
The Book of Beasts
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Narrated by:
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Karen Krause
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By:
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E. Nesbit
About this listen
A young king finds a magical book once owned by his great-great-great-great-great-grandfather and unwittingly sets a wicked beast loose in his kingdom. Now he must find a way to best the beast and win back the love of his subjects. Edith (E.) Nesbit was a master at weaving imagination and real life into timeless fairy tales, with fantastic mythical creatures, princes and princesses, magic, and just the right touch of silliness. The Book of Beasts is the first in a series of fairy tales with a common theme: Dragons! For children from 5 to 95, these stories are not to be taken seriously. Let your imagination run wild!
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A Delightful Read!
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Any additional comments?
This was a great little story about a boy king and his book.There are beasts in these books and the king is away on an adventure!I loved it!Karen Krause was perfect for the narration of this childrens tale.
"I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBlast dot com."
The Book Of Beasts
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Received this book free for honest review
Great Story
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The story is a great story for children and this rang true with my little focus group. It has many of the elements of fantasy that usually attracts children. It also shows consequences of actions. As is the case with many of the older classic books like this, the characters are able to be broad and less about subtle subtext. Children absorb that better.
Karen's narration of the piece expressed this wide display of characterizations, ranging from the young prince to be king to the nurse's haughty attitude to the advisor's high-brow reactions. I've heard Karen use a number of voices between this and another book and she takes the British variations and plays with them in a way that allows the listeners to differentiate the characters easily.
This is a short piece. Good for short attention spans of kids. They will really enjoy it. My 6 year loved it and when I asked how many stars I should give it he said "as many stars as you can!"
The composite review among the three of us was actually 4.5, but the 6 year old (notably THE TARGET AUDIENCE) was so overwhelmingly enamored with this that we gave it all 5's. :)
Enraptured my son
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The story is a simple fantasy with plenty of fun elements. It is enchanting from beginning to end. I read this with my 6 year old niece, and she was enthralled! These are such lovely stories with rich characters and creative situations.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Karen Krause, who is delightful. She has a nice steady pace that moves with the story. I love her accent, it is like having your own British nanny to read to you! She was inventive and fun with the character voices. I imagine she would we just as wonderful in person at a children's story hour! I delight for my ears!
Disclosure - I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thought, opinions and ratings are my own.
Great read for kids!!
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I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Enchanting Classic
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The Book of Beasts is a magical book that is full of pictures of animals and beasts. When the young King opened the book and read the first page the beautiful butterfly flew off the page.
The Kings Chancellor took the book and put it on a high shelf telling the King not to read from the book again, for The King did not know what beast was on the next page of The Book of Beasts. Of course the young King was to curious for his own good. This story continues as the young King tries to live with the consequences of reopening the book.
Can the King find a way to save his kingdom. Read The Book of Beasts for yourself and see what adventure you can find.
A short Children Story in Audio Form
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Cute atory.
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Any additional comments?
The Book of Beasts centers around a young boy named Lionel who becomes king at a very young age. As he is exploring his new castle, he discovers a magical book, which belonged to one of his ancestors. While reading the book, Lionel unwittingly lets out a dragon that eats everything in its wake. Most of the book involves Lionel trying to find a way to get the Dragon under control in order to save his kingdom.It is hard to believe that The Book of Beasts was written by Edith Nesbit in 1900. Just from its description (a boy opens a magical book and lets out a dragon), it sounds like it could have been written today and classified as contemporary fantasy. Nesbit is credited as "the first modern writer for children" and C. S. Lewis (of Narnia fame) credits her as an influence.
Karen Krause’s narration is excellent. She really brings this fantasy to life, using a distinct voice for each of the characters and creatures in the story. Simply put, this story is a lot of fun, and recommended for anyone who enjoys fun witty stories, especially those involving dragons.
Excellent Dragon Story for Children
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This was a great story for kids and fun for adults too. The very young Lionel knows he is king, but also knows he must answer to his nurse for any bad behavior. He will be sent to bed without supper if he misbehaves. This was a great point about the story because, while the king supposedly had great control over his kingdom and people, he also had to face the consequences of poor choices.
The story starts off with some harmful ‘beasts’ that are really quite pretty to look at and enjoy. So at first, the consequences of messing around with this magical Book of Beasts is not readily apparent. But as the story continues, we find our young hero king in a world of trouble! I think this is great fun for both kids and adults and would be fine entertainment for a car ride.
Narration: Karen Krause did a great job having the perfect little boy voice for the child king. She also had a stern, yet amusing, voice for the king’s nurse.
Learning to Clean up your mess
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