#tbt: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

 

Image: Penguin Random House

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. 400 p. Puffin Classics/ Penguin Random House. April, 2015. 9780141321080.

#tbt reaches all the way back to 1868 to feature Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. This semi-autobiographical novel tells the story of the four March sisters, who, together with their dearest Marmee, are trying to hold the household together while Mr. March is away at war. The book was adapted for film many times over the years. The most recent adaption releases on Christmas and features Meryl Streep as Aunt March and Saoirse Ronan as Jo March. 

#tbt: Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Image: BOT

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. Unabridged audiobook narrated by Meryl Streep and a full cast. BOT, October 29, 2019. 

Whenever I attend a large conference with an exhibit hall, I always find the BOT booth to check it. Until recently, they sold audiobooks for twenty dollars a pop and I would always buy five. I was disappointed at Annual to find none for sale, but browsed the display of upcoming titles. The booth manager pointed me at the title they are most excited for. This one. My reaction was not what they expected. I asked,"How can this book be better narrated than by E.B. White?"

One of my favorite and most enduring family memories is of our car ride to ski in Vermont some thirty years ago. Everyone in the car was completely entranced by White's performance and story. It was magical. We went on to listen to his narration of Trumpet of the Swan and Stuart Little. It seemed a bit sacrilegious to attempt to remake perfection.

Still, Meryl Streep is the narrator. Her performance of The Velveteen Rabbit was simply stunning. Just thinking about it right now and my eyes brim with tears. So lovely.

This #tbt post is also a combo. The book isn't releasing until October, so I could've put it in Waiting on Wednesday; but it's here on #tbt. 

Charlotte's Web was written by E.B. White and illustrated by Garth Williams. It was published in 1952 and was named a Newbery Honor. Quick, what won the Newbery that year? This Honor book is a great example of how sometimes Newbery committees get things wrong. Charlotte's Web has endured. It was made into an animated musical starring Debbie Reynolds as Charlotte in 1973. In 2006, Dakota Fanning played Fern in a live-action release.  

You may notice that most cover images are linked back to the publisher of the work. Follow the link above to the BOT website and take a gander at the cast list. It is filled with many of my favorites. Generally, I don't love full-cast audio productions. It takes me awhile to get with the flow of constantly changing voices. I think full-cast productions turn the experience into something else—more play than narration. 

January LeVoy is Charlotte. Kirby Heyborne is Wilbur. MacLeod Andrews is Templeton! Other favorite narrators in the cast include Dion Graham, Lincoln Hoppe and Bahni Turpin. So yeah, I'll be setting aside my curmudgeonly prejudice and listening. I'm sure it will be lovely.

#tbt: Old Yeller by Fred Gipson

Old Yeller by Fred Gipson. 176 p. HarperCollins Publishers, July, 1956. 97800660115456. (Own)

#tbt features a tear jerker. Old Yeller was written by Fred Gipson and published in 1956. It was awarded a Newbery Honor in 1957. It was also adapted by Walt Disney in 1957. Old Yeller is the story of a young boy named Travis, who is the "man of the house" while his dad is working on a cattle drive in the late 1800s. When a scruffy stray wanders onto the ranch and won't leave, Travis names the dog Yeller, partly because of his yellow fur and partly because the dog sounded like he was yelling when he barked. Travis didn't like the dog much but grew to admire his courage after Yeller saved his younger brother from a bear and his mother from a wolf. I am unable to read this story without sobbing. Gipson wrote two companion novels, Savage Sam and Little Arliss.

#tbt: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. 

#tbt features A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It was originally published in 1843 and became an instant bestseller. Over the years, a variety of illustrators have interpreted the classic story. It is Christmas Eve and the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge will have none of this Christmas nonsense. He resents the fact that his loyal clerk, Bob Cratchet wants the day off. While dining alone that night, he is visited by the ghost of his partner and only friend, Jacob Marley, who entreats Ebenezer to change his ways and tells him that he will be visited by three ghosts - the Ghost of Christmas Past; the Ghost of Christmas Present and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

Patrick Stewart narrates my favorite audiobook of A Christmas Carol.