Mama asked: Please describe large print audio books. These are books for folks whose eyesight has diminished to the point that they can no longer read large print books. I have had a request from a patron at the public library for large print audio books.
…and then Rachel asked: Why is the sky blue?
Seeing as no answers were issued over the weekend, I figured I’d throw two questions into today’s post. I’ll start with the first question. Large print audio books. I’m not really sure why you’d need an explanation on this. It seems pretty obvious to me. I’ll go through the process for those of you who aren’t familiar with audio books. Audio books are made just like any other book. Somebody somewhere sits down and types the words into a computer. The computer then outputs an audio book.
As everyone knows, audio is made up of sound waves. Think of sound waves like invisible ocean waves that are rolling through the air. When large print audio books play their content, the waves are much larger than regular sound waves. That is how large print audio books are produced.
If I recall correctly, Rachel, the sky is blue because of an ancient Italian treaty in which the sky was decided to be painted blue. A special type of self-spreading paint was commissioned to be made by Da Vinci, and the Chinese were hired to make a special rocketry setup. The paint was loaded into the rocket and fired at the sky. Unfortunately, the Italians did not foresee the potential side-effects. It turns out that the paint they used reacted with the atmosphere and created larges masses of gaseous bodies (which we now call clouds). So yes, you can blame the Italians for both the blue skies and the cloudy days.
Ciao!
~XK
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