sweet2ndchance Posted July 29, 2022 Share Posted July 29, 2022 I'm looking for any suggestions, either actual audiobooks or search terms to use, to find books that have voice acting. Ds has made it known that he likes the audiobooks where either the reader uses different voices for the characters or that have a full cast of people for the voices. He says it is easier for him to follow the story when there are different voices. Right now, his favorite audiobook is Minecraft: The Island by Max Brooks and read by Jack Black. He likes the second book MineCraft: The Mountain read by Sean Astin too but not as much as he likes the one read by Jack Black. He likes video games obviously and stories with animals that talk or just have animals in general. He likes dragons and imaginary creatures too. So any suggestions for audiobooks he might like or how I might find audiobooks with voice acting? We have an audible subscription but I'm willing to look elsewhere as well. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resilient Posted July 29, 2022 Share Posted July 29, 2022 Best ever: LOTR read by Rob Inglis. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted July 29, 2022 Share Posted July 29, 2022 1 hour ago, Resilient said: Best ever: LOTR read by Rob Inglis. True. 13 different dwarf voices! And the songs! OP, I agree with your ds, but it often seems to be hit or miss. We've found a line of Agatha Christie that are casted, but I'm guessing he wouldn't be all that interested (yet, anyway). In the past we enjoyed Neil Gaiman books read by the author, he kind of had different voices for each character. Maybe "Fortunately the Milk" as a trial? 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bookbard Posted July 30, 2022 Share Posted July 30, 2022 We got a good version of The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier which had different voice actors - it was slightly abridged though (it may have been the radio play version). In Australia and UK it's a book a lot of us did at school, very exciting war story. Fortunately the Milk is a great book - didn't know it was an audiobook but would be great as one. We've listened to Animal Farm with a full cast - my 9 yr old really enjoyed it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted July 30, 2022 Share Posted July 30, 2022 Hands down, best option is World War Z. I'm not even into the zombie thing, but a friend said I had to listen to it. The amazing thing is that major league actors voice their characters. I'd listen to it and think, "That can't really be so-and-so" Yup, it was. When I say actors voice Their characters, I mean it. The author is Max Brooks and he knows these actors because he's Mel Brooks son. He wrote the characters is if the actor was really in that situation so the dialogue is what they would naturally say. Plus, good story. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knitgrl Posted July 31, 2022 Share Posted July 31, 2022 Years ago, my oldest ds and I listened to some of the Jan Karon Mitford books on CD. He was about 10. To my surprise, we both thoroughly enjoyed John MacDonough's voicing of the characters. (And there were a lot of them.) Our library catalog indicates he's also read Wicked, Poppi and Ragweed by Avi, and Freddy the Ignoramus by Walter Brooks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted July 31, 2022 Share Posted July 31, 2022 The two audiobooks we were obsessed with when my kids were younger were Fortunately, the Milk and Fake Mustache. In Fake Mustache, there are two readers for the two main characters. How is he with Jim Dale's Harry Potter versions? Dale does those voices. And he narrates some Dickens as well. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Keeper Posted July 31, 2022 Share Posted July 31, 2022 James and the Giant Peach, narrated by Jeremy Irons. All the characters as so well done! It's a family favorite. 🙂 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carriede Posted July 31, 2022 Share Posted July 31, 2022 Winnie the Pooh. It's not just for preschoolers. 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet2ndchance Posted August 1, 2022 Author Share Posted August 1, 2022 I've tried getting him interested in Harry Potter and he's just not there yet. Sigh. Lots of good suggestions I will be taking to the library with me this week though. Thank you all! 😄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forty-two Posted August 1, 2022 Share Posted August 1, 2022 The Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians series, written by Brandon Sanderson and narrated by Ramon de Ocampo, is very entertaining - I genuinely prefer the audiobooks to the print books, the narration is so good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haanz Posted August 1, 2022 Share Posted August 1, 2022 Audible has some Audible Originals for kids that are narrated by a full cast--Interview with the Robot, Riley Mack, and the Zero G series. Restart by Gordon Kramer is also full-cast narration and very well done. The Hero's Guide series narrated by Bronson Pinchot and The Wizards of Once series narrated by David Tennant are repeated listens for my kids. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy the Valiant Posted August 2, 2022 Share Posted August 2, 2022 OP, our library calls the full-cast ones "audio drama" (vs. audio books). Focus on the Family has some EXCELLENT classic literature audio dramas (radio dramas - especially their Narnia & Silas Marner), and we've enjoyed both Lamplighter Theater and also Heirloom Audio. (And for Winnie the Pooh - YES! The Peter Dennis Piglet is THE Piglet!) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarita Posted August 2, 2022 Share Posted August 2, 2022 On 7/31/2022 at 5:20 PM, sweet2ndchance said: I've tried getting him interested in Harry Potter and he's just not there yet. Sigh. Not to be discouraging but I never got there. I really liked LOTR, which was why I tried starting Harry Potter, but nope I guess I'm not that into fantasy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy the Valiant Posted August 2, 2022 Share Posted August 2, 2022 And for Shakespeare - hands down, Arkangel version (full audio cast, and most libraries carry them on CD). 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet2ndchance Posted August 2, 2022 Author Share Posted August 2, 2022 3 hours ago, Clarita said: Not to be discouraging but I never got there. I really liked LOTR, which was why I tried starting Harry Potter, but nope I guess I'm not that into fantasy. I've been a total Harry Potter fan since the first book even though I was an adult when they first came out lol. My other kids grew up listening to the stories and love them too. Oddly enough, as if it is his mission in life to make me a liar lol, he asked me to read HP to him last night because my rule is you have to read (or in his case listen to since he is dyslexic) the book before watching the movie. He wants to watch the movie so he kept asking for one more chapter. I read the first 4 total to him and we will be getting the audiobook when we go to the library lol. Now LOTR, I want to like it. I loved the movies and have watched them many times over. But every time I try to read the book I fall asleep and can't get into it lol. Go figure. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted August 2, 2022 Share Posted August 2, 2022 12 hours ago, sweet2ndchance said: my rule is you have to read (or in his case listen to since he is dyslexic) the book before watching the movie. I have the same rule. I learned my lesson with the Unfortunate Events series. We started out listening to it, then watched some of the TV series. Then I couldn't get her to finish the book series because she said "Why? I'd rather just watch it" Interesting news on the Brandon Sanderson series. I am reading all of his stuff now. Generally whether it is ebook or audiobooks depends on which version the library has, but for that they have both. Since I read before bed, I also don't like to ebook read anything upsetting. So no Dean Koontz on ebook. When I finish Mistborn series I was going to start on the Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians. I had been leaning towards ebooking it, but now I'll do the audiobook. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted August 2, 2022 Share Posted August 2, 2022 12 hours ago, sweet2ndchance said: Now LOTR, I want to like it. I loved the movies and have watched them many times over. But every time I try to read the book I fall asleep and can't get into it lol. Go figure. I once saw a parody of LOTR that really captured it. Others will probably recognize which one I'm talking about. It was hysterical because the parody would be them describing something and then "walk walk walk walk walk" There is a lot of walking around that makes it good for falling asleep. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted August 3, 2022 Share Posted August 3, 2022 We have made a habit of listening to the Harry Potter recordings on long road trips. It is so good! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted August 3, 2022 Share Posted August 3, 2022 On 7/31/2022 at 6:52 PM, carriede said: Winnie the Pooh. It's not just for preschoolers. This! The multi cast version is excellent! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted August 3, 2022 Share Posted August 3, 2022 Seconding the multi-cast Chronicles of Narnia and anything by Jim Dale. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PIE! Posted August 6, 2022 Share Posted August 6, 2022 (edited) Skyward by Brandon Sanderson is excellent in audio book format. The same narrator also does The Mystwick School of Musicraft which is also excellent. Edited August 7, 2022 by PIE! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storygirl Posted August 8, 2022 Share Posted August 8, 2022 I recently listened to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and loved it so much that I recommended it to DH, who also loved it (my teens aren't into audiobooks, or I would recommend it to them, as well.) Not only are there different voices for different characters, but there are some sound effects as well. Utterly delightful. The same with the full-cast version of Charlotte's Web. Meryl Streep does the general narration, but there are around 30 other actors. Each animal -- even babies that only have a few lines -- gets it's own actor. Loved it so much. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted August 9, 2022 Share Posted August 9, 2022 On 8/6/2022 at 5:55 PM, PIE! said: The same narrator also does The Mystwick School of Musicraft which is also excellent. A work friend who is a fellow audiobook nut just recommended this to me. It is amazing! When people in the book are making music, the audiobook has the music! Plus, it is on Audible Plus (so free). There is also a Book 2 and Book 0.5. One thing funny, DD was at Camp Grandparents and I recommended that book to her on Skype. Stupid autocorrect changed it to "Just Sick". 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted August 9, 2022 Share Posted August 9, 2022 4 hours ago, shawthorne44 said: A work friend who is a fellow audiobook nut just recommended this to me. It is amazing! When people in the book are making music, the audiobook has the music! Plus, it is on Audible Plus (so free). There is also a Book 2 and Book 0.5. One thing funny, DD was at Camp Grandparents and I recommended that book to her on Skype. Stupid autocorrect changed it to "Just Sick". Both of my kids LOVED mystwick school of musicraft and the sequel. (Not so much 0.5) And listen to them in their repetoire of books they re-listen to 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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