Audies are annual awards recognizing distinction in audiobooks and spoken word entertainment sponsored by the Audio Publishers Association. Don’t miss this year’s Audie Winner, Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales! Here’s complete information on audiobooks at JSRCC Library.
A review from Audiofile Magazine:
NELSON MANDELA’S FAVORITE AFRICAN FOLKTALES
Nelson Mandela [Ed.]
Read by Gillian Anderson, Benjamin Bratt, LeVar Burton, Ricardo Chavira, Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, et al.
What a special collection of preserved and retold folklore, creation stories, and fables from Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and all over the African continent! Some of the stories lend themselves better to a more dynamic reading, and those are the most successful ones in this format—CCH Pounder reading “Sannie Langtand and the Visitor” is a standout, as is Don Cheadle’s performance of the charming “Fesito Goes to Market.” Not all of the celebrity narrations and individual productions are as successful—it’s particularly distracting when words are obviously dubbed in, for example—but as a whole, the collection is funny and magical, enhanced by wonderful music from Johnny Clegg and Vusi Mahlasela (and don’t miss the illustrations, included in a bonus PDF). That this is a benefit production makes it even more special—bravo.
