Review - 6 Pence Productions

With four active kids at home, I'm always searching for ways to entertain them without resorting to TV, computer games, or video games.  Some of my favorite resources to pull out are audio stories.  Audio stories entertain ALL my kids from my 3 year old to my 11 year old; They are perfect for times when I just NEED the kids to be quietly occupied for an hour, when the kids can't sleep at bedtime, or when we're going on a car trip.

I recently had the opportunity to review 2 audio CDs from 6 Pence Productions--children's theatre audio productions of The Fairytale Collection and Princess Reform School.  The CDs feature the voice talents of children ages 5-17, and are made "for kids by kids".

The Fairytale Collection includes these familiar stories:

• Three Billy Goats Gruff  (9:32 running time)
• Cinderella and Friends (11:08)
• The Emperor’s New Clothes (14:53)
• The Three Little Pigs Meet the Big Bad Wolves (8:24)
• Princess and the Pea (13:02)

I played them for my girls in lieu of bedtime stories a few nights over Christmas break, and the girls really enjoyed them.  These are the classic, magical fairy tales that the kids have heard many times, but hearing them retold by children was captivating.  I was pleasantly surprised!  The child actors' voices are very expressive--they did a great job.  The background sounds and music permeating the stories add a touch of realism and help to bring the stories to life for the listener.  My son, after hearing bits and pieces of the recording from the girls' room, asked to listen to it at bedtime the next night (and also thoroughly enjoyed it), so the stories definitely appeal to both boys and girls. Because the entire CD is about an hour in length, we'll probably just put on one or two stories at a time most days.  These are the perfect length for short trips in the car, too, while running errands.  Most of my errands are within 20 minutes from home, so that's a perfect time to pop in the CD and let my kids just sit back and enjoy the story (hopefully instead of poking and elbowing each other!).

The second production we listened to was Princess Reform School,  a 2-act,  2-disc production that's about and hour and a half in length.  In this play, new princesses and more familiar ones are enrolled in a Princess Reform School to polish their princess skills, because after all, "being born a princess is no guarantee that you know how to behave as one." The story contains the usual princess-y themes of castles, toads and dragons, but the focus is on the princesses, their relationships and their self-discoveries.  The story is witty, humorous and at times poignant.  My oldest daughter had a friend over for a sleepover when we first played this CD, and since it takes the girls awhile to settle at night, I was hoping they would lay in bed and quietly listen to the play.  I fully expected them to be up and  giggling again within a few minutes.  I peeked in after about forty-five minutes and all was quiet.  I was shocked that they had fallen asleep so fast, but then my daughter's voice called out from the top bunk bed "Mom--can you put on the second disc?  The first one just ended."  They were totally engrossed in the play!  Two tweens quiet at a sleepover? That's a first, at least at my house!

In a society saturated with video entertainment (and we've all read the studies about how too much screen time can adversely affect kids), it's so refreshing to find truly entertaining audio productions that inspire kids to use their imaginations. These 6 Pence Players productions would be great gift alternatives to toys, stuffed animals and video games for your own children, nieces/nephews or your children's friends.  My kids have listened to these stories many, many times already and still ask for them often--and I'm happy to oblige.


Visit 6penceplayers.com to learn more about The Fairtytale Collection and Princess Reform School,  to listen to short excerpts of both, or to purchase the CDs.