Puffin Audiobooks: feedback for Magic & Adventure titles…find out what MNers think PLUS non testers - chance to win £75! NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

This thread is for the 125 Mumsnetters and their DCs who listened to a Magic & Adventure audiobook. Testers could choose one of the following audiobook titles:

1. The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy read by Gemma Arterton (age 5+)
2. Going Solo by Roald Dahl ready by Dan Stevens (age 7+)
3. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll read by Sheridan Smith (6+)
4. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham - BBC dramatization version (age 6+)
5. George's Secret Key to the Universe by Lucy & Stephen Hawking ready by James Goode (age 7+)

To listen a clip from each of these audiobooks click here

Puffin say "We are absolutely delighted to have so many eager ears listening to our marvellous audiobooks this summer and taking part in our Audiobook Club
We believe that audiobooks are a brilliant way for families to share the laughter, thrill and excitement of a good story. Whether you listened just before bedtime or on those long and winding 'are-we-nearly-there-yet' car journeys.
All we ask is that you use the discussion threads to let us know what both you and your little ones, thought of the experience."

Non testers: Share on this thread what your favourite audiobook is and why and you will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £75 voucher for either iTunes or Amazon so you can buy audiobooks!

Testers: Puffin would love to know what you and your children thought by answering these questions:

1. How old is the child who took part?
2. Which audiobook did your DC choose?
3. What time of day and where did your child listen to the audiobook?
4. On what device did your DC listen to the audiobook?
5. What was your child’s overall impression of the experience? What did they like about it?
6. Do you think you’d buy or look for more audiobooks in the future as a result of this experience?

We'd also like you to add a review of the audiobook on MN (using the links sent to you on email)

All testers who add feedback and post a review will be entered into a prize draw where two MNers will each win a £75 voucher from either iTunes or Amazon so you can buy audiobooks!

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ
Standard Insight T&Cs apply

1. How old is the child who took part?

6 and 4

2. Which audiobook did your DC choose?

Alice in Wondeland

3. What time of day and where did your child listen to the audiobook?

We listened to this in the car on the way back from holiday

4. On what device did your DC listen to the audiobook?

CD player in the car

5. What was your child’s overall impression of the experience? What did they like about it?

Both kids loved it. They loved all of the different voices as they made them laugh. We loved the dormouse in particular.

6. Do you think you’d buy or look for more audiobooks in the future as a result of this experience?

Definitely. I'm a huge fan of them, especially for car journeys. We listen to them together and then talk about them - much more sociable than them playing computer games on their own in the back

My boys are 8
We have George's secret Key to the Universe.
Listened to on a stereo before bed but got so caught up in the story the CDs were taken out in the car every time we went out.
We have never read anything by this author before and only listened to 2 audio books a few years ago. The way the story was read really got my boys and is really caught up in the excitement of the story whilst learning about space in a fun way and without the boys realising that they were learning. Both boys have since come and asked questions about space in subjects that they had never known about. This experience has given us family time together and we have really enjoyed listening as a family. We will definitely search out more stories from this author and audio books in general.
I must thank mumsnet and Puffin for this experience as it has given us ideas for the future including long car journeys which previously had been very boring but no more.
Highly recommend audio books to everybody.

Non tester.

My favourite audio book is a children's one called, Little Red Train by Benedict Blathwayt, it is narrated by Richard Briars. The narrator really brings the story to life and all of my children love listening to it as do I! Not very high brow but fun.

1. How old is the child who took part?

She is 6 years old

2. Which audiobook did your DC choose?

The Wind In The Willows

3. What time of day and where did your child listen to the audiobook?

All different times, we tried at the beginning for night but it was far too adventurous for nighttime so mainly when my toddler was napping we would snuggle in and listen together, then other times was when we were going out in the car.

4. On what device did your DC listen to the audiobook?

We mainly used her cd player in the room but we also used the car and her grandparent's hifi.

5. What was your child’s overall impression of the experience? What did they like about it?

At first it was hard for her as she likes to look at pictures and sometimes read a sentence or two but she soon got used to it and loved to lie on her beanbag with her blanket and teddy and shut her eyes and imagine the story in her head, as she put it. She loved the different characters and the sound effects.

6. Do you think you’d buy or look for more audiobooks in the future as a result of this experience?

Yes I do as she has really taken to them and they prove a good way of winding down or spending a rainy afternoon.

I wasn't a tester but I have always found that Roald Dahl books are great to listen to - particularly George's Marvellous Medicine.

1. How old is the child who took part?

• 9

2) Which audiobook did your DC choose?

• George's secret key to the universe

3) What time of day and where did your child listen to the audiobook?

• in the car

4) On what device did your DC listen to the audiobook?

• cd player

5) What was your child’s overall impression of the experience? What did they like about it?

She was thoroughly engaged in the first few chapter but then her engagement wained a little. She liked the different voices and the interesting science facts.

6. Do you think you’d buy or look for more audiobooks in the future as a result of this experience?

Yes I would

My five-year-old was a tester. She listened to the Worst Witch. We listened together during the early afternoon on my laptop at home. She showed a keen interest at the start but then got a little scared. It probably has to do with the description and the fact that she hadn't listened to a story like this before. Overall though, it was a good experience as it was so well done and quite well told! I will definitely get more audiobooks since she enjoyed the experience, but will probably also look for a few where she already knows the gist of the story or for one of her favourites.

Hi everyone, if you're interested in finding out what Mumsnetters think about another one of Puffin's audiobook, Laugh out Loud, you can read the feedback here

1. How old is the child who took part? My DS is 9.
2. Which audiobook did your DC choose? We chose George's Secret Key to the Universe.
3. What time of day and where did your child listen to the audiobook? He listened to it in bed, starting with one CD a night but the third night he was so caught up in it he sneaked a listen to the fourth part as well. We started listening to it together but now I'm playing catch-up during the day.
4. On what device did your DC listen to the audiobook? He listened on my iPod nano.
5. What was your child’s overall impression of the experience? What did they like about it? My DS loves audio books generally and has listened to many novels and a number of factual CDs about scientists and explorers in the past. He said George's Secret Key was a good book for children who like space and who like adventure stories. He gave it five stars and asked if we could get some more!
6. Do you think you’d buy or look for more audiobooks in the future as a result of this experience? Definitely. I was surprised when the package arrived that there were 5 CDs, each over an hour long, but they have proved completely engrossing, showing that children don't need glitzy, visual special effects to hold their interest.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to test this book.

Non-tester!
I love audiobooks.. we checked out the range at our local library for our last drive down to Cornwall.. a long 5 hours to fill! We chose a couple of Jacqueline Wilson's books - my favourite was 'The Cat Mummy' which was surprisingly dark (luckily little one was asleep for that one, but I enjoyed it!!) - his favourites are any of the Julia Donaldson ones - he has a boxset of 10, but particularly loves 'The Troll', 'The Snail & the Whale' & 'Room on the Broom' - what is great about these ones is that they are quite short books, but are fleshed out with different voices for the characters, short song pieces & sound effects. They each have a separate song on them too which my little one LOVES singing along too!
Audiobooks make a refreshing change from nursery rhyme CDs in my car!

My daughter is 8.
We chose the Worst Witch.
She listened to it on my phone as we were on holiday.
She listened at night in bed.
She enjoyed it and then downloaded the book on to my husband's kindle. As she I'd a bit reluctant to read we were thrilled about that.
We would definitely download further books.

Non tester - I'm enjoying Is It Just Me -Miranda Hart -

Non tester here. Our current favourite is The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I read it as a child but dd couldn't get into it so when I saw the cd in a charity shop it seemed a good opportunity to listen to it together.

Favourite Audiobook: Five on a Treasure Island by Enid Blyton.
Best listened to in the car - makes a long journey speed by

Tester reporting back about a week after first attempt to listen.... boy still refusing to listen the rest of "Georges secret key to the universe" . I have managed to listen to a further 2 chapters, but each time have found myself shouting at the CD player. Am now going to gibe up and not listen to the rest. I'll gift it to someone else.

This book sucks. I'm really not enjoying it, and its annoying me lot. Descriptions are weak and over wordy.Characters are ridiculasly over sterotyped. The computer isn;t even imaginatively named, its been given the same name as one of the Authors own accademic supercomputer, which is NOT the most powerfull computer in the world, it doesn't even make the top 500.

Have to say I now remember that I didn't like S Hawking's well known pop sicence book" a brief history of time" when that was published in eth late 1980s. Maybe I just don't like his style.

Non tester. We love the audio books of the Percy Jackson series. It is nice to be able to lie back and listen together before bed.

1. How old is the child who took part? 6 (almost 7)
2. Which audiobook did your DC choose? George's Secret Key
3. What time of day and where did your child listen to the audiobook? At all different times of the day.
4. On what device did your DC listen to the audiobook? In the car.
5. What was your child’s overall impression of the experience? What did they like about it? He loved it! He is quite geeky about science, so he found it all really interesting (and gave him a chance to show off some of the facts he already knew!).
6. Do you think you’d buy or look for more audiobooks in the future as a result of this experience? Definitely. He has always enjoyed listening to audiobooks, but has always done so in his bedroom. This was the first audiobook we listened to in the car and what a difference it made! Car journeys suddenly became quiet and calm! Thank you so much for sending this to us.

1. My daughter is 8 years old.
2. We chose Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll read by Sheridan Smith
3. We listened in the early afternoon in my daughter's bedroom whilst colouring in our lovely colouring books.
4. We listened to the CD on my daughter's portable dvd player.
5. My daughter really enjoyed listening to the story, it being on cd meant that we could do something together as we listened. She loved Sheridan Smiths reading, the voices she did for the different characters and how we could listen to our favourite bits again.
6. I would definitely look at buying more stories on cd, and going for something we could listen to with my sons too.

1. How old is the child who took part? 8
2. Which audiobook did your DC choose? Alice in Wonderland (well timed as we've been reading the book)
3. What time of day and where did your child listen to the audiobook? At bedtime, in bed trying to sleep
4. On what device did your DC listen to the audiobook? Laptop
5. What was your child’s overall impression of the experience? What did they like about it? Fun, a nice way of hearing the story and to help her calm down for sleep. She liked the way it was presented with the music and funny voices.
6. Do you think you’d buy or look for more audiobooks in the future as a result of this experience? Definitely - we've been thinking about it as she does struggle to sleep. It was lovely for her to be able to drift off slowly to it. We have to stick to books she already knows (due to anxiety she can't handle anything with scary/unpredictable bits) - will be looking at the Worst Witch for example, it was hard to choose between the two for this trial!

Thanks MNHQ :)

1. How old is the child who took part? Eight
2. Which audiobook did your DC choose? The worst witch
3. What time of day and where did your child listen to the audiobook? during a long car journey to a theme park, over early evening
4. On what device did your DC listen to the audiobook? My iPhone
5. What was your child’s overall impression of the experience? What did they like about it? My daughter loved it! It was a nice change from watching DVDs in the car. My daughter is an avid reader but gets travel sick in the car if she reads, as do I, so I can't read to her either. My daughter loved the fact that she could have a story whilst travelling and particularly liked Gemma's narration, she said it was just like being read to by her favourite teacher.
6. Do you think you’d buy or look for more audiobooks in the future as a result of this experience? We will be buying more audio books as a result. I was unsure if an audio book would hold my daughters attention long enough and this experience proved that they do. She loved it and they are ideal for use in the car to break up screen time on a long journey! We will be recommending to friends with similar aged children also. Thank you for the opportunity! Great job puffin!

Hi, testing family here.

1. How old is the child who took part? 9 nearly 10
2. Which audiobook did your DC choose? Georges Secret Key
3. What time of day and where did your child listen to the audiobook? Evening as part of bedtime routine
4. On what device did your DC listen to the audiobook? His own CD player
5. What was your child’s overall impression of the experience? What did they like about it? My DS is severely dyslexic and audiobooks have opened his world as he cannot read at his age level. We listen to all sorts of fiction and non fiction including biographies and stories about scientists and explorers. My DS listened to this book over a week. He was not that excited by it and found the final CD uninteresting. He loves space and exploration so I was surprised. I heard some of it and found the narrator dull.
6. Do you think you’d buy or look for more audiobooks in the future as a result of this experience? I buy lots anyway but this book would not have inspired me sadly.

1. DD2, 6 years old.
2. She chose Alice in Wonderland read by Sheridan Smith
3. We listened in the car en route to our holiday.
4. Car CD player
5. The story was greatly enjoyed by all of us, especially the different characters' voices. DH and I were frustrated by the track numbers not matching up with chapter numbers but it didn't affect our enjoyment of the storytelling.
6. DD2 is a prolific audio stories listener which is one of the reasons I signed up for this product test. I'm sure we'll be buying more!

Non-Tester - anything read by Stephen Fry is a joy. I also really enjoyed, 'Waiting to Exhale' by Terry McMillan although we're going back a long time to when I was younger and far less fussy about books than I am now!

Oh and when my dds were younger they loved, 'The Magic Faraway Tree' read by Kate Winslet.

1. 7 years old
2. George's Secret Key to the Universe by Lucy & Stephen Hawking read by James Goode
3. During the day, sometimes in the living room, sometimes in the car.
4. Listened to it on a portable dvd player and in the car stereo.
5. It was a novelty for my child to listen to an audio book. He got a bit bored at the beginning but was ok once he got into it. He enjoyed the story and the voices.
6. Maybe for car journeys to pass the time.