EXPLORING AND MAPMAKING

If I could expose my school-age children to only one audiobook series, the Audio Classics Series would be it. The approach is always the same: A skilled narrator lays out the subject in concise, nicely written phrases; actors interspersed play the parts of luminaries of the tale. Exploring and Mapmaking brings us back to the Phoenicians of 3000 years ago, then traces the problems and solutions that voyagers have faced throughout history. Television personality Edwin Newman provides the voice of authority with his steady, clear, informal style. The narrator takes a more prominent role, but we hear the "voices" of Aristotle and Darwin, among others. These learning experiences are some of the best among audio adaptations. D.W. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 95]