The Voice in the Booth: Titles in an Audiobook Narrator's Work

The Voice in the Booth

1Have you ever listened to a book instead of reading it? Someone had to read every word of that book aloud first. Lucia Ferreira does that job. She is an audiobook narrator, and she records books in a small, quiet room called a recording booth. Later, listeners hear her voice through speakers or headphones.

2Before she records, Ms. Ferreira reads the whole book to herself. Right now, she is getting ready to record a mystery novel called The Clockmaker's Missing Key. She marks each character's lines with a different colored pencil so that she can give every character a voice of its own. The chapter "A Crowd in the Clock Shop" has so many characters that she almost runs out of colors.

3The booth is lined with soft gray foam that soaks up echoes. Ms. Ferreira keeps a glass of water nearby, and she wears a soft sweater instead of a jacket that swishes. Even a growling stomach can spoil a recording, so she eats a snack before she starts. If she stumbles over a word, she simply reads the sentence over.

4Not every job is a whole book. Last month, Ms. Ferreira recorded a short story called "The Night the River Froze." It was printed in Pinwheel Pages, a magazine for young readers, and the magazine wanted an audio version for its website.

5Last spring, she tried something new. She played a grumpy pickle in a cartoon series for kids. In the episode "The Soggy Sandwich," the pickle refuses to share a lunchbox with a cheerful slice of cheese. Ms. Ferreira says it was the silliest voice she has ever made.

6Poems can be the trickiest jobs of all. For a book of poems called Small Songs for Big Days, Ms. Ferreira had to read slowly and listen for every rhyme. One poem, "Ode to a Squeaky Stapler," made her laugh so hard that she had to record it six times.

7On weekends, Ms. Ferreira rests her voice. She reads the newspaper The Juniper Hill Gazette with her morning tea and listens to her favorite album, Rainy Day Trumpet. Whenever the song "Streetlights at Seven" comes on, she taps her feet.

8What advice does she have for kids who want her job someday? "Read aloud every day," she says. "Read to your little brother, your grandmother or even your goldfish."