What IS a quirt? It’s a riding whip with a short handle and a lash of braided rawhide.

I’d not heard this word before I read the title of the story we’re listening to right now. It’s a classic western story about a man who rescues  a family with Aztec roots; they offer him a horse whip with the claim it would make him a big man through Aztec magic. We’re following along on his adventures to find out what kind of bravery and skill it’s given him. I’m not going into details of the story, you’re going to have to listen to the teaser on their website or better yet order a copy of the disc.

My first thoughts when starting the disc was a memory of the movie, A Christmas Story . The main character had been listening to a radio program on a wild west character. I have a wonderful idea of sitting on the couch with my daughters, a cup of hot chocolate, and a big blanket listening to more audio stories. Their website carries over that Golden Age feel.

I haven’t listened to many books on disc but the ones I have, were read by one person-usually the author. I’m enjoying the variety of voices, the music and sound effects that really bring the story to life. Also nice is the stories are ‘clean’ as I understand it, permissible in many of the more conservative households. Now that being said this isn’t my favorite story. Bound to be some you like, and some you don’t. It’s interesting enough to listen to it, especially since it’s only 2 hours long. Two hours broken up onto two discs so you even a nice stopping point if you don’t have two hours available.

We have two other stories written by the same author; L. Ron Hubbard who I was unaware wrote anything besides science fiction! We also have While Bugles Blow! and Spy Killer, to listen to and even a book to follow along with. That is where the fun really begins! As a homeschooler I try to make everything a chance to learn and some of the stories have a lesson plan for some of the stories. A quick run down of the lesson plan is;

• Quiz
• Characters
• Summary & Story based questions
• Story based discussion
• Find the meaning (vocabulary)
• Complete the sentences