Why Librivox Rocks

I had pulled down a couple of audio books when I had first learned of Librivox. At that time the selection was somewhat sparse; the quality of any given recording varied. Once the novelty of what I'd discovered worn off, the site dropped off my radar. I was recently reminded of the site again. Exploring the site a second time, the beauty of Librivox was reveled when I discovered their children's literature selection.

Audio books for children fill a niche for that age that falls somewhere between "tell me a story!" and actually knowing how to read a book. Librivox contains many different audio books that are appropriate for this age group. Folk and fairy tails make up a good portion of these selections. Stories specifically written for children can also be found.

So you know what you will find out on Librivox let me offer a explanation of what type of works that are found in the public domain. Public domain works are free of copyright. Although is it possible that someone may create a work for the public domain, it is much more likely that the copyright for the work has expired. Works pubbefore 1923 are now in the public domain. Works published after 1923 may or may not be in the public domain.

Since cultural norms and sensitivities shift over time, it is recommended that you actually listen through a recording before turning your toddler loose with a CD player. Due to the nature of when these stories were first written, you will sometimes find such things as instances of insensitivities toward minorities and ethnic groups or more graphic depictions of violence and gore as compared to our current standards for children's stories. Additionally, you will also stumble across uses of the language that are now quaint and out dated.

With little trouble, it is easy to find enough gems to fill an audio CD (files can be downloaded as oog, mp3, or added to your iTunes via RSS feed).