Unicorn Audiobooks Improving Reading Comprehension, Fluency, Vocabulary Development
Research shows that one of the most important reasons for the increasing interest in audiobooks for young people is the correlation between listening to audiobooks and improvements in reading comprehension, fluency, language acquisition, vocabulary development and improved achievement. Listening is an important skill to be both taught and learned. Unicorn audibooks are important as we grow our children’s unicorn book series, Unicorn Jazz.
Integrate Technology with the Power of Words and Unicorn Audiobooks
Children of this century live in a world where media is a dominant form of communication (25 million iPods sold last year), and imagination’s greatest champion in this technological realm is the spoken word. Through the years our cultures have been nurtured and our customs passed on by storytellers–audiobooks carry on that tradition.
- Fewer Americans are reading books than a decade ago, according to the National Endowment for the Arts, but almost a third more are listening to them on tapes, CDs and iPods. (“Loud, Proud, Unabridged: It Is Too Reading!; The New York Times, May 26, 2005)
- According to Wendy Kasten, an education professor at Kent State University, “Listening to tapes with books in front of students is very, very good for building vocabulary.” (“To Curl Up with a Good Book, Listen Up,” The Plain Dealer, May 23, 2005)
In addition, with all of the audiobooks available today, and with the increasing number being produced, we believe it is essential for ALSC and YALSA to provide the same level of support for this nonprint format that they have historically provided for print materials, by creating an annual award for the best unicorn audiobooks in the field. We believe that by doing so, ALSC and YALSA can not only assist their members to better serve their library patrons, but also raise the profile and standards of audiobooks by having those honored serve as models toward which all audio producers can aspire.
Unicorn Jazz, a unicorn audiobook is nominated via the American Library Association for a NOTABLE CHILDREN’S RECORDING AWARD. Come back and see the results in 2020!
To hear and see the Kids Unicorn Book and Unicorn Audiobook come to life, go to the full children’s video book here.