When I spent 10$ on the Wonderful Wizard of Oz radio play done by Colonial Radio Theatre, little did I know I was fueling my family’s passion for reading. It’s true- best 10$ I ever spent. This joined the ranks of the Narnia books for best reading hook- a hook and lure to grab the kids’ attention and suck them into the passions of reading.
This was another vehicle project- pop the CD in the drive while running errands or taking kids to activity events. During these car rides- kids are strapped in their seats and unable to get out. This might explain their willingness to sit through a dull place in the story- or even sit long enough to really understand the plot as it unfolds.
The brilliance of these audio plays is in their sound effects. In a regular audiobook the narrator might change his voice for different characters or mimic the sound of an animal for effect. In this version, there is an actual cast of different people acting out the story in audio form. If you sit in a different room and listen you might think there is a TV program on in the other room. Husband calls to me from the other room, “Are the kids watching TV? They aren’t supposed to be watching TV.” The answer is “The kids are not watching TV- they are listening to reading!” To be fair to L Frank Baum, the radio play is not the exact version of his story- it is condensed, like all plays, to meet the needs of the forum. This makes it easier to follow and a bit less like a really hard chapter book.
About the really hard chapter book- after listening to the radio play of Wizard of Oz several times my younger daughter- still in kindergarten- pulled out the unabridged version of the Wizard of Oz stored in her closet. She asked me to read it- and she pointed out all the parts that differed from the radio play. Brilliance! Just what we want in our readers- close attention to plot details.
I gave my copy of this beautiful CD to a dear friend yesterday- not because of lack of interest or use. The opposite. I purchased the beautiful version below - the first six books in the Oz series on CD.
