Since I am on the Schoolhouse Review Crew team this year, in addition to my weekly blog posts, I will also be posting periodic reviews on various products helpful in the homeschool. I do receive a free product in exchange for my review, but I am not required to give a good review. I am not an affiliate with Heirloom Audio Productions, which is the production company for the audio CD Wulf the Saxon.
Let’s start with the kids, for every review, I will be consulting my kid’s opinions about the product and presenting a graphic with their rating in the review. They are rating on a scale of 1-5 stars, 1 being they did not like it, 2 it was ok, 3 they liked it, 4 they liked it a lot, 5 they loved it. I have included their preferred learning styles, and also their personality profile, gender, and age, to help you decide if the product is a good fit for your kids. If you have not already checked it out, you can find all the information in the above graphic.
The following summary of the story was written by my 14-year-old, son and edited by me, his dear mom😉
“In the beginning of the story, there are two boys that are from France and they meet a British historian who serves as the narrator. The historian tells the boys a story about a Saxon named Wulf. The story begins when Wulf is being punished for getting mad and talking back to a French lord and the Pope. Wulf is sent to a far-away, as punishment and to learn responsibility, to rule over the people, several years later he goes back to London to meets Herald, who is an earl in charge of Wulf. They go to Norway where both friends and enemies are made and when they get back they must go snuff out an uprising in northern Britain. When they get back from Norway the king is dying, and Herald is appointed as the new king. To keep the uprising from uprising again Herald must marry the sister of the brothers that led the uprising. Then William from Norway invades, and the rebellion joins him. There is a big battle where Herald dies, and William concurs Britain. Wulf goes to live with the friends he made in Norway and marries their daughter.” -John G.B.Szwast
Now for my opinion of the story. I actually had a really hard time concentrating on this story. I was quite surprised to find out how much my kids loved it. I asked if they had access to more stories like this if they would listen to them in their free time, and several shouted yes. It is hard for me to pinpoint exactly why I did not enjoy the story, the actors did the voices well, the plot was solid, there was plenty of action. So in the end, I hit the jackpot, because I found stories my kids can listen to, while I get things done. (I can’t do this when I love the story…too…hard…to….walk…away😊)
Given their love of the stories, I decided to check out Live The Adventure Club, which is a membership website that gives you digital access to Heirloom Audio Productions. You recieve a story when you sign up, and another 3 per year as part of the membership. If you want to buy stories on top of that, you can add the digital version to your library at a discount. I was surprised by all the things that are included in the membership, like live read-along with highlights, quizzes, activities, and access to old radio shows! I was dreading the moment where you scroll down to the bottom of the sales page, only to realize that the awesome product you have just read about is priced liked a Corvette, but again, I was surprised at the reasonable low cost of membership. It sounds amazing, and I have joined the club, since my kids do spend a lot of time with audio books and podcasts, and it is often hard for me to keep up with their consumption of those materials. If your kids love audio I encourage you to check it our here. If you have any questions about this product, please ask in the comments and I will reply. You can also check out other reviews of the product here.
