Beric The Briton ~ Review

You all know from my past reviews that my children and I love audio dramas. I love when audio dramas come up for review and pray that we get picked to review them. We especially love audio dramas produced by Heirloom Audio Productions. Their newest drama is Beric The Briton.

To be honest, I had never heard of G.A. Henty before I started listening to the Heirloom Audio Productions of his books. I never would have thought to introduce his works to my children if it had not been for the dramas.

About G.A. Henty:
Born in 1832, Henty became an exceptional English author and war correspondent. His stories are historical and adventurous. They became popular in the late nineteenth century and are still widely read today.

About Beric The Briton:
This story takes place around 60 AD during the Roman invasion of Britain. Beric is a young man at this time. He fights with the Iceni tribe which is led by Queen Boadicea. Even though he defeats the Romans, he is eventually captured and sent to Rome. There he is trained to become a gladiator. He gains fame when he defeats a lion with bare hands and is then sent to serve in Nero's palace. He does eventually get back home to Britain after Nero dies, but he is not as welcomed as he thought he would be.

Beric The Briton audio drama is recommended for children age six and up. There is over 2 hours of listening time which is a great way to have fun while learning some history. The cast of Beric The Briton includes some well known actors such as Brian Blessed, Tom Cox, Cathy Sara, and John Rhys-Davies.

Not only do you get to listen to a great story, but you are able to expand on the story with the included 48 page digital study guide. Your children learn historical facts from listening to the story and also from answering the questions provided in the study guide. They are also able to learn the meaning of different words throughout the story. And while reading through the study guide, I found a recipe for Roman Noodle Bake. Sounds good.

I also like how they incorporate the Bible in the study guide by offering several Bible Studies.

Some of the other digital freebies I received are as follows:

• Beric The Briton MP3 Set
• Beric The Briton E-Book
• Official MP3 Soundtrack
• Printable Cast Poster
• Inspirational Verse Poster
• Behind the scenes video

What we thought of Beric The Briton:

We loved it! This series is so well produced and it really does bring history to life. This is the fourth Heirloom drama we have listened to and we look forward to hearing more audio dramas produced by Heirloom Audio Productions. We try to spread out our listening time, but we always seem to get hooked and just have to listen to more. We did manage to spread out our listening this time to a few days. We did not use the study guide at this time, but if we listen again, I will probably go through some of the guide with my older children. 

5 Stars for Beric The Briton!

The Dragon And The Raven ~ Review

My children love to listen to audio dramas. On Saturday mornings, instead of getting up and watching television, my children turn on the radio and listen to the audio dramas on the Christian channel. I have done several reviews for audio dramas in the past. I have also done a review of Heirloom Audio Productions, Under Drake’s Flag. I was so excited to have the opportunity to review another Heirloom AudioProductions. We have enjoyed listening to The Dragon and the Raven over the past month.  I love them just as much as the kids do. 

The Dragon and the Raven is a Christian audio drama based on the novel by G. A. Henty. This drama takes you on a wonderful adventure back to the days of King Alfred. The story takes us back to the days before England was a country. Back to when the Saxons were being overtaken by the Vikings (Danes). In this fictional story that is based on historical events, we are introduced to Edmund, a young Saxon who becomes a hero. Kind Alfred was a young king. He had incredible Christian faith. How will he fight off the Vikings? Will he win the war against the Vikings? If you know your history, you may already know the answers. If not, you can find out by listening to The Dragon and the Raven.

When we received this, I had decided to try to spread out this drama over some time. My kids would rather listen to it all at once, but I’d rather take some time to listen to it. I put the cd in the car, so we could listen to it whenever we were in the car. It keeps them quiet on car trips because they don’t want to miss anything. These audio dramas are always very interesting and entertaining. I also enjoy listening to the dramas and can’t wait to hear the next part of the story, because the quality of the production is outstanding.

I also received a few extras with the two CD set. One of the extras is a study guide. The study guide gives a brief biography of G.A. Henty and King Alfred the Great. The study guide has a set of questions for each track on the disc. Each set of questions has three parts- listening well, thinking further, and defining words. I had planned to use the study guide, but since we listened to the CD in the car, I did not use it. We did discuss the story after each car ride though. 

This is the third Heirloom Audio Productions CD that we have listened to and I cannot even begin to express how well produced these CD's are. The music that is used is perfect. The actors that are chosen are perfect. You can tell by listening to them that they love what they are doing.  I also love that the kids are getting a history lesson while listening to the CD. G.A. Henty wrote some great works of fiction that have many historical facts in them, but also added in some fictional characters to help with telling the stories. Be sure to check out a sample of The Dragon and the Raven and order your copy today. The two CD set with three bonuses is $29.97 plus shipping. 

Want to hear what other Schoolhouse Crew reviewers thought about The Dragon and the Raven? Click the banner below.

Under Drake’s Flag ~ Review

It’s no secret that my children love to listen to audio dramas. I have already done several reviews for audio dramas this past crew year. When Under Drake’s Flag came up for a review opportunity, I was so excited to have the opportunity to review another audio drama. I love them just as much as the kids do.

Heirloom Audio Productions produced Under Drake’s Flag and is in the process of releasing another audio drama that I will tell you about at the end.

Under Drake’s Flag is a Christian audio drama based on the novel by G. A. Henty. This drama takes you on a wonderful adventure with a boy named Ned Hawkshaw. He is given the opportunity to set sail with Sir Francis Drake, one of the greatest sea captains of his time. There is suspense, action, and adventure throughout the drama. Will Ned survive as he fights off the sharks that are attacking him? Will he survive the shipwreck?

Listen to a 60 second summary on the website.

When we received this, I had my three older children (ages 12, 11, and 9) sit down and listen to this story after we had done school work one day. I was only going to play a certain amount each day for them to listen to since this is a two hour long drama, but they couldn’t wait until the next day to listen to the rest. They wanted to know what was going to happen next. We ended up listening to the whole thing in one sitting. It was very interesting and it did not seem like it was two hours long. I also enjoyed listening to this story. My three year old did listen to some of the story, but she would go in and out of the room during the story. She doesn’t quite have the attention span needed to listen to this just yet.  My boys loved this story. My eight year old daughter also enjoyed listening to the story and said she found it exciting. The quality of this production is outstanding.

The 2 CD set comes with a small study guide. Each set of questions has three parts- listening well, thinking further, and defining words. We also received a downloadable pdf study guide which has a lot more questions for each section. You can see the differences below. The one on the left is the small study guide that comes with the CD set and the one on the right is the extended PDF study guide. Click the pictures to make them bigger.

 

Another look at the differences in the study guides. The first one is the physical study guide that comes with the CD set. The bottom one is the PDF study guide.





We used both of the study guides. After we finished listening to the CD’s, I asked them several of the questions from each section. Sometimes I asked them one or two from the small study guide and sometimes I asked them five or more from the pdf study guide. We also went over some of the defining words from each section.

The two CD set is appropriate for ages 6 and up. The CD set sells for $29.95 plus $6.95 shipping.

And now for the news on Heirloom Audio Productions next project. In Freedom’s Cause is the newest production due out this fall. You can keep up with all updates to the newest production on the website or through their Facebook page. You can also connect with them on the Under Drake’s Flag Facebook page.

Wizzy Gizmo ~ Review

My kids and I were recently given the opportunity to review Audio Drama One: "Who Created Everything?" from Wizzy Gizmo. I’m always looking for new audio dramas for my children to listen to at home. My children love listening to audio drama’s on the radio and love when I get something new.

What or actually Who is Wizzy Gizmo?

Wizzy Gizmo is an inventor who creates all types of different gadgets. In addition, Wizzy Gizmo offers books, audio drama, and flashcards that are designed to help children learn more about the Bible.

About Audio Drama One: “Who Created Everything?”

Who Created everything? is written by Chris Del Aguila and Justin Cummins. This is a 36 minute Bible audio drama CD that is based on Genesis chapter one. There is also a bonus of 24 minutes of soundtrack on the CD. The bonus tracks are music tracks. This CD is recommended for ages 4-12 and is available on the website for $14.99. There are also samples available to listen to on the website.



The CD starts of with a catchy tune and you are then introduced to the characters. A new boy has just arrived in town and he sets out to meet new friends. The children take Eli, the new boy, to meet Wizzy Gizmo. Wizzy loves to invent things. In fact, he has just invented the Gizmovision. This new invention is able to take any book to take you right into the book to experience all the sights and sounds of the book.

Their first adventure takes them back to the beginning- Genesis chapter one. There they are able to see and hear the days of creation. As you travel through the days of creation, the narrator reads the Bible verses from Genesis that go with each day. There are also some fun songs throughout the story.

How We Used the Audio CD:

I put the CD into my laptop after we received it and my 12, 11, 8, and 3 year old listened to it. The first time we listened from beginning to end. When we listened to it again, we just listened to the story, not the music tracks. We did listen to the whole CD several times. My girls (8 and 3) really enjoyed listening to the CD. They also enjoyed listening to the music tracks at the end. The last time we listened to this was when we started school last week. We are doing Mystery of History Volume I this year, so we listened to the CD after the first lesson on Creation.

What we thought:

My boys, even though they are 12 and 11, love listening to audio dramas. They enjoyed listening to this one several times. They said if there are any more Wizzy Gizmo dramas available or coming out that we should get them. I hope there will be more audio dramas to add to our collection. This was really fun to listen to. My girls also can’t wait for there to be more Wizzy Gizmo dramas. I enjoyed the songs in the drama. They went along great with the story. Overall, we give this audio drama 5 stars!

The Brinkman Adventures ~ Review

 My children love listening to radio programs. Every Saturday morning they wake up early so they can catch the special programs on the radio that are just for kids. When The Brinkman Adventures came up as a possible review, I was happy to see something that my kids had not yet heard. I and my kids were even happier when we were picked to review Brinkman Adventures. We received The Brinkman Adventures Season 2: Episodes 13-24 on CD to review.

About Brinkman Adventures Season 2:
This radio drama series are stories of a large family, the Brinkman's, mixed with real life missionary stories. The stories are told by the missionaries whose names have been changed and some of the events are more dramatized.

Season 2 comes with 4 CD's and over 5 hours of audio.  Each episode is approximately 25 minutes in length. The episodes that are included in season 2 are as follows:

• The Mystery Ring
• Blue Hat & T-shirt Bible
• How Big is Your God, Part 1
• How Big is Your God, Part 2
• Mexico By Bus
• Treehouse academy
• Pirates of Mayan Island
• Sapphire Slaves, Part 1
• Sapphire Slaves, Part 2
• Hadi's Choice
• Castle of Secrets
• On the Run

An overview of the season:
The first episode focuses on the Brinkman's getting ready to visit missionaries in Belize. As they are preparing, they have found an old class ring and want to sell it to buy curriculum for the school in Belize while also trying to find the owner of the ring.

The next few episodes focus on the stories of the owner of the ring who is a retired missionary. The Brinkmans stay with them while in Texas before going to Belize.


Episode seventeen has the Brinkman's bus in Mexico as they are traveling down to Belize.

Episode eighteen through Episode twenty one focus on the missionaries work in Belize.

The last 3 episodes focus on a missionary family who are working in the Middle East.

How we used the CD's and Our Opinion:
As soon as we received the CD's my boys and oldest daughter wanted to listen to them all right away. I let them take an afternoon and listen to as many episodes as they wanted. They ended up listening to all of the episodes in one afternoon. I listened along with them. After we got done listening to all of the episodes, I asked my three older children which one was their favorite. They all told me that all of them were their favorite. They couldn't just pick one. My boys have already asked me about buying season 1. My oldest daughter said she enjoyed hearing the missionary stories.

My 3 year old daughter also listened, but I'm not sure how much really stuck with her. I enjoyed listening to all of the episodes. I love hearing missionary stories and hearing about what they have encountered during their time in other countries.

How much?
The Brinkman Adventures is geared for children and adults of all ages. On some of the more intense episodes they do mention that if you are under 10, you should probably listen with an adult.

The Brinkman Adventures Season 2: Episodes 13-24 are available on CD for a suggested donation of $25. They are also available in MP 3 format for a suggested donation of $17. They operate on a donation basis.

You can also find the Brinkman Adventures on Facebook.