Read Mumsnetters' feedback on the Rastamouse audiobook from Audible.co.uk. Non-testers: Try the free download and you could win a £200 voucher NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

This thread is for the Mumsnet Insight Panel members who were recruited to test the Rastamouse audiobook from Audible.co.uk

Audible.co.uk say "Join Rastamouse, Scratchy and Zoomer in a unique audio adventure that takes Da Easy Crew and friends on a musical journey to perform at a very special Carnival for 'likkle ones'!

With music composed by Andrew Kingslow and featuring the voices of Reggie Yates, Cornell John, Sharon Duncan-Brewster and William Vanderpuye, Da Big Carnival Fi Likkle Ones is an exclusive experience that brings the magic of Rastamouse to Audible.

Rastamouse is an award-winning British preschool television show created by Genevieve Webster and Michael De Souza. Rastamouse has a positive message for young children, promoting the need to understand what is right from what is wrong and why in a meaningful context."

Find out more about the Rastamouse audiobook by watching the video below and :

Non-testers: you can get a free download of the Rastamouse audiobook from Audible.co.uk here. By downloading the audiobook and then returning to this thread to let us know what you thought of it, you would be entered into a prize draw to win a £200 Love2Shop voucher.

Testers, please let us know:

• How old is your DC who listened to the audiobook?
• When and where did your DC listen to the audiobook?
• What did you/your DCs think of the audiobook overall?
• Would you/your child be interested in listening to more audiobooks in the future after this trial?

All testers who add feedback will be entered in to a prize draw, where one winner will receive a £300 Love2Shop voucher.

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

I listened to the audio book in the car with my 12 month old on a regular but lengthy journey of over 2 hours. She appeared to enjoy the music and stayed awake longer than she would on such a journey so it clearly grabbed her attention. For me it was definitely more entertaining than the usual radio station or endless renditions of 'wheels on the bus'.
My DC loves having stories read to her so she definitely engaged with the audio book, however I don't think she enjoyed it as much as having her immediate family read to her (which she gets on a regular basis). However I would definitely consider using audio books in the future for long journeys.

I suspect the music in the Rastamouse audiobook played a big part in keeping my wee one engaged so I would look for audiobooks with a similar musical slant.

• How old is your DC who listened to the audiobook?

4 years old

• When and where did your DC listen to the audiobook?

We listened to it in the car

• What did you/your DCs think of the audiobook overall?

DS really enjoyed the stories, particularly the songs. I see some people complaining about the way the mice speak! I think it is great to have a story told in a cultural dialect. Not only is it fantastic for the kids whose community speaks it to hear themselves represented, but it is a great opportunity for the others to start learning the value of people who are different to them.

• Would you/your child be interested in listening to more audiobooks in the future after this trial?

Yes, though I think the volume bias should be a bit higher, as the book struggled to compete with the road noise at some stages.

My 13 month old daughter has the concentration span of a fish so I didn't know what to expect. We listened to the book in 15 minute slots in the living room on a morning she was playing and doing other things at the time. She was dancing to the music when it played and seemed quite animated when doing so. I also let her listen to it in the bath before bed. I'm genuinely not sure how much she took in. I think she was a bit young for this book. I did struggle to understand some of the story because without any visual content I struggled with the Jamaican accent a little! I'll definitely keep trying the book as she gets older and would definitely like to try some more slightly shorter audio books.

• How old is your DC who listened to the audiobook? She's 4 although DD2 who's 9months listened too

• When and where did your DC listen to the audiobook? On the sofa after school

• What did you/your DCs think of the audiobook overall? We enjoyed it, DD2 jigged along to the music and DD1 liked the story although she wanted to get up and dance which proved distracting. It was also rather long for her

• Would you/your child be interested in listening to more audiobooks in the future after this trial? Yes but I'd look for something shorter, maybe 20mins max

How old is your DC who listened to the audiobook?
DD 8 and DS 4

When and where did your DC listen to the audiobook?
In the sitting room while colouring in after school.

What did you/your DCs think of the audiobook overall?
Both of them love listening to audio books and both like Rastamouse so I thought they would enjoy this and they did to some extent.

However, DS likes to have a read-along story to go with it so he can see the characters and follow the story. Without that visual prompt he did get distracted and didn't listen to the whole story.

DD listened to it all but she would have liked properly separated chapters (rather than just the music interludes) so that you could stop it and go back to it easily as it was very long - too long for smaller children I think.

I agree this type of audiobook would be better for a long journey when the DC are in one place.

Would you/your child be interested in listening to more audiobooks in the future after this trial?
Yes, DC already do listen to audiobooks but the preferred other books to this one sorry.

• How old is your DC who listened to the audiobook?

4 at the end of the week

• When and where did your DC listen to the audiobook?

Saturday afternoon, in the living room while she was sitting down

• What did you/your DCs think of the audiobook overall?

Myself and my daughter kept getting distracted but my daughter enjoyed the parts that she listened too, especially the songs.

• Would you/your child be interested in listening to more audiobooks in the future after this trial?

I think that my daughter is a bit too young to concentrate on them at the moment. i would if I had my headphones on maybe on the bus.

"How old is your DC who listened to the audiobook?"

My daughter is four years old.

"When and where did your DC listen to the audiobook?"

On the sofa in the living room after collecting my daughter from nursery around lunchtime.

"What did you/your DCs think of the audiobook overall?"

She was not impressed to be honest. She asked me to turn it off and I persuaded her to listen a bit longer but she did not get into it. She does like Rastamouse on the TV but was not interested in this at all unfortunately. I therefore tried it with my son later (he is 7) but he said it was "boring" before he had really given it a chance.

"Would you/your child be interested in listening to more audiobooks in the future after this trial?"

No i do not think so. They both like Rastamouse but I believe that even if the story was about characters they really love, they still did not like the format of an audiobook so I will stick to real books as I enjoy reading to them and it is far more personal and bonding.

• How old is your DC who listened to the audiobook?

4 and 6

• When and where did your DC listen to the audiobook?

In bed, just as they were going to bed. Both were poorly and wanted the lights off, so this was great for them to just close their eyes and listen.

• What did you/your DCs think of the audiobook overall?

The 6yo loved it and followed it really well. They both love Rastamouse, so didn't find it annoying at all (I did a little). The 4yo stifled a few yawns throughout, but said he enjoyed it very much.

• Would you/your child be interested in listening to more audiobooks in the future after this trial?

Yes, we all have a new found love for audiobooks!

Listened to this with ds1 (3 years old) and ds2 (1 year old)
We listened first at home, and then in the car
Ds2 was too young for this and not interested
Ds1 was not interested at home, but in the car he was happy to listen to it for a bit, though he was asking where the pictures were.
He said he would Like to listen to more in the future
I'm not sure this exact story caught his attention, but then he never chooses to watch Rastamouse at home - maybe if it had been Bing or Animal Mechanicals it would have been different!

How old is your DC who listened to the audiobook?
4

• When and where did your DC listen to the audiobook?

Bedtime in bed on the kindle

• What did you/your DCs think of the audiobook overall?

I enjoyed it as I love the voices for each character. DD got bored and asked why only one picture not a video. Dd couldn't grasp the idea you just listen and picked up a nearby book instead asking me to read that or put on cbeebies app.

• Would you/your child be interested in listening to more audiobooks in the future after this trial?

I would but not sure about my youngest, too long for her to sit and just listen if no interaction with a physical book. I asked shall we listen to another one she replied can I read from a book like normal! I tried again during the day but again became bored and seemed cross at the idea of listening rather than sharing a book 'properly' as she termed it! I think I have a book diva in the making :) Thank you for the opportunity I thoroughly enjoyed the audio book :)

How old is your DC who listened to the audiobook? 3

When and where did your DC listen to the audiobook? In the living room. We usually listen to audiobooks in the car but don't have an MP3 connection.

What did you/your DCs think of the audiobook overall? DD enjoyed it initially, but quickly got distracted. I think she would have enjoyed it more in the car. It was nice to have a book with the characters being voiced by different actors - often it is just read by one person.

Would you/your child be interested in listening to more audiobooks in the future after this trial? Yes, but on CD to use in the car

• How old is your DC who listened to the audiobook?

Ds1 who is 4 (nearly 5)

• When and where did your DC listen to the audiobook?

At nighttime in bed

• What did you/your DCs think of the audiobook overall?

Did enjoy it but listens to stories before bed/help to wind down and I'm not sure it was great for that - he was up another half an hour telling me about it!

Would you/your child be interested in listening to more audiobooks in the future after this trial?

Yes, he loves them as a way to settle and I like them as another way to get learning/language in

• How old is your DC who listened to the audiobook?

My 4 and 8 year old

• When and where did your DC listen to the audiobook?

In mummy's superking bed Sunday morning and later in the week at bedtime.

• What did you/your DCs think of the audiobook overall?

They enjoyed it and it was great to get the cuddles. I liked being able to book mark the download. Having chapters meant we could spread it out over seek.

• Would you/your child be interested in listening to more audiobooks in the future after this trial?

Yes. They both have CD players in there room to listen to after bedtime stories. However this was easier to use.

*week not seek

How old is your DC who listened to the audiobook? 2.5

• When and where did your DC listen to the audiobook? Bedtime story in bed
• What did you/your DCs think of the audiobook overall? I loved it, and love Rastamouse generally. DC enjoyed it and wanted to hear it again.
• Would you/your child be interested in listening to more audiobooks in the future after this trial? We already use audible most nights.

Generation how do you bookmark the download? This is the first Audible book we have downloaded as we usually get audiobooks on CD from the library.

I listened to the audiobook with my daughters; aged 3 and 1. We listened to part of the audiobook in our living room while we were having an evening drink and the rest we listened to in my daughter's room.
My daughter enjoyed the story. It was like an extended Rastamouse episode so she was familiar with the style of the story and the characters. I found it quite long and would have preferred a more traditional story telling style.
I would be interested in listening to further audiobooks but would probably choose more traditional story books that are being read rather than TV characters.

My DD aged 3 listened to the audiobook. I put it on in the sitting room and she was excited about watching something...then she realised it was just sound and went back to playing, but seemed to be paying attention to the story at the same time. She lost interest about halfway through and went off to play in another room, but it was quite a long book and would probably have been better broken up into chapters.

The accents and slang were quite hard to understand, and she has not seen Rastamouse before so that didn't help with getting her to engage with it. She seemed to like the music though. When my 1-year-old woke up from her nap I played her one of the songs and she loved it!

I think both my DCs would be interested in listening to audiobooks in the future, especially ones based on characters they already know.

Thanks for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook!

• How old is your DC who listened to the audiobook?

3 years old

• When and where did your DC listen to the audiobook?

In the car: going to/from nursery and on longer journeys

• What did you/your DCs think of the audiobook overall?

Took a while to get him to understand that there wasn't anything to see (he kept demanding my phone as was convinced I was hiding it!), but once that message landed, he really enjoyed and concentrated on it

• Would you/your child be interested in listening to more audiobooks in the future after this trial?

Definitely. Anything that keeps him entertained on long journeys is a winner. And it saves us from having to endlessly sing nursery rhymes!

How old is your DC who listened to the audiobook? 4 years

• When and where did your DC listen to the audiobook?in the car on the way to/from nursery.
• What did you/your DCs think of the audiobook overall? They sat and listened quietly, which is very unusual for them! My 4 year old liked the story and it was a good length, and the 2 year old loves the music, it's got some lovely sound effects and interludes. It will defiantly be listened to regularly.
• Would you/your child be interested in listening to more audiobooks in the future after this trial? Definately, we love audio books!

• How old is your DC who listened to the audiobook?

All 3 of my children listened to the audiobook they are 8yrs, 6years and 3 years

• When and where did your DC listen to the audiobook?

On my tablet in the car & at bed time

• What did you/your DCs think of the audiobook overall?

They really enjoyed the audiobook it makes a change from me reading

• Would you/your child be interested in listening to more audiobooks in the future after this trial?

Yes my 2 eldest are getting tablets for Christmas so they can have some audiobooks on there

• How old is your DC who listened to the audiobook? 4 (my 2 year old wandered in and out of the room)
• When and where did your DC listen to the audiobook? In our living room
• What did you/your DCs think of the audiobook overall? Really enjoyed it. I think he was definitely listening better to the story than if watching tv and just letting it wash over him.
• Would you/your child be interested in listening to more audiobooks in the future after this trial? We would.

• How old is your DC who listened to the audiobook? 2y, 4y, and 5y
• When and where did your DC listen to the audiobook? On (another) long car drive.
• What did you/your DCs think of the audiobook overall? They all seemed to be listening, and the two eldest shouted some of the phrases they'd enjoyed later! I'm not sure they understood it, particularly some of the language (that they'd normally make sense of with visual cues), but that's true of all audiobooks they hear for the first time.
• Would you/your child be interested in listening to more audiobooks in the future after this trial? Still interested, they're a great compromise on long drives.

Thanks for the download, MN

• How old is your DC who listened to the audiobook?

6 and 3

• When and where did your DC listen to the audiobook?

In the car and at home.

• What did you/your DCs think of the audiobook overall?

My 6 yr old enjoyed it but my 3yr old liked the music and not the story (it got in the way apparently!)

• Would you/your child be interested in listening to more audiobooks in the future after this trial?

Definitely, we generally find that audiobooks are a good way to break up a long journey in the car.

DS is 2.5.

We mainly listened in the car. It didn't have the same feel as TV Rastamouse but he enjoyed the songs (we have a Rastamouse CD that we sing along to in the car so it felt similar) . The story didn't hold his interest but we'd try other audio books on long journeys.