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What are your favorite librivox recordings?


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Their site is hard to really search. I've come up with a potential list. Would you be so kind as to add yours?

 

Our Island Story – Part 1

Our Island Story – Part 2

Our Island Story was first published in 1905 and became an instant classic. Beginning with the Romans and following the triumphs and foibles of the good, not so good and the downright despicable figures of history; we are treated to a dazzling montage of kings, queens, barons, knights, explorers, movers and shakers that have played a key role in the history of England. Marshall freely mixes folk tale with historical fact and in so doing paints a very vivid picture of the past in a style reminiscent of all that is finest in the children’s story telling tradition.This is the first section of that work and will carry you from the time when Tacitus first sang the praises of Britannica to his Roman readers up to the vicious and bloodthirsty confusion that is the War of the Roses (about 1500 years).

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

This much-loved story follows a group of animal friends in the English countryside as they pursue adventure … and as adventure pursues them! The chief characters - Mole, Rat, and Toad - generally lead upbeat and happy lives, but their tales are leavened with moments of terror, homesickness, awe, madcap antics, and derring-do.

The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame

What would you do if you discovered a dragon living in a cave on a hill above your home? Make friends, read poetry together? It turns out that not all dragons are intent on pillaging the countryside. Some might actually enjoy peace, quiet, and the occasional banquet. The Boy of this story knows how to handle dragons, and life is good… until a knight in shining armor arrives in town to exterminate his friend! It doesn’t matter that it’s a “good” dragon — rules are rules, you know!

Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates

Mary Mapes Dodge created an instant bestseller with “Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates.” She wanted the book to be partly a book of travels and partly a domestic story. It is a tale written for children that adults also find interesting and uplifting. Dodge writes as if she is sending a series of letters from Holland to children in America, and her you-are-there perspective is aided by a nice attention to detail and vivid imagery.

 

The Brinkers are a poor but stoic family under a dark cloud - Raff, the man of the house, fell from the dikes while reinforcing them during a bad storm, and for ten years he has been in a vegetative state. With no steady income, the family’s lot is grinding poverty. Despite their unfortunate circumstances, Hans and Gretel are cheerful children, yet always attentive to the needs of their mother and their present-but-not-really-there father. Their social standing is very low, but they both attract firm friends, even among the gentry, for their honesty, industry, and good-heartedness.

 

Then a glorious skating race is proposed for the town of Broek, with the prize a pair of silver skates for both the winning boy and girl. In the weeks leading up to the race, we follow the adventures of five of the local boys who are showing a visiting relative from England the sights of the Netherlands. Hans improbably meets the one man who might be able to heal his father, and somehow Hans finds a way to afford some skates so that he and Gretel can enter the race.

 

This all leads up to a dramatic, moving, and entirely satisfactory conclusion. “Hans Brinker” hits a series of high notes and encourages children to cultivate and display their finer qualities.

 

Famous Men of Greece

Famous Men of Greece is a series of biographical sketches written for the purpose of making the study of history lively and interesting by giving insight into the men who lived during this time.

 

Famous Men of Rome

Famous Men of Rome is a series of biographical sketches written for the purpose of making the study of history lively and interesting by giving insight into the men who lived during this time.

Famous Men of the Middle Ages

Famous Men of Modern Times

Aesop’s Fables

The Story of Dr. Dolittle

In The Story of Doctor Dolittle (1920), the first of Hugh Lofting’s Doctor Dolittle books, we are introduced to the good doctor who gives up treating people after Polynesia, his parrot, teaches him animal languages. His fame in the animal kingdom spreads throughout the world and soon he sets off to cure a monkey epidemic in Africa, finding all sorts of exciting adventures on the way.

 

The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle

Doctor John Dolittle is the central character of a series of children’s books by Hugh Lofting. He is a doctor who shuns human patients in favour of animals, with whom he can speak in their own languages. He later becomes a naturalist, using his abilities to speak with animals to better understand nature and the history of the world.

Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories

The Just So Stories for Little Children, first published in 1902, were written by British author Rudyard Kipling. They are a collection of fantastic stories, typically about how various animals came to be the way they are today.

Fifty Famous Stories Retold (James Baldwin)

Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin is a collection of short stories that give a snapshot into the life of a legendary hero or an event in history. Hear how Alexander the Great tamed Bucephalus, the kindness of Doctor Goldsmith, William Tell, George Washington and his hatchet, King Alfred as well as many other interesting tales.

Men of Iron (Howard Pyle)

Men of Iron by Howard Pyle is historical fiction that transports us back to the 1400’s, a time of knighthood and chivalry. Myles Falworth is eight years old when news comes they must flee their home. His blind father is accused of treason. We see Myles grow up, train as a knight, and with perseverance, clear his father of any wrong-doing and restore their family name.

Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (Howard Pyle)

Robin Hood is the archetypal English folk hero; a courteous, pious and swashbuckling outlaw of the mediæval era who, in modern versions of the legend, is famous for robbing the rich to feed the poor and fighting against injustice and tyranny. He operates with his “seven score” (140 strong) group of fellow outlawed yeomen – named the Merry Men. He and his band are usually associated with Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire.

 

Otto of the Silver Hand (Howard Pyle)

The story of little Otto, a gentle, peace-loving child born into the heart of turmoil and strife in the castle of a feuding robber baron in medieval Germany.

 

Robinson Crusoe Written Anew for Children (James Baldwin)

Adaptation of the story of Robinson Crusoe for grammar school children. Tells how the shipwrecked sailor makes a new life for himself on the island, providing shelter, food, and clothing for himself from the few tools he rescued from the ship and what he is able to find on the island. He lives on the island over twenty years before he is finally rescued and during that time must re-invent almost everything necessary for daily sustenance.

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Complete Beatrix Potter Stories

 

Lucy Maud Montgomery Books (Anne of Green Gables, etc.)

 

Thornton Burgess Animal Stories (Burgess Animal Book, Burgess Bird Book, etc.)

 

Our Island Story is also one we have. :)

 

Oh yes, and I forgot to add that this guy on ebay (http://tinyurl.com/5jg4ou) sells them already in CD/MP3 format for a very small price. But if you are not interested in buying from him, you can certainly use his listings as a guide for what you want to download yourself. :) I have purchased from this man and was very satisfied. (And no, I don't get anything from him! - Just sharing info. :))

 

ETA: Someone PMed me to let me know the link did not work for her so here is the seller's main page: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZcompcare_yak

 

The seller's name is compcare_yak

 

HTH!

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...everything read by Kara Schallenberg, especially The Secret Garden and part of This County of Ours. With Librivox, SO MUCH depends on the reader because the quality varies tremendously. If you're looking at Men of Iron, check your library first. Robert Whitfield, one of our favorite readers, has read that for Blackstone Audiobooks, and my dd loves it. :)

 

Happy listening!

 

Layla McB

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There is also the blue fairy book (and other fairy books), Pinocchio, Peter Pan and the Velveteen Rabbit. I have downloaded many books and organized them but that is all. The only one I have burned is the reluctant dragon for dd6 who loves dragons.

 

This could be a very easy way to do Ambleside. I might introduce a few stories from each book and then download the others. My dd listens to books at night in bed.

 

Also, more books are Uncle Remus and a Child's Garden of Verses.

 

If you'll go to browse books, advanced search and then choose genre and children's books, you may have a little better luck on finding children's books.

 

Paula

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  • 5 months later...

We like the Oz books from LibriVox. Here's Little Wizard Stories. Here is The Emerald City. Searching their catalog for Oz should call up all of them.

 

I sorted out all the fairy tales that Plaid Dad recommended in LCC1, and they're here by title.

 

There's some Edith Nesbit on LibriVox too.

 

Kipling's Captains Courageous is there, and Just So Stories.

 

Oh, and we found The Colors of Space by Marion Zimmer Bradley there, too.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 3 months later...

I'll add my updated list with Nathan's comments

 

Alice in Wonderland (very, very good and unabridged)

 

Beatrix Potter

 

Andersen's Fairy Tales (pretty good)

 

Blue, Lilac and Yellow Fairy Books (good but boring at times)

 

all L. Frank Baum (very very surprising and funny)

 

Golden Goose (fairy tales)

 

Iliad for Boys and Girls (really good -- a lot of description, like Mr. Adjective from Grammar Land book)

 

Junior Classics (little boring)

 

Life of Claus (very good, full of adjectives)

 

Through the Looking Glass (just as good as Alice...)

 

Master Meadow Mouse

Tale of Peter Mink

Tale of Daddy Longlegs

Tale of Tommy Fox

Timothy Turtle

 

(all of these are nice, funny and full of tricks)

 

Stories Mother Nature Told

 

Thornton Burgess books

 

Peter Pan (funny, full of jokes)

 

Princess and the Goblin (funny and tricksy)

 

Tales from Shakespeare (full of tricks and accents)

 

Velveteen Rabbit

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Hi Dawn,

 

Which version? There's (version 2) and (version 3).

:D I'm gonna try it.

 

Nathan listened to Version 1. Version 2 is heavily abridged. It doesn't look like version 3 has been abridged -- it's just a different reader.

 

You could compare the voices and see which you like best.

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  • 1 year later...

I don't remember what I put before, but Nathan keeps listening to these:

 

L. Frank Baum (all of them)

 

Thornton W. Burgess (animal stories)

Arthur Scott Bailey (animal stories)

 

Andersen's Fairy Tales

Blue Fairy Book

Lilac Fairy Book

Yellow Fairy Book

 

Alice in Wonderland

Through the Looking Glass

 

Peter Pan

 

The Princess and the Goblin

 

Bump :)

 

I'm planning and found this old thread. Anyone have any more to add?

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I am glad this thread keeps popping up!

 

Yesterday, the anniversary of Beatrix Potter's birthday, we enjoyed listening to all nineteen tales in The Great Big Treasury of Beatrix Potter.

 

My dd is listening to Alice in Wonderland as we speak. I have downloaded Through the Looking Glass and am working on part 1 of This Country of Ours. I have more bookmarked to be downloaded at a future date. Lots more! :D

 

Thanks Dawn for starting this thread!

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Thanks for reviving the post. My girls have just started listening to Librivox at rest time and I was wondering what I was going to let them listen to next.

 

So far we have done Secret garden and Little women.

 

I have to write these all down!

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I had never heard of this site! I'm SO excited to have found this thread! Thanks so much for bumping it up. Good audiobooks are hard to come by at our library and are out of my budget for the most part. This is going to transform our home school plans for this year!

 

:grouphug: to all of you who've been posting your favs!!!

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How is the sound quality on these? I think I downloaded one a year ago and wasn't too thrilled with the sound on it. Was that a fluke?

 

It varies. I've also had other issues like a part of a file being missing or the voice skipping.

 

I suggest downloading the 128 file instead of the 64 whenever possible. I still ended up with one Beatrix Potter story sounding (mildly) like the reader was speaking into a tin can. (I think it was a BP story anyway...). It wasn't that bad though--just mildly annoying and it didn't seem to bother the kids. I could still understand what was being read.

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  • 2 weeks later...
What about for mom? Can we include those here? I like to listen to audiobooks while I run.

 

 

Yes! Any other "mom" suggestions? I started listening to Persuasion by Jane Austen yesterday while canning tomatoes. It really made the drudgery of canning enjoyable!

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  • 9 months later...
  • 2 months later...
Guest RuthieG

I am sorry that some of you find the LibriVox catalogue difficult to search. The site was designed some years ago, and it was probably not anticipated then how successful it would become - there are now over 4500 recordings available. Redesign plans are in hand. In the meantime, try the Advanced Search capabilities at https://catalog.librivox.org/visitor_advanced.php which allows more detailed searching. Or search for +"BOOK TITLE" +LibriVox on Google. That is usually very successful. Bear in mind, of course, that we can only record works that are out of copyright in the USA. This means, as a general rule, published before 1923.

 

LibriVox does not retire any audiobooks at all. I wonder if you are thinking of Childhood Favorites and Fairy Stories - quite an old recording, and I know that my contributions at least were of rather poor audio quality in those days. I should re-record, but time, time. You know how it is.

 

In the LibriVox Wiki there is a list of books on the Ambleside list that have been recorded by LibriVox. The list is not yet complete - something on my to-do list, but it can be found HERE.

 

RuthieG

LibriVox Admin

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LibriVox does not retire any audiobooks at all. I wonder if you are thinking of Childhood Favorites and Fairy Stories - quite an old recording,

 

It could be! I don't know, the kids have done something to my speakers so I can't try those files to find out. :glare:

 

But, yes, thank you for all your work. We :001_wub: Librivox!

 

Rosie

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  • 3 years later...

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