-
The Midnight Zoo
- Narrated by: Richard Aspel
- Length: 4 hrs and 30 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $8.39
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Editorial reviews
Richard Aspel’s dynamic, tour-de-force performance imbues Sonya Hartnett’s beautiful and heartbreaking children’s tale with an emotional depth and humanism befitting of the subject matter. Set in WWII, The Midnight Zoo finds two Romani gypsy siblings, Andrej and Tomas, feeing from the Nazis and seeking safe haven in an abandoned, hidden zoo, which boasts a collection of self-aware, talking animals who, like the brothers, display an unwavering hope and strength in the face of unspeakable atrocity.
Aspel deftly captures the trembling whimper of a nine-year-old boy and the raspy bellow of an anthropomorphized wolf with equal finesse, and elevates this seamless blend of historical fiction and magical realism to greater heights.
Publisher's summary
Two gypsy boys are fleeing through a war-ravaged countryside during the night, carrying a secret bundle. The boys stumble across a town that has been reduced to smoking rubble, and a zoo that is still intact. When the boys take shelter in the zoo, they discover a menagerie of talking animals. Both the boys and the animals tell their tales and speak of their desire for freedom.
Like The Silver Donkey and The Ghost’s Child, this is another beautiful fable-like tale that will move you to tears. It’s a story that will appeal to all ages, that merges history with fantasy; adults will enjoy this as much as children.
Related to this topic
-
The Trees
- By: Ali Shaw
- Narrated by: Ben Onwukwe
- Length: 18 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There came an elastic aftershock of creaks and groans and then, softly softly, a chinking shower of rubbled cement. Leaves calmed and trunks stood serene. Where, not a minute before, there had been a suburb, there was now only woodland standing amid ruins. There is no warning. No chance to prepare. They arrive in the night: thundering up through the ground, transforming streets and towns into shadowy forest. Buildings are destroyed.
-
-
Post apocalypse with a little bit of magic
- By Tam on 09-20-16
By: Ali Shaw
-
Witch's Boy
- By: Kelly Barnhill
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Ned and his identical twin brother tumble from their raft into a raging, bewitched river, only Ned survives. Villagers are convinced the wrong boy lived. Sure enough, Ned grows up weak and slow, and stays as much as possible within the safe boundaries of his family's cottage and yard. But when a Bandit King comes to steal the magic that Ned's mother, a witch, is meant to protect, it's Ned who safeguards the magic and summons the strength to protect his family and community.
-
-
Not as good as expected
- By ladybug on 03-19-17
By: Kelly Barnhill
-
The Sea of Trolls
- By: Nancy Farmer
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the year 793, siblings Jack and Lucy are captured by fearsome Vikings with a thirst for battle and pillaging. Taken to the court of Ivar the Boneless, Jack and Lucy are sent on a perilous journey - full of dragons and giant spiders - deep into the magical kingdom of the trolls!
-
-
NO KINDNESS IS EVER WASTED
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 11-03-17
By: Nancy Farmer
-
Spirit Animals: Special Edition
- Tales of the Great Beasts
- By: Brandon Mull
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Long before they were spirit animals, the four were still legends - Great Beasts, the most powerful beings to roam the wilds of Erdas. Aided by a brave resistance of humans and animals, they gave their lives to protect the world from a threat more dangerous than any it had seen before: their own kind. Wise and cunning, gentle and ruthless, these are tales of the true heroes and villains in the war that started it all.
-
-
review from 9 y/o daughter
- By Ellie on 01-08-17
By: Brandon Mull
-
Alice
- By: Christina Henry
- Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a warren of crumbling buildings and desperate people called the Old City, there stands a hospital with cinderblock walls that echo the screams of the poor souls inside. In the hospital, there is a woman. Her hair, once blond, hangs in tangles down her back. She doesn't remember why she's in such a terrible place. Just a tea party long ago, and long ears, and blood.
-
-
Superb writing and narration
- By Jennifer Wadsworth on 08-27-16
By: Christina Henry
-
The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm
- By: Nancy Farmer
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Zimbabwe, 2194. General Matsika's three children sneak out of the house on a forbidden adventure and disappear. Immediately,the general calls Africa's most unusual detectives: the Ear, the Eye, and the Arm. Together these three detectives combine their superhuman powers to find the missing children. It's a dangerous mission that leads them from the seedy streets of the Cow's Guts to the swaying top of the Mile-High MacIlwaine Hotel.
-
-
Amazing premise, decent execution
- By David Hoffman on 01-23-16
By: Nancy Farmer
-
The Trees
- By: Ali Shaw
- Narrated by: Ben Onwukwe
- Length: 18 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There came an elastic aftershock of creaks and groans and then, softly softly, a chinking shower of rubbled cement. Leaves calmed and trunks stood serene. Where, not a minute before, there had been a suburb, there was now only woodland standing amid ruins. There is no warning. No chance to prepare. They arrive in the night: thundering up through the ground, transforming streets and towns into shadowy forest. Buildings are destroyed.
-
-
Post apocalypse with a little bit of magic
- By Tam on 09-20-16
By: Ali Shaw
-
Witch's Boy
- By: Kelly Barnhill
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Ned and his identical twin brother tumble from their raft into a raging, bewitched river, only Ned survives. Villagers are convinced the wrong boy lived. Sure enough, Ned grows up weak and slow, and stays as much as possible within the safe boundaries of his family's cottage and yard. But when a Bandit King comes to steal the magic that Ned's mother, a witch, is meant to protect, it's Ned who safeguards the magic and summons the strength to protect his family and community.
-
-
Not as good as expected
- By ladybug on 03-19-17
By: Kelly Barnhill
-
The Sea of Trolls
- By: Nancy Farmer
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the year 793, siblings Jack and Lucy are captured by fearsome Vikings with a thirst for battle and pillaging. Taken to the court of Ivar the Boneless, Jack and Lucy are sent on a perilous journey - full of dragons and giant spiders - deep into the magical kingdom of the trolls!
-
-
NO KINDNESS IS EVER WASTED
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 11-03-17
By: Nancy Farmer
-
Spirit Animals: Special Edition
- Tales of the Great Beasts
- By: Brandon Mull
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Long before they were spirit animals, the four were still legends - Great Beasts, the most powerful beings to roam the wilds of Erdas. Aided by a brave resistance of humans and animals, they gave their lives to protect the world from a threat more dangerous than any it had seen before: their own kind. Wise and cunning, gentle and ruthless, these are tales of the true heroes and villains in the war that started it all.
-
-
review from 9 y/o daughter
- By Ellie on 01-08-17
By: Brandon Mull
-
Alice
- By: Christina Henry
- Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a warren of crumbling buildings and desperate people called the Old City, there stands a hospital with cinderblock walls that echo the screams of the poor souls inside. In the hospital, there is a woman. Her hair, once blond, hangs in tangles down her back. She doesn't remember why she's in such a terrible place. Just a tea party long ago, and long ears, and blood.
-
-
Superb writing and narration
- By Jennifer Wadsworth on 08-27-16
By: Christina Henry
-
The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm
- By: Nancy Farmer
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Zimbabwe, 2194. General Matsika's three children sneak out of the house on a forbidden adventure and disappear. Immediately,the general calls Africa's most unusual detectives: the Ear, the Eye, and the Arm. Together these three detectives combine their superhuman powers to find the missing children. It's a dangerous mission that leads them from the seedy streets of the Cow's Guts to the swaying top of the Mile-High MacIlwaine Hotel.
-
-
Amazing premise, decent execution
- By David Hoffman on 01-23-16
By: Nancy Farmer
-
Egg & Spoon
- By: Gregory Maguire
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Elena Rudina lives in the impoverished Russian countryside. Her father has been dead for years. Her brothers have been conscripted into the Tsar's army and taken as servants in the house of the local wealthy landowner. Her mother is dying, slowly, in their tiny cabin. And there is no food. But then a train arrives in the village, a train carrying untold wealth, a cornucopia of food, and a noble family destined to visit the Tsar in St. Petersburg - a family that includes Ekaterina, a girl of Elena's age.
-
-
Best Book Ever!!!
- By Kindle Customer2 on 10-15-14
By: Gregory Maguire
-
The Book of Boy
- By: Catherine Gilbert Murdock
- Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Boy has always been relegated to the outskirts of his small village. With a large hump on his back, a mysterious past, and a tendency to talk to animals, he is often mocked and abused by the other young people in his town. Until the arrival of a shadowy pilgrim named Secondus. Impressed with Boy's climbing and jumping abilities, Secondus engages Boy as his servant, pulling him into an expedition across Europe to gather the seven precious relics of Saint Peter.
-
-
What an adventure!!
- By Dana on 05-28-20
-
The Luck Uglies
- By: Paul Durham
- Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Strange things are happening in Village Drowning, and a terrifying encounter has 11-year-old Rye O'Chanter convinced that the monstrous, supposedly extinct Bog Noblins have returned. Now Rye's only hope is an exiled secret society so notorious its name can't be spoken aloud: The Luck Uglies. As Rye dives into Village Drowning's maze of secrets, rules, and lies, she'll discover the truth behind the village's legends of outlaws and beasts…and that it may take a villain to save them from the monsters.
-
-
Wonderful story
- By Elicia on 07-05-16
By: Paul Durham
-
House of Furies
- By: Madeleine Roux
- Narrated by: Billie Fulford-Brown
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After escaping a harsh school where punishment was the lesson of the day, 17-year-old Louisa Ditton is thrilled to find employment as a maid at a boardinghouse. But soon after her arrival at Coldthistle House, Louisa begins to realize that the house's mysterious owner, Mr. Morningside, is providing much more than lodging for his guests. Far from a place of rest, the house is a place of judgment, and Mr. Morningside and his unusual staff are meant to execute their own justice on those who are past being saved.
-
-
One of the characters is Satan..lots of the occult
- By Angela Briggs on 07-25-19
By: Madeleine Roux
-
The Summer Dragon
- First Book of The Evertide
- By: Todd Lockwood
- Narrated by: Ali Ahn
- Length: 17 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Maia and her family raise dragons for the political war machine. As she comes of age, she anticipates a dragon of her own to add to the stable of breeding parents. Her peaceful life is shattered when the Summer Dragon - one of the rare and mythical High Dragons - makes an appearance in her quiet valley. Political factions vie for control of the implied message, threatening her aspirations, her aerie, her entire way of life.
-
-
5 star plotline, 2 star main character
- By Allison on 12-01-16
By: Todd Lockwood
-
The Pearl
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Hector Elizondo
- Length: 2 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this short book illuminated by a deep understanding and love of humanity, John Steinbeck retells an old Mexican folk tale: the story of the great pearl, how it was found, and how it was lost. For the diver Kino, finding a magnificent pearl means the promise of a better life for his impoverished family. His dream blinds him to the greed and suspicions the pearl arouses in him and his neighbors, and even his loving wife cannot temper his obsession or stem the events leading to the tragedy. For Steinbeck, Kino and his wife illustrate the fall from innocence of people who believe that wealth erases all problems.
-
-
Stay poor
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 10-31-11
By: John Steinbeck
-
Amber Magic
- Haven Series, Book 1
- By: B. V. Larson
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 5 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The humans have no magic and are hunted for sport, but that is about to change. War is coming.... The Sun Dragon spawned nine lesser dragons which devoured their parent for the power the elder possessed. These young dragons fought for choice bits of the Sun Dragon, but each only managed to eat a portion, thus giving them specific powers. Over time, these foul dragons were hunted down and slain by heroes of old.
-
-
Not Undying Mercenaries Thats for sure
- By John on 10-21-15
By: B. V. Larson
-
Liesl & Po
- By: Kei Acedera, Lauren Oliver
- Narrated by: Jim Dale
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Liesl lives in a tiny attic bedroom, locked away by her cruel stepmother. Her only friends are the shadows and the mice - until one night a ghost appears from the darkness. It is Po, who comes from the Other Side. Both Liesl and Po are lonely, but together they are less alone. That same night, an alchemist's apprentice, Will, bungles an important delivery. He accidentally switches a box containing the most powerful magic in the world with one containing something decidedly less remarkable. Will's mistake has tremendous consequences for Liesl and Po....
-
-
Great story made better by a great narrator
- By Marie on 09-16-12
By: Kei Acedera, and others
-
Children of the Plains
- Dragonlance: Barbarians, Book 1
- By: Paul B. Thompson, Tonya C. Cook
- Narrated by: Alan Robertson
- Length: 12 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the mists of Krynn's earliest history came the Barbarians. A young brother and sister escape a pack of predators and strike out on their own, their lives taking parallel courses linked to the destiny of different tribes. But dark powers watch the rise of civilization with cold calculation and deadly intent.
-
-
loved it all the way through
- By Pete on 02-11-18
By: Paul B. Thompson, and others
-
Wild Magic
- The Immortals, Book 1
- By: Tamora Pierce
- Narrated by: Tamora Pierce
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Daine comes down from the mountains, she carries with her two things: a dark secret about her own past, and a strangely powerful magic that even she doesn't understand.
-
-
Doesn't do the book justice.
- By S. L. Garner on 04-07-05
By: Tamora Pierce
-
Wit'ch Fire
- The Banned and the Banished, Book 1
- By: James Clemens
- Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck, Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 15 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a fateful night five centuries ago, three mages made a desperate last stand, sacrificing everything to preserve the only hope of goodness in the beautiful, doomed land of Alasea. Now, on the anniversary of that ominous night, a girl-child ripens into the heritage of lost power. But before she can even comprehend her terrible new gift, the Dark Lord dispatches his winged monsters to capture her and bring him the embryonic magic she embodies.
-
-
An Amazing Journey
- By Drink Coffee, Read Books on 12-27-14
By: James Clemens
-
The Ninth Rain
- The Winnowing Flame Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Jen Williams
- Narrated by: Jot Davies
- Length: 20 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jen Williams, acclaimed author of The Copper Cat trilogy, featuring The Copper Promise, The Iron Ghost and The Silver Tide, returns with the first in a blistering new trilogy. The great city of Ebora once glittered with gold. Now its streets are stalked by wolves. Tormalin the Oathless has no taste for sitting around waiting to die while the realm of his storied ancestors falls to pieces - talk about a guilt trip. Better to be amongst the living, where there are taverns full of women and wine.
-
-
Couldn’t put it down!
- By Renae on 09-09-22
By: Jen Williams