Behind the Mic Podcast

In a warm voice filled with wonder, poet Kevin Young reads his ode to finding peace and belonging in nature. Host Jo Reed and AudioFile’s Robin Whitten discuss the special gift of sharing an audiobook with children. Kevin Young is a celebrated poet, the New Yorker’s poetry editor, and now director of the National Museum of African American Culture in Washington, DC. In this story, Emile is a young boy who falls in love with a field and chronicles its changing seasons as he spends time there. Young listeners should follow along with the picture book to appreciate the illustrations, and to be inspired to seek out their own magical corners of the natural world. 

Read the full review of the audiobook on AudioFile’s website. Published by Listening Library. 

Find more audiobook recommendations at audiofilemagazine.com

Today’s episode is sponsored by Naxos AudioBooks. Narrated by Adam Sims, Looking Backward is a dynamic rejection of industrial capitalism, and presents a depiction of a socialist utopia. The novel’s protagonist, aristocrat Julian West, falls into a deep hypnotic sleep in 1887 and wakes up in the year 2000 to find a very different Boston from the one he knows. In Dr Leete he finds a guide who explains the humane and efficient society in which he now finds himself – its transformation made possible by political and technological advances. To learn more, visit NaxosAudioBooks.com