The Railway Children

By: E. Nesbit

Narrated by: Renee Raudman

Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

In this classic story, first published in 1906, a false accusation places the father in jail, leaving his wife and three children on their own. Circumstances force mother and the children to leave their ideal life in London to live near a train station in a rustic cottage. As the good natured children work to rescue their father, they befriend and help others along the way.

Public Domain (P)2005 Tantor Audio

English? French? New York? Puzzling accents...

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Renee Raudman?

Ms. Raudman would have been an adequate reader if she'd just skipped the accents....she just couldn't seem to keep them straight...Peter often sounded faintly of New York City, while their mother sort of slurred over into nearly a French accent at times. Meanwhile, she mispronounced a number of British words.

Her inflections were overall decent for the different voices, I just think that it would have been better if she'd skipped the accents altogether.

I love the story. I find the narrator annoying.

Would you try another book from E. Nesbit and/or Renee Raudman?

The book is a childhood favorite. I don't like th narrator. She has a breathy voice and her accents are terrible. I've noticed this in other books she narrates. I'm don't understand why Audible uses her so often.

I had to read it for my school

I loved it
It's a great book
I would love to read it again with my mom

Frustratingly inconsistent narration

I have been listening/reading this book with whisper sync and found than, although Raudman has a wonderful and charming natural reading voice, as soon as she tries to read a character 's voice I winced! Her attempt at various English accents were sadly unsuccessful and came off sounding a strange twist of Boston and Cockney. I found it much more satisfying to read the story which, on its own, was very sweet and innocent yet full of kid friendly action, surprises and language. This is definitely a book I plan to introduce to my own children when they are a bit older but I will either read it to them or find a better narration. It's really too bad because Raudman has such a pleasant "regular" voice with natural inflection and lilt. But all the adults sounded flat and mopey and the children's "accents" were just too distracting to really enjoy the story. That said, I would be interested in listening to her narrate an American work of fiction

Laughter and tears.

Where does The Railway Children rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is right in the top 5.

Which scene was your favorite?

Any scene with the "old gentleman". I love it when he came to the rescue of this precious family.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not at all. Best to look forward to what's going to happen next. Like other good things...I wanted it to last as long as possible.

Any additional comments?

Fabulous children's voices. Exciting, without car chases or murder.

delightful story

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this classic children's story. It was beautifully read, despite the strong American accent combined with rather odd attempts at the British accents.

Wonderful book

I gave this book a 5 star rating. It was a wonderful book with good morals and lessons. My kids and I all enjoyed listening to, and discussing this story. I would recommend it to anyone young and old!

Terrible..

Would you try another book from E. Nesbit and/or Renee Raudman?

We love E. Nesbit stories & have read or listened to nearly every one. This one was a huge BORE. The children I I just couldn't get into it. There was no climax, just boring mundane details of which made NO sense at all.

What didn’t you like about Renee Raudman’s performance?

Worst I've heard so far. Her British accent was horrible. When she would "turn it on" the accent sounded like an Englishman raised on the border of Texas & Mexico. Brit with a southern twang. Bad. Bad. Bad,

Worst reader I've ever heard

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Almost any other reader would have been better. Let me change that: any other reader would have been better.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Railway Children?

It is a slightly saccharin tale and shows its age (early 1900s), but the children are well drawn and the story is engaging despite the whiff of Victorian melodrama. The end still makes me tear up. The scene where the children celebrate Perk's birthday, and his affronted pride, is particularly well done.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

This is a sweet story, essentially ruined by an incompetent reader. Rene Raudner's fake English accent made me cringe. The various voices she employed were unpleasant to listen to. Her emphasis and pauses were often off. She pronounced 'row', as in argument, as if it referred to a way to propel a dinghy. There are a few other readers who are less than perfect, but this one was nails on a blackboard. Only my love of the story, read several times before, kept me listening to the end.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Railway Children?

Nothing. The Raailway Children, like most of E. Nesbit's books, is dated but perfect in its way.

A Good Story Marred by a Bad Performance

Would you recommend The Railway Children to your friends? Why or why not?

I recently discovered the works of Edith Nesbit, and have been enjoying the Psammead trilogy on the Kindle. When I discovered "The Railway Children" on Audible, I gladly purchased it because Nesbit was a wonderful writer, and, as a driver, I have more time to listen to books than to read them. The story is quite good. I would have loved it had I discovered it as a child, and it is a very good read even in my adult years. I plan to read this book to my nieces and nephews, and have encouraged several adult friends to read it for themselves, too.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Other reviewers have mentioned Raudman's poor accents. Those are a little annoying, but I can't do other voices in foreign accents when reading aloud, either, so I don't fault her for that. The problem comes in the actual reading of the story: when Raudman is reading in her normal voice as the narrator, she does a very good job with proper cadence, stress, and inflection. When reading as a character, however, nearly every sentence ends in an upward inflection, and the sentences aren't vocalized properly using the appropriate emphases on syllables and words to express the surprise, wonder, etc. of the character speaking.