David Weale Book Added To Curriculum Of Indiana University

Prince Edward Island author David Weale's Chasing the Shore: Little Stories of Spirit and Landscape has recently been adopted as a core textbook at Notre Dame University in Indiana. It will be used in a course entitled Place and Voice.

The author of more then a dozen books, Weale is best known for his children’s literature, particularly The True Meaning of Crumbfest.

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Listen to an excerpt from Rattling Books' unabridged audio book edition of The True Meaning of Crumbfest, which won an AudioFile Earphones Award.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like "Crumbfest" . . .

"Crumbfest" is what the mice call Christmas in David Weale's classic story The True Meaning of Crumbfest. Recipient of the Ann Connor Brimer Award for Children's Literature, Crumbfest is the tale of Ekhart, a young mouse, and his family. As winter approaches, the mice are forced to leave the bountiful natural world for the shelter of a farmhouse, where pickings are slim. The adult mice start talking about something called "Crumbfest," but Eckhart thinks it's all hooey. Until . . .

"The mystery of Crumbfest is the mystery of the Outside and the Inside. When the Outside comes in and the Inside comes out, it is a special time, for when the Outside and the Inside meet, Crumbfest happens."

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Listen to an excerpt from Rattling Books' unabridged audio book version of The True Meaning of Crumbfest. Antonia Francis, who was five years old when she narrated Crumbfest, won an AudioFile Earphones Award for her performance. The True Meaning of Crumbfest is available as an audio book CD or an MP3 audio book download.

Canadian audiobooks produced by Rattling Books in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Crumbfest on AudioFile's All Ears Podcast

A Merry Crumbfest

AudioFile calls it "wonderfully refreshing!"

Find out what you think...

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The True Meaning of Crumbfest, by David Weale, is available as an audio CD from Rattling Books.

Rattling Books audio edition of The True Meaning of Crumbfest serialized on CBC Radio in PEI

The True Meaning of Crumbfest by David Weale, performed by Antonia Francis (Rattling Books, 2005) will be broadcast over the next three days: Wednesday - Friday (December 20 - 22) on CBC Radio's Mainstreet program in Prince Edward Island.

So tell your Island buddies to listen up. Or check out a clip here.

Available from rattlingbooks.com and in Charlottetown from the BookMark book store.

And if you prefer the printed edition, Acorn Press.

Ottawa Citizen review of Rattling Books' The True Meaning of Crumbfest by David Weale, performed by Antonia Francis

The following is an excerpt from a regular audio book column in the Ottawa Citizen by Janice Kennedy.

The sounds of Christmas: Kids should be encouraged to read themselves, but sometimes it's OK to let a CD read to them instead
The Ottawa Citizen Sunday, November 26, 2006 Page: C6
Section: The Citizen's Weekly Arts & Books Byline: Janice Kennedy
Column: Reading Out Loud
Source: The Ottawa Citizen

.... One of the most engaging such recordings is the work of a small company in Tors Cove, N.L., a short drive out of St. John's. Rattling Books produces a variety of engagingly unusual Canadian titles, many of them with a Newfoundland-Labrador connection, in unabridged audio format. (And unapologetically, too. Says founder Janet Russell to anyone who thinks audiobooks "are some form of cheating: If you want to be like that about it, writing it down in the first place was cheating. What's wrong with you, can't tell a story or what? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was Spoken.")

One of the most engagingly unusual of its titles is a kids' audiobook with a festive-season theme. And it has recently been honoured with an Earphones Award from the U.S. magazine AudioFile. The True Meaning of Crumbfest (22 minutes unabridged/1 CD, $9.95) Written by Prince Edward Island history professor and storyteller David Weale, this story has become very popular since it first appeared in print seven years ago. It is the adventure of a small mouse who tries to discover why something wonderful happens once a year, after the extended mouse family moves from their beloved Outside to the between-walls darkness of the Inside.

Sweet and delightfully tart at the same time, and perfect for kids four to nine, the story is narrated by Antonia Francis. And that's one of the surprising appeals of the recording. At the time the story was recorded -- in 2001, for her mother's community radio show -- Antonia was only five years old. Young Antonia turns her little voice to a genuinely impressive range. She is as cheery, apprehensive, sad or triumphant as the narrative occasion demands, and she is eminently listenable. The 22-minute recording is the original radio presentation, rough around the edges, but still a joy. AudioFile called Crumbfest a "special treat." And so it is.


So there you have it. You can read the Earphones Award review elsewhere on this Blog. The unabridged audio recording of The True Meaning of Crumbfest by David Weale performed by Antonia Francis is available online from Rattling Books.

Listen to an excerpt of Antonia's Crumbfest narration.

Antonia Sula May Francis: Earphones Award winning Narrator

This is a photo of Antonia a few years ago. I'm her Mom.

I used to produce a weekly one hour radio program with Rachel Bryant for the Alder Institute. It was called Open Air: Natural History Radio from Newfoundland and Labrador. We did that for four years.

Natural History we defined as everything. Not to limit ourselves and the fun we could have. Like having Andy Jones telling Jack stories and riding a tandem bike around old Havana or watching fledging murre chicks tripping over my microphone on their way to life at sea.

When Antonia was five she performed a Christmas story for Open Air's Christmas program. The True Meaning of Crumbfest by David Weale. She did it like a five year old which is to say no one you know who is not a five year old could have done a better job. Which is why now that her Mom is an audio publisher and Antonia's narration is an audio book, Antonia Sula May Russell Francis is an Earphones Award winning narrator.

AudioFile Earphones Award for The True Meaning of Crumbfest by David Weale, as read by Antonia Francis

Here follows the review from Current Reviews (AudioFile Magazine):

Children

THE TRUE MEANING OF CRUMBFEST David Weale. Read by Antonia Francis.

Are you ready for a special treat? Not only is this a quaint tale of the joy that is Christmas, it also offers a remarkable narration. Ignoring his grandfather's advice to let well enough alone, Eckhart, a new mouse born in the summer, is on a quest to find out more about the special winter day when delectable crumbs abound in the house. The story's narrator is 5-year-old Antonia Francis, who recorded it for her mother's radio program. How refreshing her narration is! Miss Francis's enthusiasm abounds as she elongates words and hesitantly approaches "big" words in the tale. Her voice rises and falls with exaggerated suspense and wonder. The combination of Francis's heartfelt empathy for Eckhart and her youthful, earnest presentation captivates. A.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 06]

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