Audiobooks and Caricatures (Hobbit Read Along Finale, pt. 2)

Today is the release date of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit!  But you probably already know that if you’ve been on our Hobbit journey.  It’s been a wild trip, as you can read in our previous posts: 1) Introduction, 2) Week One, 2) Week Two, 3) Week  Three, 4) Week Four, 5) Week Five, and 6) Finale, pt 1: Andrew Peterson’s Joyous Turn.

In our very final finale (I promise!), I thought we would do two things at once: First, I’d let you see the caricatures we’re providing our winners.  Second, I’ve attached an audio interview of our Hobbit Radio Theater winners.  While interviewing the winners, I spoke to their mom about a website run by their family that helps readers use of hundreds of free audiobooks online.  If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to create more gifts for your family this Christmas, this is an awesome resource.

Caricatures: One Last Giveaway!

Per the giveaway, Janie’s son, Tielman Cheaney, was kind enough to provide us with this Hobbit caricature of himself.  Besides being a dutiful and loving son and husband, he’s also the owner of Cartoon Vegas (www.cartoonvegas.com), a small company of caricature artists operating out of Las Vegas.  In case you’re wondering, they draw cartoons of tourists as well as web visitors, so if you like what you see here, feel free to hop on over to his website and get your friends and family all Hobbit-ed up for Christmas!

I told you guys last week that we’d choose one last caricature winner out of last week’s comments, so congratulations to Anna!  Here’s a foretaste of the joy you can inflict on your family and friends this year!

BEFORE (ain’t he handsome)

AFTER (eeek! though still handsome, for a dwarf….)

THE PODCAST

And now, here’s the interview with the Evert boys and their mom, Molly!  In it, we cover 1) how their family started a website called My Audio School, which largely came about through one son’s struggle with dyslexia, 2) we speak to two of the boys on how they liked the radio theater contest, and 3) how you can use their site to download your own free or very cheap audiobooks.  I think it’s worth a listen just to hear how excited the younger one was about the contest.  So sweet!

[powerpress]   ***podcast currently unavailable***

Are you going to see the Hobbit tonight?  Let us know how you liked it…and if it’s worth seeing!  There have been a few negative reviews out there. 

To read more about read difficulties like dyslexia, here is an article by Molly entitled Helping Dyslexics Help Themselves.  Or here’s a post I did about my time at a literacy council.  For more of our audiobook suggestions, see this post on Winter Audiobooks.