Book-and-record set

Book-and-record sets are a form of entertainment for children, consisting of a picture storybook (often in

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

format, with drawings or photos) and an accompanying recording (originally in the form of a

vinyl record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...

; later in cassette tape and

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

formats) to be played while following along with the book. The record and book complement one another, with the record usually a

radio theater Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...

-style version of the story or a

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

recording, and the book providing visuals and text to the story. Often a tone or other kind of cue in the recording will prompt the reader to turn pages. Book-and-record sets are popular as teaching tools and aids to reading, and as a simple form of

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

entertainment.

Cartoon characters In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...

are common subjects (or stars) of the stories, as are comic book superheroes and other

media franchises A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or ...

, characters and personalities. Occasionally popular children's or family movies are adapted for book and record; the stories may either be re-presented by a new cast of performers, members of the movie cast, or the audio taken directly from the movie, with narration added.

Disneyland Records Walt Disney Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label releases soundtrack albums from The Walt Disney Company's motion picture studios, television series, theme parks, and traditional studio albums produced by its r ...

and related companies produced several such works, as did

Peter Pan Records Peter Pan Records is an American record label specializing in children's music. The label was introduced to the public in March 1948. The label was owned by the Synthetic Plastics Company of Newark, New Jersey until the 1970s. The label became ...

(and its offshoot Power Records) and others, from the dawn of

long-playing records The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and ...

and the

45rpm single In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separat ...

until the digital age. In the late 1940s and early 1950s,

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

produced many book-and-record sets for children, ranging from everything from

Bozo the Clown Bozo the Clown, sometimes billed as "Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown", is a clown character created for children's entertainment, widely popular in the second half of the 20th century. He was introduced in the United States in 1946, and to te ...

to the classical music fantasy ''

Sparky's Magic Piano ''Sparky's Magic Piano'' is the second in a series of children’s audio stories featuring Sparky, an original character created for Capitol Records in 1947. (Sparky also appeared in comic books as a sidekick to Capitol’s other famous creation, ...

''. A "picture storybook" of the 1982 movie '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' narrated by

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

became a highly prized collectible, after it went out of print. Newer sets may still be found among recordings for children. {{DEFAULTSORT:Book-And-Record Set Books by type Children's literature Educational materials Album types Storytelling