None of the major publishers has audio divisions that create original programs. They do all have audiobook divisions, but these recordings are merely further exploitation of existing properties (books), in which voice talent reads a book out loud. This is entertaining and an easy way to experience literature, but it is far from the creative use of audio.

     Here in Growlerville, the kids audio capital, recording sound and music is a high art. Microphones are at the center of what happens here, but that's where the similarity with audiobooks ends.

     Unlike books, which rely on reading skills, Growler programs exand the experience of listening. They are created as audio experiences. Kids audio happens right before you. There's an alternate reality aspect in which there are no visual guides, so the listener defines everything in the imagination.

     Growlers push this envelope. Counterintuitive and logical, the ideas in these kids audio programs speak to relevant kid issues with entertainment at the fore. Kids stay with it because the content is intelligent and funny, even as it's exciting. All songs and audio stories assume a smart kid is listening.

     Audio experimentation is a big part of the mix. Like using animals and sounds as surrogates for musical instruments. Like taking human voices outside their normal range. In Growlerville, it normal to have frogs providing the percussion in a song sung by frogs. There are stories in which the audio environment was created from sounds recorded in subway tunnels, or from sounds gathered by microphones suspended down drains, or inside motors.

     Kids audio has a completely different meaning for us. It's a place where fun meets art, technology, and literature - all at once. Turn off the tv and listen.