Tell Me a Story: Timeless Folktales from Around the World Audio CD – Audiobook, May 15, 2006

I bought this audiobook and "Tell Me a Story 2" audiobook for my two first graders. Both kids love the Geronimo Stilton series, however we only listen to those read by Edward Herrmann and we have just about worn them out. (Not to take anything away from other reader(s) but once you lock in on Mr. Herrman's character voices it is difficult to listen to any other rendition - he is fantastic and I highly recommend!) Each of the "Tell Me a Story" CDs has about 8 folktales from different parts of the world. The kids find that to be cool. The stories are both entertaining and educational. The readers really bring the characters to life...btw, when you have a moment, read the BIOs of the readers on the inserts. The kids ask to turn on the CD player immediately upon entering the car, and the stories captivate them in a way that only a parent behind the wheel can appreciate! They often ask about words or things they don't know: "What does 'snickered' mean?" "What does 'felt betrayed' mean?" "Is there really a city called Osaka?". Overall a great investment: entertaining, educational, captivating, and fewer back-seat cries of "...he's touching me!!" Negative? The hour or so of stories seems to go by fast and in just a few short car trips you are back to the first story. If your kids are like mine, you might want to have additional audiobooks or forms of entertainment available - depending of course on YOUR tolerance level.

I'm always on the lookout for a good cd or an audiobook to play in the car for the kids. The trick is finding something that your children will enjoy, and that will not compromise your sanity when you've heard it for the grazillionth time. This is one of those CD.I enjoy listening to it, and especially my 2 favorites - "a sense of theft" ( a smart, humoristic Yiddish story ) and "Boat man's howling daughter" in which the the narrator howls so joyfully and enthusiastically it makes me want to to trap a gang of robbers and howl as well - Yeee Haaaaaaaaaaawwwww!!!!!Each story is read by a different voice actor, and they do a good job of acting out the stories, but not overly so, if you know what I mean. You have stories from different parts of the world, so this would be a good way to introduce you child to different cultures. Though some stories have some drama in them, they do not contain ANY violence or cruelty ( like some of the most popular fairy tales do - like snow white or red riding hood) and are very appropriate even for young children. I would recommend this to 4-12 yrs old.

Wonderful and hypnotic is what I would call this. The first story I played for my two girls (6 and 8) in the car on the way to school. It was the first time they ever made it the whole ride in total silence. After just the FIRST story, they begged for me to play it again, but it was time for school. When I picked them up, they asked right away. So So this is what we have done the last three days; listen to a new story on the way to school. I'm only on the third, The Selkie Bride. My oldest daughter rushed into school and immediately began telling the tale to the first friend she ran into.I can't say enough good about this. The children are captivated and it provides great discussion topics, for example, after the SECOND time we listened to A Sense of Theft, I asked my daughters what they think the judge felt about the case against Zena. I, myself, had to run errands today and listened to the rest of the tales. The depth, the humor, the underlying celebration of the human spirit, all in such clever packages is something I will always enjoy bringing to my children.

The author first published a book of stories entitled "Tell Me a Story" (1993). She then published an "abridged" "audiobook" entitled, "Tell Me a Story: Timeless Folktales from Around the World (2006). There is also a Kindle version of this audiobook (but no paperback or hardback). The audio (by the same title) is labelled "abridged" audiobook. The Kindle "contains the 21 stories that appear on the first three CD Audiobooks in the Tell Me a Story series." The audiobook by the same name only has about 1/3 of the stories told in the Kindle version. The author then published "Tell Me a Story 2 (Animal Magic) (2007), which is listed as "Book 2 of 3 in the "Tell Me A Story Series". [Careful now the "Tell Me a Story" (1993) book is completely unrelated to the "Tell Me a Story Series”.] Tell Me a Story 2 is listed as the "unabridged" audiobook version of the "Tell Me a Story" (1993) book on Amazon, but it doesn't have any of the stories from that book. It contains another 1/3 of the stories from the Kindle Book (2006). Then the author produced "Tell Me a Story 3 (Women of Wonder) (2009), which is said to be "unabridged", but also contains only 1/3 of the stories from the Kindle Book (2006). To avoid making the same mistake I made of buying Tell Me a Story" (1993) and these unrelated audiobooks by the same author and title, please note: The "Tell Me a Story (1993) is not related to any of the audiobooks (doesn't contain any of the same stories). The Tell Me a Story" audiobooks each seem to each contain 7/21 of the stories that together cover the contents of the Kindle book (2006). Basically, you have to buy 3 audiobooks to cover a single 128 page book. There are better storybooks and children’s audiobooks on the market (Amazon blocked me from listing them).

I have 7 yr old twins - one who loves to read and one who is a reluctant reader - but both of them love listening to these stories. My reader gets car sick when she reads on the road, so the cd is great for road trips for both of them, but for different reasons. We also love Tell Me a Story 2. My main peeve with most audio stories is the voice of the storyteller often just doesn't fit. No so here. The voices are great - easy to listen to and the intonation is right on. Wonderful!

I use the stories in a camp dorm/cabin. The campers (girls) love it! We especially like "The Clever Girl" and "A Sense of Theft". At Halloween, I play "In Search of Fear" for both boys and girls.

Lovely story.

Bought on Kindle, very good buy. Read a story every night to my son - love all the world stories.