*LOS ANGELES, CALIF. – It’s rare to mention the name of a book written for children over 100 years ago and have parents excitedly exclaim, “Omg! I love that story!” Yet this is exactly what voice actor DeBorah B. Pryor hears when she mentions the book as her latest accomplishment. Written by English-American author Margery Williams in 1922, The Velveteen Rabbit (Or How Toys Become Real), tells the story of a toy rabbit longing to be real through the love of its owner. The book has garnered more than 8K reviews on Amazon and now, with a revised title and new illustrations, DeBorah B Pryor Presents The Velveteen Rabbit, sits as the #1 new release on Audible.
“I swear, I only became aware of this book a few years ago and fell in love,” says Pryor, who has spent the past 5 years working as an actor in the voiceover industry. “When I read it, I knew I had to record it and bring it to new generations of kids; especially kids of color, whose parents may not have known about this book written by an English woman over a century ago. Heck, I didn’t know about it when raised my kid!” she says.
In the book about love and self-acceptance, we see how a little toy rabbit is shunned by the other toys (referred to as “people”) in the room of a young boy. But an old wise toy called The Skin Horse, who has lived in the nursery for the longest, takes the little rabbit under his wing and becomes his trusted friend and mentor.
“What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender before Nana came to tidy the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”
“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”
Pryor, who voices all of the characters in the audiobook, admits that although she had to work harder to summon up some of the characters’ voices, the voices of the Velveteen Rabbit and the Skin Horse came to her immediately. “I heard them in my head just as if they were in the room with me! I also became extremely attached to them.”
The book, which was just released in both print and audio on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes has all-new illustrations and Pryor is getting kudos on social media from friends, other voice actors, and celebrities alike. On Instagram, actress Vivica A Fox writes, “Big congrats to my gurl @deborah.b.pryor on ya new children’s book! #BlackGurlMagic”
Pryor, a grandmother, says as a voice actor and narrator she often tries her books out on kids to see if she can keep their attention.
“Kids are honest!” she says. “I remember once going upstairs to my granddaughters’ room where all of her cousins had gathered to play. We were celebrating her birthday and there was a bunch of kids ranging in age from 5 to 11 years old. I saw this as the perfect opportunity to test my skills because as a VO actor, you are constantly getting on the mic to record, listen back, and critique yourself. I decided to ask. ‘Hey, you guys want me to read a book?’ They were too polite to say ‘No’ so I had my granddaughter pull a book. I was thinking, ‘If they start walking out of the room because they remember there’s cake downstairs, I’ve lost ‘em!” But instead, those kids started pulling books off the shelf saying, “Now read this one!”
Pryor says, “I hope people will put their headphones on and listen to the audiobook as they turn the pages and look at the illustrations in print. I hope they will play it for their kids at bedtime.”
Click here to listen to a sample and/or purchase “DeBorah B Pryor Presents The Velveteen Rabbit” on Amazon.
To learn more about DeBorah B Pryor click here or scroll down to visit voicedbydeborah.com
source: deborah b. pryor
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