African Playground

Songs sung in various African languages.

Vera B. Williams.  Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart:  The Story

of Amber and Essie Told Here in Poems and Pictures  

A series of poems tells how two sisters help each other deal with life while their mother is working and their father has been sent to jail.

Lemony Snicket.  The Carnivorous Carnival

On the run as suspected murderers, the unlucky Baudelaire orphans find themselves trapped in the Caligari Carnival, where they must masquerade as freaks in order to hide from the evil Count Olaf.  Read by Tim Curry.

Jenny Nimmo.  Charlie Bone and the Time Twister

Charlie hopes that the new term at Bloor's Academy will hold no nasty surprises. But then Henry Yewbeam appears, twisted through time from the icy winter of 1916. With the scheming Yewbeam aunts on the prowl, and the Bloors out to catch him, Henry will need Charlie 's help just to stay alive. Bloor's Academy can be a very dangerous place.  Read by Simon Russell Beale.

Ann M. Martin.  A Corner of the Universe

The summer that Hattie turns twelve, she meets the childlike uncle she never knew and becomes friends with a girl who works at the carnival that comes to Hattie's small town.  Read by Judith Ivey.

Dreamland:  World Lullabies & Soothing Songs

Songs are sung in the original languages.

Andrea Davis Pinkney.  Ella Fitzgerald:  The Tale of a Vocal

Virtuosa

Paula Danziger.  Get Ready for Second Grade, Amber Brown

Amber is nervous about starting second grade with a new teacher, but despite being in the same class as mean Hannah Burton, things turn out just fine.  Read by Dana Lubotsky.

Indian Elephant Tea

Cornelia Funke.  Inkheart

Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father, who repairs and binds books for a living, can "read" fictional characters to life when one of those characters abducts them and tries to force them into service.  Read by Lynn Redgrave.

Jenny Nimmo.  Midnight for Charlie Bone

Charlie Bone's life with his widowed mother and two grandmothers undergoes a dramatic change when he discovers that he can hear people in photographs talking.  Read by Simon Russell Beale.

Nicky's Jazz for Kids

These rhyming, swinging vocal selections by celebrated jazz legends, all from the original master recordings, were chosen especially for kids by Nicky the Jazz Cat.

Jerry Pinkney.  Noah's Ark

Retells the biblical story of the great flood and how Noah and his family faithfully responded to God's call to save life on earth.  Narrated by Dennis Haysbert.

Karen Cushman.  Rodzina

A twelve-year-old Polish American girl is boarded onto an orphan train in Chicago with fears about traveling to the West and a life of unpaid slavery.  Narrated by Becky Ann Baker.

Esme Raji Codell.  Sahara Special

Struggling with school and her feelings since her father left, Sahara gets a fresh start with a new and unique teacher who supports her writing talents and the individuality of each of her classmates.  Read by Phylicia Rashad.

Kate DiCamillo.  The Tale of Despereaux

The adventures of Desperaux Tilling, a small mouse of unusual talents, the princess that he loves, the servant girl who longs to be a princess, and a devious rat determined to bring them all to ruin.  Read by Graeme Malcolm.

Jude Watson.  Jedi Quest:  The Trail of the Jedi

Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and apprentice Anakin Skywalker head out on a training exercise that soon turns into a struggle to survive. A squad of bounty hunters has been hired to capture the Jedi--and they will stop at nothing to do it. Anakin and Obi-Wan must avoid the traps and ambushes ... and try to discover who is behind the deadly Jedi hunt.  Read by Jonathan Davis.

C. S. Lewis.  The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Lucy and Edmund, accompanied by their peevish cousin Eustace, sail to the land of Narnia where Eustace is temporarily transformed into a green dragon because of his selfish behavior and skepticism.  Read by Derek Jacobi.

Terry Pratchett.  The Wee Free Men

A young witch-to-be named Tiffany teams up with the Wee Free Men, a clan of six-inch-high blue men, to rescue her baby brother and ward off a sinister invasion from Fairyland.  Read by Stephen Briggs.

Frances O'Roark Dowell.  Where I'd Like to Be

A group of foster children build a home of their own.  Narrated by Denise Wilbanks.

A. A. Milne.  Winnie-the-Pooh

The world of Pooh is a world of enchantment. A world where Winnie-the- Pooh and his friends Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, Kanga and the others share unforgettable adventures with Christopher Robin.  Read by Jim Broadbent.