children reading?

rachelellen · Post by **rachelellen** » August 15th, 2006, 6:51 pm

I have a daughter who, though young (not quite seven), is an excellent, fluent, expressive reader. Would it be OK (she really wants to) if she recorded some short works for Librivox? I fully understand if you prefer not to fill the catalog with mother-beloved childish lispings (although MY CHILD, well, she's a GENIUS, of course), or if there are privacy-law issues with having people under age 13 submit files.

If she DOES record anything, any suggestions? I'm thinking some Stevenson poems from A Child's Garden of Verses maybe, but a story or two would be nice as well. Are there any good short children's works in the public domain? L.M. Montgomery wrote a number of short stories which were published before 1923, but I think the only form we have them in is as books edited together in the 1990's... which, I'm sure, means they're under copyright, correct?

kri · Post by **kri** » August 15th, 2006, 7:35 pm

rachelellen wrote:I have a daughter who, though young (not quite seven), is an excellent, fluent, expressive reader. Would it be OK (she really wants to) if she recorded some short works for Librivox? I fully understand if you prefer not to fill the catalog with mother-beloved childish lispings (although MY CHILD, well, she's a GENIUS, of course), or if there are privacy-law issues with having people under age 13 submit files.

If she DOES record anything, any suggestions? I'm thinking some Stevenson poems from A Child's Garden of Verses maybe, but a story or two would be nice as well. Are there any good short children's works in the public domain? L.M. Montgomery wrote a number of short stories which were published before 1923, but I think the only form we have them in is as books edited together in the 1990's... which, I'm sure, means they're under copyright, correct?

We actually have at least one very young child's recording of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. We don't discriminate as far as age here. The only thing is that we require parental permission from children under 13 to participate in the forums, and that probably means to record as well. Since you're her parent, there won't be any problems.

As far as what to record...Is there anything she likes best?

rachelellen · Post by **rachelellen** » August 15th, 2006, 7:44 pm

Most of the things she reads are under copyright -- Narnia books, Beverly Cleary, the Boxcar Children, LIttle House, etc. :)

kri · Post by **kri** » August 15th, 2006, 7:46 pm

rachelellen wrote:Most of the things she reads are under copyright -- Narnia books, Beverly Cleary, the Boxcar Children, LIttle House, etc.

Aha

Well, I guess now is the time to introduce her to the world of public domain, heheh.

thistlechick · Post by **thistlechick** » August 16th, 2006, 7:34 am

ooooh, I love hearing children's voices here!

Let me know the titles of L.M. Montgomery's works that you have in mind... some of her works are and some are not PD.

Here are a few more authors she might enjoy:

Louisa M. Alcott (she has some short works as well)
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/a#a102

Eleanor H. Porter (Pollyanna)
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/p#a200

Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin (Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm)
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/w#a266

Hildegard G. Frey (Camp Fire Girls series)
http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/f#a2241

Also check out the following resources (some items are not public domain, but many are =)

http://www.childrenslibrary.org/
http://childrensbooksonline.org/
http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/catalogs/bysubject-top.html
http://www.mainlesson.com/main/displayfeature.php

Here are the collections that include readings by children at LibriVox:
http://librivox.org/twas-the-night-before-christmas-by-clement-c-moore/
http://librivox.org/the-cow-by-robert-louis-stevenson/

Have fun! =)

12makoto · Post by **12makoto** » August 16th, 2006, 7:44 am

Don't forget Barbara Bear in The Velveteen Rabbit. And she's also planning on doing Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus for the Christmas Collection.

Sean

kayray · Post by **kayray** » August 16th, 2006, 7:53 am

And, *ahem*, a certain Henry, here:
The Hare and the Tortoise
and here:
The Frog Prince
And in the aforementioned Cow poem :)

BradBush · Post by **BradBush** » August 16th, 2006, 9:08 am

It was my daughter Grace who did the duet performance of "Night before Christmas" and solo performance of "The Cow" at a few months past her 6th birthday. So .. no age is too young to start reading for Librivox. Just warning that it did take a few more takes than normal.

Brad

gypsygirl · Post by **gypsygirl** » August 16th, 2006, 10:12 am

Another suggestion, she might enjoy the "colour" fairy books by Andrew Lang; they're available on project gutenberg.

There are also a couple of Susan Coolidge books (What Katy Did Next, and Clover) that haven't been done yet, if she wants to do a full-length book.