About Us

For over 45 years Live Oak Media has been the premier producer of readalong audio for children. Our title selection has always been about stories that matter, what is authentic and important in the world of children’s books and in the world. And, how that special book would be the right one for us to produce on audio.

Our readalongs are distinctive because of the extensive process that we developed to create an audio recording of a picture book or beginning reader. A readalong is not just another audiobook. Words and text in picture books or early readers are picture dependent, and our readalongs are produced to be listened to with the book.

We cast the narrator, carefully choosing the appropriate voice, or voices, to embody the diverse facets of the individual characters in the book. With the narrative voice at center stage, hours of editing, adding appropriate sound effects, and the perfect musical accompaniments come next. The final outcome is much more than a word-for-word recording—it’s an original production that is both educational and entertaining. We try to place and draw the child into the world of the book with these techniques with two purposes in mind: to help children learn to read and develop language skills; and to make the reading experience fun!

As formats have evolved, it has become more challenging to be able to offer children the opportunity to listen along with the book. In 2012 we developed what we call eReadalongs — ebooks with audio. However, they are much more than just an ebook being read aloud — these are our fully produced audio productions synched with the ebook.

Another format that combines our audio productions with the book is Wonderbooks — a print book with a ready-to-play audiobook inside.

However, many of our audio productions are also perfect just for listening. We have partnered with digital distributors to connect our audio with children through their various platforms.

YOTO, SPOTIFY, OVERDRIVE, EPIC!, MACKIN, PLAYAWAY
and others have our titles available on audio — listen to the production on its own or hey, pull a book from the shelf and follow along!

We’re very proud of our award-winning productions, and the stellar list of authors, illustrators, and narrators we work with to create some of the finest and most innovative audio for children. We hope you’ll continue to introduce kids to these outstanding productions in whatever format works best for them! Thanks for listening!

Arnie & Debra Cardillo
Live Oak Media