Children's

From the blurb: Stephen Hawking and his daughter, Lucy, explain the universe to listeners of all ages. George's parents have always been wary of technology. Their new neighbors are Eric, a scientist, and his daughter, Annie. When George befriends them and Cosmos, their super-computer, he finds himself on a wildly fun adventure, while learning about physics, time, and the universe. With Cosmos' help, he can travel to other planets and a black hole. But what would happen if the wrong people got their hands on Cosmos? George, Annie, and Eric aren't about to find out, and what ensues is a funny adventure that clearly explains the mysteries of science. My thoughts: The physics in this wasn't as hard as I thought it would be LOL! Explained in a fun way, my kids remembered it! Available from Simon & Schuster or Audible.com; read by Hugh Dancy NFM

Two children's books combined to equal one for the auto-counter. We listened to The Toothpaste Millionaire so long ago that I don't remember much of it. An AA boy and a white girl in the late '60s or early '70s make a fortune making cheap toothpaste, so lessons about money and friendship and treating people right. Barrel of Laughs is one long adventure story about a prince becoming a better person. The kids enjoyed it more than I did, but I guess they're the ones who count. Toothpaste read by Julie Dretzen, available from Recorded Books and Houghton Miffllin. Barrel read by John McDonough, avail. from  Recorded Books and HarperCollins. NFM

Second in the Anne of Green Gables series. If you haven't read this series, it is full of people who are nice (or at least interesting) to spend time with. If you have read it, is it time to re-read it? This is the one in which Anne teaches in Avonlea and Marilla adopts Davey and Dora (the orphaned twins). At the end of this book, Anne heads off to Redmond College. I love Davey. (Well, I love them all but Davey is such a normal boy full of curiousity, "Tell me, Anne, I want to know.") All the characters are well-written. NFM

Four children's books combined to equal one full-length book for the auto-counter. All enjoyable reads with basic lessons. Okay for as young as age 4 (maybe even 3) but enjoyable to age 10 or so. Dinosaurs Before Dark; The Knight at Dawn; Mummies in the Morning; Pirates Past Noon. Read by the author, available from Random House and Listening Library. NFM

Another great adventure in the Enchanted Forest. The Wizards have stolen King Mendanbar's sword but he cannot leave the Enchanted Forest to get it back & only a member of his immediate family can touch it without problems, so Cimorene (now his wife & expecting their first child) & several friends from the 1st two books go to save it. In the meantime, the wizards take over the castle & put King Mendanbar into some kind of in-between world. No one can get by their spell surrounding the castle to help him, so now we must wait for the baby to be born, grow up, & find a way to save the King. Third in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. From Listening Library and Random House; Performed by a Full Cast. NFM

My kids and I are loving this series. In this installment, we meet Mendanbar the King of the Enchanted Forest, who goes to see Kazul, the King of the Dragons, and meets Princess Cimorene, who is now Kazul's chief cook and librarian. Kazul is missing, so off to find her then save her from the Wizards they go. We run into old friends, like Morwan the witch, and meet new ones, like the magician Telemain. Great cast of characters. Second in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles (quartet). Performed by Words Take Wing (full cast). From Random House, Listening Library, and Scholastic. NFM

My kids and I are really enjoying this series (we read the last one first). Summary: Princess Cimorene doesn't like the rules that she's supposed to follow, so she runs away and by luck ends up as the Dragon Kazul's princess. Knights keep trying to rescue her -- they can't believe that she doesn't want to be rescued (but as Morwen the witch points out, you'd think that more princesses would run away to be a dragon's princess as they're almost guaranteed a good match LOL). Cimorene helps the dragons fight the wizards. First in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, read by Words Take Wing (full cast) from Listening Library (couldn't tell who the print publisher was). NFM

(A children's book, full-cast recording) Four children find a charm that grants exactly half of what they wish for. We enjoyed it but not as much as we expected to based on recommendations and the back blurb. There are some funny scenes and loving scenes. The children are well-portrayed. As with the full-cast recording that we listened to last week, I enjoyed the effects: it's really nice to have so many very distinct voices. Long enough that it does count as one full-length book. NFM

Edited from the back: Daystar never thought he'd be walking through the Enchanted Forest with a magic sword, a fire-witch and a baby dragon. Or that he alone held the power to release the King of the Enchanted Forest. Lots of adventure. The kids and I enjoyed it very much. I enjoyed the full cast effect, too, b/c the voices were so distinct and dramatic (but not overly so). Fourth in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. Long enough that it does count as one full-length book. NFM

Three children's books "reviewed" as one for the auto-counter. All unabridged audio.

I'm enjoying the Beverly Cleary books very much -- there's stuff I appreciate as a grown-up that I'm sure I didn't get when I was a kid. The Animal Rescue Club was short. The kids liked it. Read by Neil Patrick Harris, Stockard Channing, Andy Paris NFM