Author: Rabbit Ears
Genre: Fairy Tales / Folktales
Year Published: 2007
Year Read: 2012
Series: Rabbit Ears Treasury: World Tales #3
Publisher: Listening Library (Audio)
Source: Library
Content Rating: Ages 5+ (Themes of Cannibalism)
Buy or Add on: Amazon // Goodreads
Now how many of these “Rabbit Ears Treasury” audio CDs will I have to listen to just to be satisfied? All of them of course! So, imagine my surprise when I finally picked up another “Rabbit Ears Treasury” audio CD, which is called “Rabbit Ears Treasury of World Tales Volume 3: The Bremen Town Musicians” and “Koi and the Kola Nuts” and I definitely enjoyed both stories on this CD! “Rabbit Ears Treasury of World Tales Volume 3” is definitely an audio CD that you will enjoy for many years to come!
I have pretty much already summarized both of these stories through their book counterparts, so I will just briefly summarize each story:
The Bremen Town Musicians
Told by: Bob Hoskins
Music by: Eugene Friesen
When a donkey is threatened with death because he had grown too old to work on the farm, he decides to run away to the town of Bremen and along the way, he meets a cat, a dog and a rooster who were also in the same predicament as he was. Further down, the four friends meet up with a band of robbers and they prove to be a match for the unsuspecting robbers!
Koi and the Kola Nuts
Told by: Whoopi Goldberg
Music by: Herbie Hancock
When the youngest son of the former chief, Koi, only receives a Kola Nut tree after his father’s death, he decides to go to a village that would treat him with respect. Unfortunately, Koi ends up in a village that wants to eat him and he must complete three impossible tasks in order to avoid being thrown into the cooking pot!
Wow! The “Rabbit Ears Treasury” series just keeps getting better and better! These two tales are excellent to listen to and my favorite of the two stories is “Koi and the Kola Nuts” since Whoopi Goldberg does a brilliant job at narrating this ancient African folktale. I loved the way that Herbie Hancock’s music just flows so well with this story as it contains an African beat that truly defines the African feel of this story and Whoopi Goldberg’s narration is smooth and regal as she narrates the story of a young prince who wants to be treated in a respectful manner, while meeting some great animal friends along the way. In the other story “The Bremen Town Musicians,” Bob Hoskins has done an excellent job at narrating the classic Brothers Grimm tale as his narration is both hilarious and engaging to listen to. Eugene Friesen’s music is both creative and hilarious to listen to as I find myself enjoying putting together the different instruments that go with each animal (the rooster has a voice that sounds like bagpipes and the cat has a voice that sounds like a violin) and Eugene Friesen’s music beautifully complements with these elements of each animal.
As with most of the audio CDs of the “Rabbit Ears Treasury” series, there is no book to accompany it and for readers who remembered reading the “Rabbit Ears” series during the 80s and 90s might be a bit disappointed with this. This can be a problem especially if you wanted to show your children or your friends the stories so that way they could better understand the story, especially with “Koi and the Kola Nuts” that has many African terms that many small children might not understand very well with only an audio CD to go by.
Overall, “Rabbit Ears Treasury of World Tales Volume 3: The Bremen Town Musicians and Koi and the Kola Nuts” is definitely one collection of classic stories that both adults and children will enjoy for many years to come!
So go out and buy this fantastic series of popular children’s stories! I am sure that you will not be disappointed by these brilliant CDs!
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