Audiobooks narrated by Daniel Houle

Bob Fosse: The Life and Legacy of America’s Most Decorated Choreographer

“The time to sing is when your emotional level is just too high to speak anymore, and the time to dance is when your emotions are just too strong to only sing about how you feel.” – Bob Fosse By the turn of the 20th century, American entertainment was still preoccupied with European-style operetta, as embodied in the works of cellist-composer Victor Herbert. Traditional dance forms moved from European stories to the American prairie in Oklahoma by the late 1940s, and what was once the property of Bavarian princes became the singing standards of cowboys riding through the corn fields in Oh What a Beautiful Morning and Out of My Dreams. In terms of original choreography, it was the age of Jerome Robbins that marked the first real departure from traditional dance on stage and in film. Robbins, born in 1918, became a five-time Tony winner and twice winner of an Academy Award. It was into this environment, featuring his West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, The King and I, and countless other productions, that an intriguing new choreographer made his entry riding the advent of American jazz. Only 10 years Robbin’s junior, Robert Louis Fosse, better known as Bob Fosse, followed his colleague’s example by mixing daring new jazz forms with virtually every traditional and popular genre to produce previously unseen modes of dance expression on Broadway and in film. In the 1960s, Fosse emerged as one of the leading dancers, actors, choreographers, directors, screenwriters and film directors on Broadway and in Hollywood. He became famous for conquering several fields on the musical stage and film simultaneously in a way that no one has before or since. It is said that “only Busby Berkeley compares” to Fosse despite the fact that Berkeley was never a dancer, and that Fosse enjoyed eight Broadway hits to Berkeley’s one.

Charles River Editors (Author), Daniel Houle (Narrator)

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Stone Age, The: The History and Legacy of the Prehistoric Period When Humans Started Using Stone Too

A generally accepted figure for the larger Stone Age featuring the first use of stone tools begins at 3.4 million years in the early Paleolithic Age. In a brief interim period of two thousand years following the end of the most recent Ice Age, the Mesolithic period serves as a transition to the Neolithic running from 8700 to 2000 BCE. More conservative estimates place the span of the Stone Age at 2.5 million years, ending around 3000 BCE. Modern dating systems are intended to provide approximate conclusions within large epochs, not pinpoint calendar dates, and shifts of opinion are ongoing. Grouped together, the Stone Age phases for the tripartite Stone Age are drawn from the Greek words Palaios (old) and Lithos (stone). The proliferation of sub-categorizations was designed as a method for studying early humans within a more organized set of chronologies. Before such terms came into use in the eighteenth century, the best available tracing of early man came from the Greek poet Hesiod. His categorization of prehistory followed a scheme through the Golden Age, Silver Age, Bronze Age, Heroic Age, and Iron Age. Such an arrangement is by all appearances more of a reflection of and salute to human mythology gathered by the threads of emerging and past cultures. Something more scientific was required for scholars of the Enlightenment. The solution was provided by Christian J. Thomsen, a Danish antiquarian who relied on a three-part system of identification. In the larger picture of earth’s pre-history, his sequence of Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages gained consensus. The Stone Age’s separation into Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic brought about a clearer dividing line for epochs where humans began to work with metal.

Charles River Editors (Author), Daniel Houle (Narrator)

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Domestication of Cats, The: The History of the Only Domesticated Felidae Species and Their Relations

Mankind's obsession with felines is an enigma in and of itself. Unlike dogs, famously known as man's most excitable, trustworthy, and loyal friend, cats are oftentimes indifferent, guarded, and yet finicky little furry creatures who only yearn for attention and affection when one is neck-deep in work or otherwise preoccupied. And still, people adore them all the same. In a recent poll that surveyed 600 American college students, 60% of the participants identified themselves as “dog lovers,” whereas only 11% pledged their love for cats. The remaining 29% regarded themselves as fans of both critters or fans of neither. Be that as it may, there is said to be anywhere between a staggering 88=94 million pet cats in the United States alone, which eclipses the roughly 84-90 million pet dogs in the country. In the same breath, while more households around the world share a roof with a canine companion, as reflected in the results of this particular survey and most other similar polls, more cat owners have taken it upon themselves to look after more than one pet. This just goes to show that the passion that cat lovers have for their feline friends is evidently comparable with, if not arguably greater than that of dog lovers as a whole. The Domestication of Cats: The History of the Only Domesticated Felidae Species and Their Relationship with Humans examines the origins of this exceptional bond, including scientific and mythical theories, and explores how cats were domesticated.

Charles River Editors (Author), Daniel Houle (Narrator)

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History for Kids: The History of Saber-Toothed Tigers

Charles River Editors (Author), Daniel Houle (Narrator)

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History for Kids: The History of Woolly Mammoths

In September 2012, on a chilly morning, a Russian kid named Yevgeny Zhenya and his dogs were walking to school, when an awful smell made them stop. The 11-year-old wanted to find out what smelled so bad, and with the help of his furry friends, he went to explore the land. They stumbled upon a giant pair of heels that were covered in an immense pile of snow! What could such a giant thing be? The creature he found turned out to be a 16-year-old mammoth whose body had remained whole for over 30,000 years! Since 1901 no one had made such an important find, making this discovery quite special; they even named the creature after the little boy who found him! After dinosaurs, few vanished animals are as famous as the woolly mammoths, or in 18th-century scientist George Cuvier’s words, some kind of extinct elephant. Raise your hand and keep reading if you are ready to learn more about the story, fossils, facts, and pictures of these amazing and gentle 10-feet giants!

Charles River Editors (Author), Daniel Houle (Narrator)

Audiobook

History for Kids: The History of Saber-Toothed Tigers and Woolly Mammoths

Imagine a feline with the spirit of a lion, the sneakiness of a puma, the terrifying walk of a black bear, and the strong arms of a gorilla. Sounds cool? Now add some huge dagger-like fangs… even cooler, right? This amazing creature was best known as the saber-toothed tiger; an animal so fearless, he could beat beasts even twice their size! As cool as he sounds, this Ice Age feline earned quite a villainous reputation; you can even see them be the bad guys in movies! Ever watched the movie Ice Age? All saber-toothed tigers, except Diego, seemed to be dangerous; or do you remember Wolverine’s enemy, Victor Creed, “Sabertooth”? Yes, he was scary. Beyond his reputation, the saber-toothed tiger is an Ice Age celebrity, and so is the woolly mammoth. In September 2012, on a chilly morning, a Russian kid named Yevgeny Zhenya and his dogs were walking to school, when an awful smell made them stop. The 11-year-old wanted to find out what smelled so bad, and with the help of his furry friends, he went to explore the land. They stumbled upon a giant pair of heels that were covered in an immense pile of snow! What could such a giant thing be? The creature he found turned out to be a 16-year-old mammoth whose body had remained whole for over 30,000 years! Since 1901 no one had made such an important find, making this discovery quite special; they even named the creature after the little boy who found him! After dinosaurs, few vanished animals are as famous as the woolly mammoths, or in 18th-century scientist George Cuvier’s words, some kind of extinct elephant. Raise your hand and keep reading if you are ready to learn more about the story, fossils, facts, and pictures of these amazing animals!

Charles River Editors (Author), Daniel Houle (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Daniel Houle