This was the right summer for our family to review anything of the audio adventure nature. We've had plenty of time on the road and therefore, sufficient time to listen to our newest addition to the Feldpausch family's cd collection- Heirloom Audio Adventures. We recently received these audio adventures and I'd love to tell you a little more about them.

Heirloom's website has this introduction greeting the curious online viewer:

“At Heirloom Audio Productions, we are especially passionate about bringing real history to life. This inevitably means a bit of detective work as we try to figure out what actually happened in the story we’re attempting to tell.

Our task is further complicated by the fact that so much of what passes for any type of history today has been “sanitized” by secularists and is often beyond the point of historical recognition.

That said, our passion and love of history takes us to some amazing places and allows us to do some pretty unusual things as we sort out the details of a sometimes murky past.

Frankly, this is a lot of fun. But it’s also serious business and we don’t take what God has done for us in the past – our history – for granted. This is no small thing!

In fact, we feel that God requires us to truly go the extra mile and take our audio dramas to a new level of excellence. Our mission, simply stated… is to engage our listener’s imagination by taking them back in time and immersing them in the story.”

This company believes in the power of a story. They leverage this power to capture the attention of children and teach them about history.

We are currently listening to With Lee in Virginia which is an engaging story of a 15 year old boy named Vincent who joins the army of Northern Virginia. Vincent is challenged to make brave decisions for God as he works beside General Lee, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson and other confederates.

My 11 year old daughter enjoys these adventures the most of all my kids. (My other children are 9, 7 and 5 years old.) She delights in the intensity of the story and the witty banter between characters. She also enjoys seeing the faces of the cast. My daughter enjoys acting so it is fun of her to see these names or hear a few familiar voices.

Each audio adventure by Heirloom is adapted from an original story by G.A Henty. I was not familiar with this name prior to our introduction to Heirloom. With a few click-throughs on their website, I was able to read an article about this extremely influential and adventurous man. G.A. Henty was a historical novelist who traveled to places I've never even read about. He was a prolific writer and also regarded as a pioneer in literature. You can read some information provided by Heirloom by clicking here.

Here are a few other facts about Heirloom:

Free study guides can be downloaded to accompany these adventures.
They currently have 6 audio adventures for sale on their website.
The average running time of the adventures is approximately 2 1/2 hours
The adventures are meant to be most enjoyed by ages 6 to adult.
The company also offers a few other items such as mugs and a high-end pen which you can find in their online shop.

Homeschool families will find their Live The Adventure newsletter (featured under the resource tab on their website) to contain some informative and relevant articles - including the post about G.A. Henty.

In my opinion, these adventures are best enjoyed when you have a little more time to listen, such as when the kids are going to bed or on a long road trip. I found that the story takes a while to develop and is hard to follow if you are just in and out of the car. Again, my 11 year old was enthralled each time we played them. The only cd player we own is in our vehicle, so she actually went so far as to ask me if she could turn on the car to idle in the driveway while she listened to one of the adventures!

I would like the folks at Heirloom for sending us this invaluable gift. Finding something for my older daughter to enjoy is a serious matter these days. Some of the books or shows that have the intensity she desires, also are the very ones that contain harmful elements for her heart. I appreciate the mission of Heirloom and their commitment to encourage kids to be courageous and steadfast in their faith.

I'm enjoying my tween daughter's enthusiasm and curiosity as she intently listens. As she studies the characters and plots of each adventure, I'm watching her heart with the same attentiveness. I know these audio adventures are intense, but the adventure of motherhood is really something special too.

Lindsey Feldpausch :)