A history of audiobooks, from entertainment & rehabilitation for blinded World War I soldiers to a twenty-first-century competitive industry. Histories of the book often move straight from the codex to the digital screen. Left out of that familiar account are nearly 150 years of audio recordings. Recounting the fascinating history of audio-recorded literature, Matthew Rubery traces the path of innovation from Edison’s recitation of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” for his tinfoil phonograph in 1877, to the first novel-length talking books made for blinded World War I veterans, to today’s billion-dollar audiobook industry. The Untold Story of the Talking Book focuses on the social impact of audiobooks, not just the technological history, in telling a story of surprising and impassioned conflicts: from controversies over which books the Library of Congress selected to become talking books—yes to Kipling, no to Flaubert—to debates about what defines a reader. Delving into the vexed relationship between spoken and printed texts, Rubery argues that storytelling can be just as engaging with the ears as with the eyes, and that audiobooks deserve to be taken seriously. They are not mere derivatives of printed books but their own form of entertainment. We have come a long way from the era of sound recorded on wax cylinders, when people imagined one day hearing entire novels on mini-phonographs tucked inside their hats. Rubery tells the untold story of this incredible evolution and, in doing so, breaks from convention by treating audiobooks as a distinctively modern art form that has profoundly influenced the way we read. Praise for The Untold Story of the Talking Book “If audiobooks are relatively new to your world, you might wonder where they came from and where they’re going. And for general fans of the intersection of culture and technology, The Untold Story of the Talking Book is a fascinating read.” —Neil Steinberg, Chicago Sun-Times “[Rubery] explores 150 years of the audio format with an imminently accessible style, touching upon a wide range of interconnected topics . . . Through careful investigation of the co-development of formats within the publishing industry, Rubery shines a light on overlooked pioneers of audio . . . Rubery’s work succeeds in providing evidence to ‘move beyond the reductive debate’ on whether audiobooks really count as reading, and establishes the format’s rightful place in the literary family.” —Mary Burkey, Booklist (starred review)

The definitive history of the societal forces affecting blind people in the United States and the professions that evolved to provide services to people who are visually impaired, The Unseen Minority was originally commissioned to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the American Foundation for the Blind in 1971. Updated with a new foreword outlining the critical issues that have arisen since the original publication and with time lines presenting the landmark events in the legislative arena, low vision, education, and orientation and mobility, this classic work has never been more relevant.

Helen Keller worked for AFB from 1924 until her death in 1968. Her responsibilities included advocating for more and better services, fighting discrimination and negative attitudes, and fundraising. Helen Keller's and Anne Sullivan Macy's photos and unpublished papers today form the Helen Keller Archives at AFB. For information about access to the Helen Keller Archives or permission to use photos and writings from the collection, contact Permissions, M.C. Migel Memorial Library, in writing, at AFB headquarters in New York City. The intimate story of two women whose lives were bound together in a unique relationship marked by genius, dependence, and love. Lash traces Anne Sullivan's early years in a Massachusetts poorhouse, describes her meeting with Helen Keller in Alabama, and goes on to recount the joint events of their lives: Helen's childhood experiences, education at Radcliffe, and work in vaudeville, politics, and for the blind.

While reluctantly doing research on sewing machines for a school report, Mark, a fifth-grader with cerebral palsy, discovers that the money for his team's baseball jerseys that he was responsible for is missing, and he finds himself feeling more friendlytowards sewing machines. Includes a question and answer section about what it's like to have cerebral palsy.