The Pop Ups Rev Take a Jukebox Journey Through Time

My kids are more voracious listeners than voracious readers. Remarkably, they would prefer to hear music than play videogames – which means our Wii system has become horribly antiquated. Regardless, books are still a staple of their education. And audiobooks from musicians are an interesting new twist. The Pop Ups (Jacob Stein and Jason Rabinowitz) are the latest to embark on such an endeavor, with their JUKEBOX JOYRIDE launching on Audible a little while ago.


Unlike their CDs, which can be digested in under an hour, JUKEBOX JOYRIDE will take most of an afternoon, or several weeks if you go chapter-by-chapter at bedtime (like I did with my son). So I apologize for the delay between release of the audiobook and my review.

JUKEBOX JOYRIDE follows 12-year-old twins Jules and George as they travel through time to find their Uncle Bob, a renowned ethnomusicologist (the study of music). An avid concertgoer, Bob used a magic music box to pingpong through his favorite venues (such as New Orleans in the 1920s). But there's a villain, and a chase, and peril, etc. It's a jaunty, well thought-out adventure. If your child enjoys the "Magic Treehouse" series, just envision those books with a hefty musical component, courtesy of the Pop Ups.

In addition to the Pop Ups themselves, voice talent includes Noel MacNeal (Bear in the Big Blue House) and Carly Ciarrocchi (formerly of Sprout TV). It's a heady jaunt, so be prepared to answer many questions about different eras of history and specific genres of music.

JUKEBOX JOYRIDE is available from Audible (an Amazon company).

Here is the "making of" video for the audiobook: