "A Child's Christmas in Wales." In 1975 the first unabridged audiobook was released and the market has only grown since then. One statistic: when the daily commute grows to 45 minutes, the use of audiobooks explode.

Bruce recommended some audiobook companies: Listening Library, Books on Tape, Recorded Books, Harper Collins, BBC Audio, Live Oak Media, and Simon & Schuster. In the past year other companies like Scholastic have begun to release their books on audio.

During the presentation Bruce talked about using audiobooks in schools (although many ideas can also be used in public libraries.) Educators tend to frown on audiobooks. Audiobooks are fun, and there are those that think there shouldn't be pleasure in education, and that if kids are enjoying themselves, they are not working hard enough.

Here are some of Bruce's suggestions for things to do with kids with audiobooks. He gave ten, but although I took notes as fast as I could I only came up with 9. Did anyone else at the presentation get the tenth?

1If a parent comes in and asks for homework, as the child will be out for several days, assign them an audiobook to listen to as a family, and then discuss.

2. If a child is home sick, give him or her an audiobook to listen to. Too much TV is bad for the eyes (and the brain!)

3. Audiobooks are valuable for modeling expressive reading.

4. Books and audiobooks used together have broken the code of how to read.

5. Use audiobooks to teach listening skills.

6. Teachers can buy time by having class listen to audiobook.

7. Audiobooks equalize the classroom experience: all students can enjoy the book at same level, regardless of reading skill.

8. Audiobooks can fill in spaces during the school day.

9. Audiobooks can serve as a reward.

Bruce reminded us that many of the greatest works, like those of Homer, were meant to be heard and that audiobooks were a continuation of this tradition.

Bruce will also be appearing at the Garden State Book Awards Luncheon on Wednesday, and will be autographing books in the bookstore in the afternoon. Check the bookstore for exact times.

More information about Bruce Coville

Posted by mowyn at April 24, 2007 7:26 PM

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