Oiralinde: The Dragon and the Raven Review

The Dragon and the Raven {Heirloom Audio Productions Review}

Recently in the car, my family has been enjoying the audio drama of The Dragon and The Raven from Heirloom Audio Productions. This adventure has transformed our car into a battleground between the Saxons and the Danes in the Middle Ages! Sounds of fighting with moments of bravery and courage have brought history alive in our van and has brought forth wonderful discussions in our home school day.

The people at Heirloom Audio Productions have done a marvelous job of bringing history alive in a way that highlights Christian virtues and always has a Christian worldview in their audio dramas. The Dragon and the Raven is a two and a half hour audio adventure for children ages 4+, so the whole family can enjoy the adventure together! With a cast that includes John Rhys-Davies, Helen George, Brian Blessed, Sylvester McCoy and more, the quality of the drama is like no other.

Although my family thought the story started out slow and that there needed to be more narrating, once the Dragon came out the first time, no one would breath loudly in the car, for fear of missing something. The kids were on the edge of their seats! At times it was intense but never to the point of scaring the five-year-old. This story takes place in the Middle Ages during the time of King Alfred the Great. You meet people that show integrity, honor, love, courage, and true bravery all in the name of Jesus Christ. This is a time in history I do not know much about, but I am now interested in learning more because of this Christian audio drama.

Along with the CDs of The Dragon and The Raven, we received the "Family Four-Pack" downloadable package, which included:

E-study guide
MP3s of the adventure
An ebook of the original story (with nice graphics!)
Posters
The soundtrack (composed by Emmy award winner John Campbell)
Behind the scenes videos

My boys in the car, listening to the adventure! Even the two-year-old was quiet in order to listen to the story.

The E-study guide was a great tool to use as a homeschool family. I was able to turn this audio adventure into more than just entertainment in the car. We were able to flush it out as our history class! In the guide, there was background on G.A. Hently and Alfred the Great which was valuable because I had no idea who they were! There were questions that were a way to check listening and comprehension of the story. It was also a great tool to break up the story so that we could make it last longer. There were also suggested options for further research and deeper thinking. Finally, the study guide included vocabulary words for the story. Although the story was amazing, I loved this study guide as a teacher. It just made it easy for me!

My favorite part of the story was when the Dragon first came out. My daughter liked when Freya was introduced because it was male-dominant until that part. Once she heard a girl voice she had someone she could relate to more. Sebastian enjoyed all the fighting and listening to the strategy, especially when the Saxons use the cows to throw off the Danes! It was hilarious.

This has been a great way to keep the kids busy in the car. I plan on ordering some of their other audio dramas before our next road trip. Other Christian audio dramas by Heirloom Audio Productions include: