My 16 month old daughter has a TonieBox and absolutely loves it. My favorite part about the Tonie Box is the"Creative Tonies" that are blank and can be loaded with your own recordings. My husband is gone for a long while, and he was able to record an hour of stories for her. She calls the little figurine "Dada books" and we listen to it every single day. So special! Loved this piece, thanks for writing and sharing.
Hi Annika. ‘Dada books.’ That's the whole essay in two words. Your daughter doesn't separate the story from the voice, and the fact that your husband recorded those stories knowing he'd be away, and that she reaches for them every day, is exactly what I was trying to get at. The human voice telling a story makes the whole experience deeper and more meaningful. In my view, the voice brings a story to life more fully than the printed words can on their own. Thanks for sharing.
Somehow Jackanory passed me by, but as much as I loved reading, I also enjoyed being read to - all those many bedtime stories, including all the Arthur Ransomes - and listening to audiobooks. When I was at infant school, we often had storytime on a Friday afternoon where the teacher read a story which was accompanied by slides so we could see the illustrations - just magical ✨
Friday afternoon story time with slides of the illustrations, I can picture that exactly. The combination of a voice reading along with the occasional image was precisely the Jackanory format. I think we underestimate how much of our love of reading was planted not by books themselves but by someone else's voice bringing them to life before we could even read.
I think of Shakespeare, who works were never really intended to be read by anyone but a company of actors. Most people would have heard his words spoken and seen them performed. Many of us at school were given a book of one of the plays, full of footnotes to help us read something that we should have been hearing. Comparatively few of us developed a fondness for the Bard as a result! The wonderful recent performance by Sir Ian McKellen of 'The Stranger's Case' on the Stephen Colbert show demonstrated how powerful Shakespeare's writing is when it is experienced, rather than simply read.
When I was a primary school teacher, the one time I could be absolutely sure of holding the attention of the whole class, was when I was reading or telling a story. It is magical thing and that is what Jackanory captured so beautifully back in the day.
Having recently completed work on a living library project in the local area I can also attest to the power of story-telling to adults too. It gave people so much enjoyment to be able to share their own stories or to hear those of others and this will be something that we will build on in future.
As for audiobooks, I thoroughly enjoy them, although I love the act of reading words on a page even more. Audio books are, of course, essential for people who might have difficulty accessing the printed word. But I do wonder if some of the rise in popularity might also reflect modern lifestyles as much as a love of oral story telling: listening is something we can do while we do something else - driving for example.
A great point about Shakespeare and you've put your finger on something I hadn’t thought of - his words were written to be heard, not studied, and I suspect a great number of people have been put off Shakespeare because they have only ever tried to read it and have never seen or heard it performed. The McKellen piece on Colbert is a perfect example. The moment those words are spoken by someone who understands them, they come alive.
And your experience as a primary school teacher confirms exactly what I saw at Rother College. The moment you stand up and tell a story, something changes in the room.
The living library project sounds fantastic, the idea that adults giving and receiving stories is equally powerful, and I suspect, to date, underexplored.
You're right with your last point too. Convenience is certainly part of the audiobook and podcast boom. People listen because they can do it while driving or cooking, and that's no bad thing. But I wonder whether the convenience is the door and the hunger is what keeps them there. You start listening because your hands are full, but you keep listening because the story or article pulls you in.
My 16 month old daughter has a TonieBox and absolutely loves it. My favorite part about the Tonie Box is the"Creative Tonies" that are blank and can be loaded with your own recordings. My husband is gone for a long while, and he was able to record an hour of stories for her. She calls the little figurine "Dada books" and we listen to it every single day. So special! Loved this piece, thanks for writing and sharing.
Hi Annika. ‘Dada books.’ That's the whole essay in two words. Your daughter doesn't separate the story from the voice, and the fact that your husband recorded those stories knowing he'd be away, and that she reaches for them every day, is exactly what I was trying to get at. The human voice telling a story makes the whole experience deeper and more meaningful. In my view, the voice brings a story to life more fully than the printed words can on their own. Thanks for sharing.
Somehow Jackanory passed me by, but as much as I loved reading, I also enjoyed being read to - all those many bedtime stories, including all the Arthur Ransomes - and listening to audiobooks. When I was at infant school, we often had storytime on a Friday afternoon where the teacher read a story which was accompanied by slides so we could see the illustrations - just magical ✨
Friday afternoon story time with slides of the illustrations, I can picture that exactly. The combination of a voice reading along with the occasional image was precisely the Jackanory format. I think we underestimate how much of our love of reading was planted not by books themselves but by someone else's voice bringing them to life before we could even read.
Yes, I think that’s very true - I was certainly read to long before I read myself 🌱
I think of Shakespeare, who works were never really intended to be read by anyone but a company of actors. Most people would have heard his words spoken and seen them performed. Many of us at school were given a book of one of the plays, full of footnotes to help us read something that we should have been hearing. Comparatively few of us developed a fondness for the Bard as a result! The wonderful recent performance by Sir Ian McKellen of 'The Stranger's Case' on the Stephen Colbert show demonstrated how powerful Shakespeare's writing is when it is experienced, rather than simply read.
When I was a primary school teacher, the one time I could be absolutely sure of holding the attention of the whole class, was when I was reading or telling a story. It is magical thing and that is what Jackanory captured so beautifully back in the day.
Having recently completed work on a living library project in the local area I can also attest to the power of story-telling to adults too. It gave people so much enjoyment to be able to share their own stories or to hear those of others and this will be something that we will build on in future.
As for audiobooks, I thoroughly enjoy them, although I love the act of reading words on a page even more. Audio books are, of course, essential for people who might have difficulty accessing the printed word. But I do wonder if some of the rise in popularity might also reflect modern lifestyles as much as a love of oral story telling: listening is something we can do while we do something else - driving for example.
A great point about Shakespeare and you've put your finger on something I hadn’t thought of - his words were written to be heard, not studied, and I suspect a great number of people have been put off Shakespeare because they have only ever tried to read it and have never seen or heard it performed. The McKellen piece on Colbert is a perfect example. The moment those words are spoken by someone who understands them, they come alive.
And your experience as a primary school teacher confirms exactly what I saw at Rother College. The moment you stand up and tell a story, something changes in the room.
The living library project sounds fantastic, the idea that adults giving and receiving stories is equally powerful, and I suspect, to date, underexplored.
You're right with your last point too. Convenience is certainly part of the audiobook and podcast boom. People listen because they can do it while driving or cooking, and that's no bad thing. But I wonder whether the convenience is the door and the hunger is what keeps them there. You start listening because your hands are full, but you keep listening because the story or article pulls you in.