With an all-star cast, including actors and actresses from High School Musical, Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Hannah Montana, Bridge to Terabithia, American Idol, Lord of the Rings, and other preteen recognizables, I thought this a perfect gift for my eight-year-old niece.

(Yes, I have watched episodes of Hannah Montana and Zack and Cody thanks to aforementioned niece. And if I had to admit it, I’d confess to enjoying those episodes.)

My niece enjoys reading her Bible, so the recognizable swooned-for voices are a plus.

Oddly enough, the mp3 format presented a bit of a problem. My niece has an old-school hand-me-down CD player that can’t play mp3s. She only recently got an iPod Shuffle, but Shuffles aren’t conducive to audio books. Her only option is to listen to it via computer–which is often in use by an adult. I don’t believe this problem is significant for most, but it was for us.

The dramatization and sound effects make it more interesting than a straight read-through (although occasionally they border on cheesy), and the introductions give good perspective, especially for someone like my niece, who isn’t able to attend church every Sunday.

The actors did a good job, although Cody Linley’s reading was flat (why do we always make Jesus this nice, boring [dare I say stoned sounding?] guy?). Also, I don’t think they needed as simplistic a translation as they did for the target audience. (Underestimating children, preteens, and teenagers is a pet peeve of mine.) 

Overall, a good dramatization. I recommend it for others like my niece (i.e. girls who swoon over Jonas Brothers).