Heirloom Audio Productions (Blogging Through the Alphabet)

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After so many years of homeschooling, I've had plenty of opportunities to try curriculum and explore all kinds of resources, so during this Blogging Through the Alphabet tour, I'm highlighting some of the many homeschooling resources that have been stand-outs. Sometimes it will be a walk down memory lane as I share something we enjoyed many years ago, and sometimes it will be something we're using currently. Sometimes I'll focus on a specific curriculum, and sometimes on a subject area. And I imagine I'll have to be a bit creative with a couple letters of the alphabet! This week I had a tough decision to make between two fantastic resources to highlight, but finally settled on Heirloom Audio Productions. (I promise I will tell you about the other one, Homeschool Tracker Online, in another post!)

Heirloom Audio Productions is passionate about engaging the imagination of listeners by telling great stories about real historical events through exciting audio drama. The stories are based on the novels written during the late 1800s by master story-teller G.A. Henty. Henty's stories of "virtue and valor, daring and determination, character and courage", which told about historical events and people as seen through the eyes of a fictional young person that he placed on the spot. In The Extraordinary Adventures of G.A. Henty series, Heirloom Audio tells these powerful stories through excellent voice acting, realistic sound effects, and powerful musical soundtracks.

We were first introduced to Heirloom Audio Productions when we had the opportunity to review In Freedom's Cause in early 2015. We weren't quite sure what to expect, but it was a great story from history, and my daughter was intrigued because the cast included a couple of her favorite actors. It turned out to be one of our all-time favorite review products, and since then we've jumped at every chance available to us to review these audio dramas. Rather than retell everything included in our reviews, I will just share links to them along with some quoted snippets. Do check them out! These are not only wonderful resources for studying history, but are exciting entertainment that the whole family can enjoy. Maybe they'd be just the thing for your next road trip or for a Christmas gift!

 An Extraordinary Adventure in Scottish History

Our introduction to these audio dramas was this story about William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, and the struggle for Scottish freedom. 




An Extraordinary Adventure With Lee In Virginia

With Lee In Virginia tells about the War Between the States and highlights "the desire of the characters (fictional and historical) to fulfill their duties honorably, being faithful in meeting their obligations to serve and defend their country or state, to offer protection and provision for those under their care, and being trustworthy in their service to those in authority."

An Extraordinary Adventure With Alfred the Great

The Dragon and the Raven:  "The story of King Alfred is a powerful one, but not one that most people today are familiar with. This story tells the historical facts of the time, and highlights the character of the only British monarch to earn the designation of "the Great". The Danes were in control of much of England, but followed a pagan religion. Against overwhelming odds, King Alfred was able to defend against the Danes and push them back, handing them a sound military defeat; but he also began the evangelism that won many Danes to Christian faith. "





Beric the Briton - Another Extraordinary Adventure from Heirloom Audio Productions

In Beric the Briton . . . 

Beric and his friend Bodouc are fictional characters invented by G.A. Henty, but many of the other people in the story of Beric the Briton are historical figures, and the battles and some other events described really happened. Through this story, listeners will learn about the Roman Emperor Nero, the queen Boadicea, and events that took place during the reign of Nero. A brief summary: Beric is the chief of his tribe of Britons, and having spent some time as a hostage prince with the Romans, he is familiar with their style of warfare. He uses his knowledge in an attempt to help the Britons in battle against the Romans, but ultimately the Romans are victorious; and Beric and Bodouc are among the captives taken back to Rome. In Rome, they are being trained as gladiators, and Beric also hears about the one true God and about his Son Christus. During this time, Nero begins his persecution of Christians, and when Beric is to compete as a gladiator, he chooses to act as champion for a Christian girl, who happens to be the daughter of the Roman governor that had held Beric so many years earlier. 

An Extraordinary Adventure in Ancient Egypt

The Cat of Bubastes "is based on the G.A. Henty novel of the same name, which tells the story of a young prince, Amuba, and his faithful protector Jethro after they are captured and made slaves by the Egyptians. They have the great fortune of being chosen to be servants to an Egyptian high priest's family.  Amuba and Jethro soon grow to respect and appreciate the high priest, and form a friendship with his son Chebron, who is Amuba's age. When a stray arrow from Chebron's bow kills the family's sacred cat, they all find themselves in great danger and the loyalty, courage, and character of all three are tested."

An Extraordinary Adventure During the French Revolution

In the Reign of Terror is about a sixteen year old boy from England, Harry, who goes to live with a French family shortly after the storming of the Bastille. At first, they stay at their country chateau but later go to Paris, where they are all in great danger as the Legislative Assembly orders the arrest of all members of noble families. Eventually Harry and the two younger girls of the family escape to the coast looking for passage to England. Even there the danger follows and the girls are arrested and sentenced to death, so Harry and some new friends must pull off another daring rescue attempt before finally making their way to England and safety.

Captain Bayley's Heir - A New Audio Adventure

Their newest audio drama, Captain Bayley's Heir, is a sweeping adventure that follows young Frank from his home in England across the Atlantic Ocean, and then across the entire American continent to Sacramento during the gold rush. As you can imagine, he has many exciting and dangerous adventures along the way! He also makes some very good friends, and he experiences God's grace for himself in very powerful ways. 

There is one more audio drama that we haven't reviewed - Under Drake's Flag - and I'm confident that it is just as exciting and entertaining as the rest!

By the way, there is Bonus Content available through the Live the Adventure Club for each of the audio dramas, so if you're looking for study guides, online scripts, or related downloadable content (like the soundtracks or the e-book versions of the original Henty novels), check that out.

Blogging Through the Alphabet again? Yes, I'm taking the challenge, along with several other Crew members, including our three co-hosts for this round - Amanda at Hopkins Homeschool, DaLynn at Biblical Womanhood, and Kirsten at DoodleMom's Homeschooling Life. The link is open from Thursday to Wednesday each week, so join in if you'd like!

This post is linked at Blogging Through the Alphabet for Week 8, Letter H.

This post is also linked at Homeschool Blog & Tell at The Homeschool Post; and at the Homeschool Linky Party on the Homeschool Review Crew blog.

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