Mr Moo loves stories. Every night at bed time, he selects three books (which is the number which we ultimately manage to negotiate him down to from his opening gambit of seventy-four) and we snuggle up together while I read them to him. When I’m finished doing my version of Jackanory, he will inevitably beg for more stories “pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaasssssssseeeeeeeeeeee”. At this point, I give him the option of either having his torch and a story book which he can ‘read’ himself or an audio book.
Recently he has consistently been opting for audio books and so I have expanded our modest collection of story CDs. At first, we used the CDs which came with a few of his story books but these proved to be a little too short for Mr Moo (I would have just settled down with a cup a tea and my laptop when I would hear shouts from Mr Moo’s bedroom of “put it on again Mammy!”). Instead, we now use cds with collections of stories on them and Mr Moo just loves them and drifts happily off to sleep in the world of the hundred acre wood or Peter Rabbit’s burrow.
So far, my absolute favourite audio books are these dramatisations of Winnie The Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner (I am happy to report that Mr Moo is also a huge fan!):
£8.07
£8.55
These adaptations of the classic A A Milne stories are read by a phenomenal cast. Here’s a list of some of the main stars:
Pooh – Stephen Fry
Piglet – Jane Horrocks
Eeyore – Geoffrey Palmer
Kanga – Judi Dench
Owl – Michael Williams
Combine these immediately recognisable voices with sprinklings of music and understated but effective sound effects and you’ll find yourself unable to turn these CDs off. They really are special (although admittedly I was a Pooh fan to start off with!). They are fantastic for long journeys in the car (each box contains two CDs so they are a great length) and are great value for money.
Mr Moo’s other favourites include stories from Charlie and Lola, Fireman Sam and Beatrix Potter (which also has an impressive cast) but I really do have a soft spot for that ‘Bear of very little brain’.
