Tag Archive for: Children

Why do we add audio to our storybooks?

Why is the audio element of our storybooks so important to us..🎧

As a parent you want the best for your children. You want them to thrive, taking in all that they see in the world, be it good, bad or indifferent, process it and come to their own conclusions over time. You want them to comprehend life in all of its beauty and harshness and make the most of everyday.  You want them to feel connected with nature as you know there’s a multitude of benefits encased within that lifelong relationship that you hold so precious. Well I do anyway and I’m sure I’m not alone in this..

Also, I’m the kind of parent, that when I see in my child’s development a leaning, or a preference to learning that is different from my own, I’m happy to explore and accommodate as best I can in order to help. I experienced this firsthand, when my son showed signs from a young age that he wasn’t keen on reading. So I made a point of encouraging him into the world of literacy with audiobooks, and we never looked back!

He used to listen to the stories, enjoying the sounds, and sometimes follow along with his finger on the words. This became ‘his thing’ and soon he loved learning in this way and many times I joined him and we’d listen together. We used to go the library regularly too, where he’d pick a few more audio books after scanning the covers carefully. It was always good to get the written words as well, so that if he chose to he could read along and follow the text. I recall one of his favourites was ‘An Eagle in the Snow’ by Michael Morpurgo.

Fast-forward a number of years into our journey here at Tales from Mother Earth

…and once again it made sense to include the audio element in our content. Now, we pride ourselves in knowing that a huge variety of children young and old, with different learning abilities and understanding for their ages, including SEND children can all access of our work.  We want our storybooks to be accessible to children on many levels, and that’s why we have packed so much into the content.  Children love making friends with our realistic characters who in nature really do need our help, and they love to participate by learning those all important conservation messages and tips that can, and do make a difference. This all culminates in the physical content that can be seen within the pages, and also the audio elements of our books that combine to create a powerful and fun learning resource. So regarding the later, yes we see it as an integral part of our young readers experience, so much so, that typically we like to produce four tracks to accompany every one of our storybooks and we would encourage this to remain in our future titles.

  1. Full story narrated by Mother Earth and/or other storybook characters
  2. Full story read along – as above with page turning sound bites so children can learn to read with our content
  3. Story character’s theme music – specific theme music that backs the individual stories
  4. Mother Earth’s Theme – our beautiful signature piece of music

What the experts say..

I’ve known from past experience and seeing my son thrive that audiobooks are great, but now I’ve also found evidence to back this. In fact the internet is a wash with experts confessing the benefits of audiobooks for children which is wonderful to see. I particularly liked this article which was published recently on the Starglow Community website a purposeful parenting community. They have looked into this topic further and have consulted experts and teachers alike. By doing this, they’ve discovered 18 compelling, research-backed reasons why audiobooks can play a powerful role in a child’s education, imagination, and overall well-being. I’m adding the list below, but please take a moment to study their website for the details on each of these points that you’ll find on this page here.

  1. Boosts Vocabulary Development

  2. Improves Listening Comprehension

  3. Encourages Reluctant Readers

  4. Promotes a Love for Stories and Learning

  5. Supports Bilingual and ESL Learners

  6. Builds Critical Thinking Skills

  7. Improves Focus and Attention Span

  8. Enhances Pronunciation and Fluency

  9. Makes Reading a Shared Experience

  10. Provides Access to Advanced Texts

  11. Helps Children with Visual Impairments

  12. Encourages Multitasking with Learning

  13. Reduces Screen Time

  14. Strengthens Emotional Intelligence

  15. Improves Sleep Quality with Bedtime Listening

  16. Reinforces Classroom Learning

  17. Expands Cultural Awareness

  18. Fosters Independence and Self-Confidence

From looking at some of the research available on this subject, audiobooks are a powerful, enriching tool for children of all ages. We now know that they support a child’s academic growth, emotional development and overall love of stories – even if they are reluctant readers like my son, or have learning difficulties, it’s clear audiobooks have a valuable part to play in our brand.

Without doubt they’re a smart, research supported addition to any child’s learning, and rest assured we will continue to produce them for our storybooks here at Tales from Mother Earth.  🦔🐝💦🌲🐞💚🎧

 

 

 

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Introducing our storybook ‘Sitka Spruce the Amazing Timber Tree’ in Welsh!

NEW storybook ‘Sitka Spruce the Amazing Timber Tree’ in Welsh!

Tales from Mother Earth is delighted to announce the launch of Sbriwsen Sitka – y Goeden Bren Ryfeddol, the Welsh translation of Sitka Spruce the Amazing Timber Tree! This is our very first children’s audio/picture storybook produced in another language—and it’s now being sent out to all 1,277 primary schools in Wales, in both Welsh and English. This means that teachers can begin to build bilingual language lesson plans around the story in time for the new school year.

The Welsh version of the storybook was launched at WoodBUILD25, an annual two-day conference for the timber industry, held this year on 3–4 June in Llandudno. Organised by Woodknowledge Wales, the event brings together timber and construction stakeholders to collaborate, innovate and drive meaningful change. The conference proved to be the perfect setting for the book launch. To much applause, Gary Newman, CEO of Woodknowledge Wales, presented Sbriwsen Sitka to a room packed with interest during the celebration dinner.

“We’re thrilled to support the Welsh-language launch of Sitka Spruce the Amazing Timber Tree. It’s a wonderful example of how storytelling can spark curiosity in children about the natural world and the vital role timber plays in our lives. By reaching every primary school in Wales, this bilingual storybook helps us grow a future generation that values forests, materials and sustainability – in both Welsh and English.” Gary Newman, CEO, Woodknowledge Wales

Together with Morgan Sindall Construction and other enthusiastic partners, Woodknowledge Wales was instrumental in helping us develop the original English version of Sitka Spruce the Amazing Timber Tree in 2024—and now they’ve helped bring the Welsh version to life.

New Production Requirement

Translating a book into a language we don’t personally speak is a huge act of trust. Fortunately, we worked closely with the expert team at Cymen, who provided a wonderful Welsh translation that perfectly captured our words, passion, and tone. This care and attention extended to the supporting resources too, such as our newly created Welsh crossword puzzle, which was thoroughly checked and approved.

Because our books have a strong audio element, it was vital to find two talented Welsh speakers to bring the characters of Mother Earth and Sitka to life. That’s where tinint, a production and broadcast company based in Wales, stepped in. Their casting and production work brought just the right warmth, friendliness and energy to match the original English voices.

Our sincere thanks go to the brilliant team at Woodknowledge Wales for overseeing this development—what a great collaboration it has been!

Available now from our website shop

 

 

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Why Stanley the Water Vole?

Why Stanley? What’s in a name?

The name Stanley fitted our image and character of a water vole perfectly, and so the story was written with his name fixed and in place right from the start. In fact every character name chosen for our storybooks is crucially important to me, and sometimes I conduct a buzz test to see what sounds the best!

Other times, I share my thoughts and we bounce some names around, but for Stanley I loved him from the start and it’s a joy to know that many children and adults do too.

 

Why a water vole?

Water voles are important in our environment as they are mini ecosystem engineers, rather like beavers but on a smaller scale,  and they contribute greatly to healthy river ecology. They are the largest of the vole family in our country and have an exceptionally wide appetite of vegetation. In fact scientists discovered when studying a vole’s nest by random, that one single vole had approximately 182 different plants and berries in it’s larder already stocked away for the colder months ahead – just like in Stanley’s story. For more information on water voles check out these details from the Kent Wildlife Trust. 

Water voles are sadly in decline, and are listed as endangered on both the Great Britain and the England Red List for Mammals. Population in GB is around 132,000 and they have undergone one of the most serious declines of any mammal in Britain. With one of the reasons for their decline being habitat loss and water pollution, the marriage between our Stanley and the plastic litter issue was sealed.

We wanted children to understand the connection between the two and that by disposing of litter properly would allow for cleaner environments especially in or by the water where Stanley and his friends live. So our storybook details this issue precisely and introduces children to a wild animal, and one who doesn’t like people coming near his home as it scares him. He, as in Stanley doesn’t understand that the humans are there to ultimately help and clean up the environment. So our storybook teaches children how our waterways can be impacted by plastic pollution and how our wildlife suffers as a result of people’s careless actions, and of course what we can all do to help in this situation.

Litter Champions and Stanley!

Stanley has been instrumental in creating many litter champions and environmental warriors around the country throughout schools.  Lots of organisations continue to use his resources and storybook to highlight the message of litter, plastic and engage children with our various fun activities, for instance, teaching them how long plastic can be sitting in our environment prior to it breaking down into microplastics and what that means for biodiversity and us too.

Contact me directly if you’d like more information regarding our workshop resources jenny@talesfrommotherearth.co.uk

Children get it!! 

Children really understand the message and when I run our workshops, the kids are eager to act responsibly and get litter disposed of correctly which is so heartwarming. The message within our Stanley also touches on recycling, waste and the circular economy all important subjects for young minds to understand.

It’s a joy to see children engage with our storybook Stanley the Water Vole, and judging from the comments and feedback we get, I know they’ll never look at crisp packets the same again!

 

 

To purchase your copy of Stanley the Water Vole and see some of our other children’s titles, please go to https://talesfrommotherearth.co.uk/shopwhere-you-can-purchase-our-childrens-audio-picture-storybooks/

All storybooks now with QR code for downloading our audio tracks x4

 

 

 

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