Mary Burkey, a teacher-librarian and Booklist audiobook columnist, provides a delightful, in-depth look at audiobooks for the youth market in this comprehensive manual. This volume provides a look at the intriguing history of audiobooks, the production of an audiobook title, the differences in literacy development between reading and listening to books, and the impact of audiobooks in the classroom. The author also includes sections on audiobook collection development and audiobook awards. This volume also includes a recommended reading list and a lexicon of audiobook vocabulary. Short chapters are interlaced with spotlights by and discussions with authors, narrators, and others involved in the production of audiobooks. The overall effect is both informative and enjoyable.

In the “Impact on Literacy” section, Burkey explains the literacy skills that are built by listening to audiobooks: pronunciation, vocabulary, active listening skills, and reading fluency. One advantage of audiobooks is that children are able to listen to and comprehend audiobooks that are beyond their reading comprehension level. Author Bruce Coville describes audiobooks as the “great equalizer” in the classroom. When listening to an audiobook, students can experience a book at the same pace—allowing some to stretch “their intellectual capacity” and others to “savor details.”

Burkey’s collection development section includes sources for locating and evaluating titles (covered in two chapters), and it includes rationales for building and promoting a collection. Her ideas for creating a collection development policy for an audiobook collection bring up the concern about how reading a word on a page, or reading about a sensitive issue, can be very different from hearing it “when the material’s format does not allow skimming over content or mentally bleeping a word.” She urges librarians to be prepared to handle patron requests for materials reconsideration and provides online resources to consult before writing a collection development policy. These suggestions should not be overlooked.

This book is a valuable resource for everyone using and purchasing audiobooks for classroom or library use. Highly recommended for public, school, and university libraries.