Yesterday, on a bit of a craving, after going to look at a new property that our congregation might be buying to no longer be the wandering UUs, I dragged the family to Wendy's* to get some fast food. 

I bought the Little Man his own Kid's meal, just because it was easier than buying things piecemeal, though frankly Kid's Meals tend to be slightly more expensive, because they come with a toy.  Well, with a 2 year old, even as big as he is, the toys we typically end up with are really way beyond him, and rarely rate more than a causal shake, rattle and roll, before he pretty much tosses them aside as useless.  And the activities that come on the bag, while might be fun for a grammar school age child, are all too advanced for one quite so young.

In any case, as we drove the rest of the way home (the restaurant being only nominally out of the way) and my wife dug through the kid's meal to see what kind of toy he got.  It was a CD.  In fact, it was an Audiobook!  Wow.  This was pretty cool.  It was a fairly appropriate to the season story called Zombies Don't Play Soccer. (By Debbie Dadey and Marcia T Jones)  This has been the best toy that I've seen in any Kid's meal.  We've already listened to it about four times.  Okay, so not every time do we sit through the entire book, it's a bit long.  But, honestly, it's a blast of a story, and he seems to be enjoying it. 

Now I'll be honest, at his age, the interest does phase in and out.  I think that's to be expected.  But in my book, this is a win, because if we can pop in something like this, and he'll be entertained for a mealtime, it's a big help.  He tends to eat better the longer he sits at a meal and is entertained.  And what a great boost for the four books (and their authors) that are in this limited time give away.

Of course, what this makes me wonder is: if I can get him to sit through a story like this, can I get him to listen to some good old SF or F podcasts?  I shall have to try some experiments, and see how he likes them.

Speaking of podcasts and audiobooks in general, it makes me wonder if this medium is much like the old radio dramas that my parents listened to as kids before the days of TV.  (Yes, my parents are old enough to remember the days before TV.)

So, let me ask you:  what's the latest Audiobook you've listened to?
Do you have a favorite podcast?
Do you like Audiobooks and or podcasts?

(*For proper, and full disclosure, I once worked at Wendy's several years ago while I was in college.  This has absolutely no bearing on how cool I think this particular idea is, but it does explain my brand loyalty.  The fact that it's the physically closest fast food restaurant to the house not withstanding.)

From: [identity profile] slobbit.livejournal.com


I have a few podcasts I sync to the iPhone for my Joisey trips: This American Life, PBS Nova Science podcast, Bill Moyers.

And Wendy's rocks. I get a baked potato and chicken wrap for under $4. It used to be even cheaper, before the gas hike.

From: [identity profile] temporus.livejournal.com


My wife has been listening to This American Life on podcast a lot recently. She doesn't get to hear it when it broadcasts too often, but now with the netbook, she can listen to it whenever she wants.

We are such NPR geeks.

From: [identity profile] reillye.livejournal.com


Every summer we go to Ocean City, MD. Every summer we listen to the next Harry Potter book on audio. It passes the time so much quicker for the kids.

From: [identity profile] temporus.livejournal.com


So what now that the Harry Potter novels are over? Do you have other plans?

From: [identity profile] reillye.livejournal.com


We are behind. We finished number 5 this year. I don't know what will come after that. I'm even a bit worried about number 6 next year, given my little one's age. But we'll see. One year we did a bunch of different books that Brian chose. Perhaps we'll do the Percy Jackson books. Everyone would like those.

From: [identity profile] temporus.livejournal.com


Oooh, yeah. Books 6 & 7 are much darker, and not sure if its the kind of stuff that might go over her head, or not.

From: [identity profile] edhorch.livejournal.com


What [livejournal.com profile] reillye said about audiobooks. As far as podcasts go, I have a long commute, so I listen to Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann most days, along with [livejournal.com profile] bpende's "Whole Lot of Nonsense" podcast, which comes out weekly.

From: [identity profile] temporus.livejournal.com


I was just today thinking about what I would need to do to be able to listen to podcasts in the car. My vehicle is old and cheap enough that there's no convenient way to do it. (Doesn't even have a CD player, only a tapedeck) I could try to replace the radio, but that just seems silly to do on such an old car.

From: [identity profile] edhorch.livejournal.com


For podcasts, a having a tape deck instead of a CD player is a feature, not a bug. Those cassette adapters for iPods (etc.) work really well. The audio quality is somewhere between FM and CD.

From: [identity profile] sartorias.livejournal.com


I only listen to them on long drives--then I love them. But I read so fast I would prefer not being read to.

From: [identity profile] temporus.livejournal.com


Now that I envy. I am such a slow reader compared to most of my friends. I wish I were faster.

From: [identity profile] jongibbs.livejournal.com


What a great idea for a kid's meal toy!

To answer your questions, I love audio books. The last podcast was one of bondo_ba's (can't remember the title, but I enjoyed it). The last audiobook was Agatha Christie's ABC Murders, narrated by Hugh Fraser (who played Captain Hastings to David Suchet's, Poirot, in the TV series).

From: [identity profile] temporus.livejournal.com


I love the idea. Honestly, why do I want another shoddy toy that my son is going to either break, or ignore within 15 minutes of getting it out of the package, when I can have an audiobook that he'll probably listen to a couple dozen times. Perhaps more. To me, that's a major win.

From: [identity profile] akaalysia.livejournal.com


I don't really listen to audio books. But on a side note about kid's meals. if there is a toy, they usually have an alternate toy for children under 3. They are less likely to be choking hazards and are more interesting to the toddler crowd, usually. You have to ask for it though.

From: [identity profile] temporus.livejournal.com


Yeah. I know. I wasn't really thinking about it as I was driving through, and I rarely am buying fast food for us anyways. I'm happy to have gotten the audio book. My son just loves stories, so I think it was a big win.

From: [identity profile] gwynnath.livejournal.com


Yeah, we got a few of the audiobooks from Wendy's recently, but haven't popped them in quite yet. Ev absolutely -loved- the Word Girl audiobook we got a few months back to the point of not wanting to get out of the car until the story (there were four on the cd) was done. :-) Way cool, Wendy's, way cool...



From: [identity profile] temporus.livejournal.com


Granted, as an author, I'm a touch biased, but I would so much rather see these folks giving out books than more pointless toys that kids will break or ignore in pretty short order.

Of course, I don't really remember getting these kinds of toys as a kid. Mostly I remember collectors glasses and stuff.
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