Uncle Moral's Bedtime Stories

Moral's Stories, Book 1

De: P Jun

Narrado por: Brian Pederson

Come join Trouble and Maker Mole as they get ready for bed! Uncle Moral tells heartwarming stories about family and teaches your children about good morals to help them grow into mature and respectful young adults!

©2013 Paul Jun (P)2024 Paul Jun

Clever ideas, but seems incomplete

In listening to "Uncle Moral's Bedtime Stories", specifically "The Papaya Tree", I found it an engaging listening experience overall, but I did have some critiques regarding certain aspects. The first instance I noticed was within the pacing. The narrator, Brian Pederson, had a clear, easy-to-understand voice; however, there were some longer pauses within sentences that in my opinion, were not sentence breaks or applicable for a moment for pause. It created a sense of confusion, almost as if for a split second I needed to check and make sure I didn't accidentally press pause. I found the overarching plot premise clever and engaging with the whimsy engine of talking papayas, but the moral seemed unclear, even after a second listen, which I think in turn is ironic and needs to be improved considering this story is a part of "Uncle Moral's Bedtime Stories". I did enjoy the shortness of it, and the story felt mostly complete when looking at it from a simplicity perspective, and it seemed easy enough for a young child to comprehend. The audio quality was clear and felt professional, but there existed a lack of range for character voices, which was established for the three main storytelling characters; Uncle Moral, Trouble, and Maker, but did not carry over to the characters within the story, losing the immersion factor in the process. Overall, I feel that this can exist as an adequate story to keep a child entertained for a few minutes, but not much about this recording stands out to distinguish it from other audiobook choices.

Entertaining but Lacking

Chapter 1 of Uncle Moral’s Bedtime Stories opens with a patient uncle attempting to put two rambunctious twin boys to bed with a final bedtime story. The Papaya Tree story he tells them, while short and sweet for small children’s attention spans, seems to lack a clear moral or message, which contradicts the very title of the audiobook. The loose idea that can be gleaned from it is “everyone must make sacrifices,” but without further explanation, the intent behind a message like this is lost on children. Adults may interpret it differently with the context of the story, leaning closer to “parents must make sacrifices for family and livelihood.” That being said, the story’s sentient papayas and the happy farming world created in five minutes nearly make up for the lack of a message if the sole focus is entertainment of children.

The narrator’s attempts to add to the entertainment factor were decent but lacking overall. Voice inflections were used to differentiate between characters, but this only went so far in adding whimsy and passion to the recording. It felt like something was missing from the voices for it being a children’s book, almost as if the narrator focused more on enunciation and clarity than bringing the silly characters to life. Audio production aided in making his voice crisp and heard, so his focus would’ve been better shifted toward passion and excitement.

Looking at it from purely a child’s perspective, this audiobook is engaging and suitable enough. With more chapters in this supposed series of bedtime stories, children can be adequately entertained for a few minutes each night.

story in a story

A fun little story about a sleepy uncle telling a story to his nephews, trouble and maker. The story in a story was strange bit entertaining. The narrators voice made the story fun, even if Brian (the narrator) had a quick halt during the description of the daughter. I wish Brian would have given it another go because the rest of the narration was great, especially when uncle falls asleep and snores at a cliffhanger.

The Moral of the Story

Although this story may seem like a regular children's bedtime story, it felt much deeper than that. This story is one you'll have to look past the surface and think deeply about what the author might be trying to say. The story teaches that empathy goes a long way. You can learn that looking at things from a different perspective might help you be more understanding.

Through the farmer's perspective, I believe the author tried to teach that although you might be doing something necessary to benefit yourself, it might be hurting others in ways you have no idea are happening. In "papa papaya's" perspective the author taught that questions are important. Had he not asked the little girl any questions or taken the time to know the situation, he would not have learned that they needed to switch to apple trees to survive. And the little girl would have never known how much suffering their actions had caused. Through empathy, both sides came to a compromise and made sacrifices. I believe the moral of the story invites readers of all ages to learn these valuable lessons. I even think the story could be used in an English class for upper Elementary - Highschool!

Lastly, the narrator had a strong reading voice. However, he needs to work on changing his tone and dynamics while telling the story. It started sounding a little monotone like a news reporter. He also had awkward pauses in between sentences that took away from the experience. I still believe he has a unique voice with great potential. I recommend this story!

A classic children's story

The Papay Tree is a classic children's story that teaches the values of empathy, strength and selflessness. The characters in the story are easy to keep track of and the story is simple enough to follow along and understand for children, while also managing to express the values the story intends to teach. The little girl is an innocent bystander in the story and yet must make a life changing decision for the last papaya tree in the grove and all its inhabitants. The Papa Papaya character is ultimately the hero of the story, having the strength to give the ultimate sacrifice by giving himself over to the little girl to prevent the last papaya tree from being removed and displacing his entire family. His character is shown to be happy about his personal sacrifice in favor of the happiness of his remaining family papaya tree.

Though the story is short, it fulfills the need for a child's bedtime story perfectly. The narrator has a fun tone and does a great job voicing each of the characters by creating personality without much context. The story tackle’s heavy themes including displacement, separation anxiety and most, self-sacrifice as most children’s stories tend to do behind the fairytale exterior of the story. Papa Papaya and the little girl’s characters teach children that it’s okay to work in favor of the greater good at the expense of one’s own personal gain. Ultimately, true satisfaction comes from doing the right thing, not the self-serving thing.