Talking Books: Audiobook Inventor Dr. Robert B. Irwin and a New Way to Read

Unflappable perseverance drives Robert Benjamin Irwin (1883–1951), the determined inventor at the heart of Lacika and Fortson’s optimistic account about the creation of the first audiobooks. The story opens during Irwin’s youth, establishing the figure as always “looking for something new.” After he becomes blind due to a childhood illness, and finger-reading proves “difficult and slow,” Irwin begins dreaming of “talking books” that would be longer than the songs and poems recorded at the time. Defying his family’s doubts, Irwin achieves significant professional success, and begins a multipronged effort to bring books to blind people, first via a national braille library and eventually a machine that plays books on records. Throughout this winning portrait, upbeat narration emphasizes Irwin’s resolve, while embroidery lends an appropriate sensory dimension to busy pages featuring scratchy digital drawings of the protagonist doggedly working to effect change. An author’s note concludes. Background characters are portrayed with various abilities and skin tones. Ages 4–8. (Feb.)