Alison Larkin Presents: The Happy Prince and Other Stories

By: Oscar Wilde

Narrated by: Simon Jones

B.P. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, December 2020

Golden Voice narrator Simon Jones perfectly narrates these sweet, tender fairy stories about princes, giants, nightingales, and roses. The collection begins with the timeless story of the Happy Prince, a young nobleman who in life sought only pleasure but in death, as a gold-encrusted statue, provides help to those in need.

Currently starring in the HBO TV series The Gilded Age, Simon Jones’ film and theater credits run to multiple pages, from Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life to playing King George in Downton Abbey (the movie) and Arthur Dent in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Simon Jones recently won an AudioFile Earphones award for his narration of Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse, also for Alison Larkin Presents.

Story Order: "The Happy Prince", "The Selfish Giant", "The Remarkable Rocket", "The Nightingale and the Rose", "The Young King", "The Birthday of the Infanta", "The Star Child", "The Fisherman and His Soul", "The Devoted Friend", "The Canterville Ghost", "Lord Arther Saville’s Crime".

The bonus story in this collection, exclusively for Audible, is "The Model Millionaire".

“Alison Larkin Presents classics are always delightful because they are so easy to listen to. Choosing Simon Jones to narrate Oscar Wilde was an inspired idea. Listeners will be enchanted.” (Michael Gates Gill)

Public Domain (P)2020 Alison Larkin Presents

Critic reviews

"With a gentleman's grace and a finely tuned ear for character voices, narrator Simon Jones does a wonderful job bringing to life this collection of children's fairy tales by one of the English language's greatest wits. Expanding on the original five stories, first published in 1888, this collection adds seven other gems, including the beguiling 'Canterville Ghost', which gives Jones a chance to exercise a few of his comic American accents. Although written for children, Oscar Wilde's unique twists on children's literature are a little edgier, a bit more playful, a trifle wiser, and a lot more fun than your average fairy-tale fare. And with Simon Jones at the helm, the whole production is nothing less than enchanting." (AudioFile Magazine, December, 2020)

Wise tales for all ages...

'The Happy Prince and Other Stories' is a wonderful collection of wise tales with an amazing depth to them; these are tales mirroring the condition of the human kind: selfishness vs selflessness, love and truthfulness vs indifference and betrayal, greed and avarice vs generosity... Being written so many years ago they still hold true, they are still applicable, they still tell the truth about us humans...
Narration by Mr Jones adds gravity to them - he's a wonderful narrator for this kind of stories, making them sound both fairy-tale-like and realistic...
Definitely an audiobook you should grasp without hesitations:)

DISCLAIMER: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Alison Larkins:The Happy Prince

I had never heard most of these stories I was enamored with them all! Simon Jones was a terrific narrator.I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Another great compilation

This is the seventh book I have read/listened to by Alison Larkins Presents and I would listen to another. She either narrates herself or finds a competent narrator for these classics. This book is no exception. It’s a nice compilation of stories, most of which I’ve not read before. ——-
This is the first book I have listened to by this narrator ( Simon Jones ) and I would listen to another. He does well with both the male and female voices. His expression is good and pacing comfortable. ——-

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily left this unbiased review.
Please feel free to comment on whether you found my review helpful.