Today, Friday, March 2, 2012 is NEA Read Across America Day.
Reading
is a favorite pastime in our household.
Books, magazines and e-readers are stacked in every room. Each night, my husband and I read to our
toddler, hoping to pass our love of reading on to her. As she matures, I see that our work is not in
vain. She appears to love books as much
as we do.
Unfortunately,
bed time stories are no longer enough to pacify our little one. She also likes to spend time perusing her
books with some autonomy. For her third
birthday, she received a children's e-reader and several electronic books as a
gift. During the months since, I
frequently find her attentively listening as her electronic device reads books
to her. She is also mastering the
letter, word and language games it offers.
Another
favorite of my toddler is read along books.
(They were the only thing she
requested from Santa last year.)
Years ago, my husband and I enjoyed playing 45s on portable record
players as we eagerly awaited the sound of chimes signaling us to turn the page
of our favorite books. Later the books
came with cassette tapes. The newer
versions our child enjoys come with CDs or an MP3 download.
In
order to assist Santa in locating these items, I perused online book stores like
Barnes and Noble and Amazon. Both
retailers stock read along books, but at prices ranging from $10-$30, it can be
difficult to stock a library with them.
Dollar Tree stores can help round out read along book collections by
offering a wide variety of religious and fairy tale CD books at $1 each. Of course, there is a way to turn all your
children's and even adult books into
audio books for free. All it
takes is a little time and a home computer.
Here's how to make your own.
First,
open the Voice Recorder program on your computer. (It's free software available on most Windows
systems. Then record yourself reading
each page of your favorite book onto a separate track. i.e. 5 pages will equal
5 separate recordings.
Next,
open Windows Live Movie Maker. (This is
another free software application available on most Windows systems.) Download each page's recording into the
project task bar. You may have to also insert a picture or text into the video track in
order to get started.
Between each page sound track, insert a sound effect
track which will cue the listener to turn the page. I like to use sounds like chimes or
bells. Several websites like
www.soungle.com offer royalty free sound effects downloads at no cost.
Then,
save the completed project as a WAV file.
Some CD players will play WAV files.
If yours will. You're done. Burn a CD, slip in an envelope, and affix it
to the inside cover of your child's favorite book to transform it to a read
along version. If your CD player does
not recognize WAV files, or your child prefers to utilize his or her MP3
player, another step is required to convert the WAV into an MP3 file.
Download
a freeware WAV to MP3 converter online.
www.wavtomp3converter.com and www.free.mp3-converter.com are just a
couple sites offering free downloads.
www.convertfiles.com/convert/audio/WAV-to-MP3.html allows users to make the conversion without
installing a new program.
And that's it! It may take some time to complete your first
read along book, but once you get the hang of it, subsequent ones take only
minutes. I like to set aside a few
minutes each month, to make CDs for the books my child already has. I also encourage other family members to help
me add to her collection by making recordings and emailing them to me for
editing.
On days, I'm feeling especially
creative, I recruit grandma and grandpa to read books while chatting with us on
Skype. I use the VOD Burner program to
record our conversation. That way, I end
up with a home movie and sound which can be edited into read along story for my
little one. *Note, VOD Burner software can be a little pricey (around $100,) but it does come with a 14-day free
trial. If you utilize Skype frequently,
it is well worth the purchase price.
Creating audio books and videos
to encourage reading is a wonderful gift for your loved one. Don't worry, the finished project doesn't
have to be as slick as a professional recording. Young readers will love yours more because
you made it especially for them.
In honor of Read Across America
Day, I would like to give something back to my friends and neighbors in
Buchanan County, Virginia. I am
providing free MP3 downloads I created for my daughter's Dolly Parton's
Imagination Library books. To obtain a
copy to supplement your child's reading experience contact me on Facebook to request an MP3 of
their favorite story. Happy Reading!
