You know you have found an excellent book when everyone in your family loves it – including your 15-year-old and your husband who doesn’t enjoy listening to audio books.
My 10-year-old picked out A Whole Nother Story by Dr. Cuthbert Soup to listen to in the van. The children and I keep an audio book going at all times, even on the short errands in town. When they were younger, it really helped to eliminate most bickering and kept their minds off being in the car. Now, it’s great for creating common experiences and jokes we can laugh about together.
Enough about audio books – let me tell you about A Whole Nother Story.
Mr. Cheeseman and his three witty, polite and relatively odor-free children are on the run. The ‘coats’ are chasing them, trying to get the LVR – a machine Mr. Cheeseman and his late wife invented which is so amazing, it’s almost indescribable. Not only are agents from the Government Agency So Secret No One Knows Its Name after them, but so are an international super-spy Pavel and his trusty sidekick, Leon the chimp. Also tracking the Cheesemans are a group of goons from a not-so-trustworthy corporation.
Narrating this story is Dr. Cuthbert Soup, who runs the National Center for Unsolicited Advice. Of course, he cannot help but offer a word, or several hundred words, of advice to the listeners (or readers). For example, listeners (or readers) will find “Generous Advice on Gift-Giving” very apropos.
Dick Hill performs the audio book, and it is a masterful performance. All six of us laughed our way through this wonderful book – from Ohio to Illinois. And were we glad that we had thought to check out the sequel, Another Whole Nother Story, so we could start right in on it.
Highly recommended for ages 8 and up.
Cultivating Readers 
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