The Basket of Flowers (Lamplighter)
Summary
A Basket of Flowers Audiobook by Lamplighter Ministries is a full-cast, full-special effects audiobook based on Christoph von Schmid’s 1755 children’s novel of the same name. In it, Mary is taught to build her faith and reliance on God as she goes through trial after trial. The story is presented both richly and lovingly, with audio effects and top-tier acting, all while maintaining the story’s original plot and message.
Assessment
A Basket of Flowers Audiobook is a high-quality audiobook based on the original novella by Christoph von Schmid — the same who wrote the classic hymn O Come, O Come Little Children. Utilizing special effects, professional voice actors, and a faithful edit of the original story, this audiobook stands out among its contemporaries.
Theologically, the story is solidly faithful without being too on-the-nose. While Christianity is at the forefront of the message and character growth, it does not feel out of place or forced. There is an abundance of good encouragement towards relying on God and God alone for your comfort in difficult times, particularly when injustice strikes.
The story does contain a significant thread of relatively puritan (in the modern sense of the word) line of thinking that is somewhat out of date with modern Christianity. Things as simple as a pretty dress are considered borderline sinful and guaranteed to lead to vanity (which they very much can lead to vanity). The book takes great pains to caution against anything that might closely be considered “worldly”, almost to the point of suggesting that the only way to live for Christ is to wear sackcloth and ashes.
In terms of cleanliness, A Basket of Flowers (Audio) is incredibly clean. There is some peril and it can be a little emotionally intense at times, but otherwise there is no content that would be inappropriate for children, such as foul language, inappropriate humor or situations, or violence.
Light-o-Meter
Writing: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Quality: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Acting: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Cleanliness: 6 out of 7 Little Lights (little to no content that would be inappropriate for children)
Theological Message: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Overall: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Talk
I have to first talk about this really cool things that Lamplighter Ministries does with their older classic audiobooks: they use what is called an embedded or nested narrative. Now, you might be asking, what is that? Take a moment and think of the cult classic The Princess Bride. The movie presents the book in the context of a grandfather reading a fantastical story to his sick grandson. That is a nested narrative.
For A Basket of Flowers, Lamplighter sets up much the same thing. The book is located in an imaginative and fantastical library run by an eccentric old man. A young girl comes in with a problem: she’s moved from home and is unhappy. The old man gives her the book to read and hopefully solve her problem or, at least, make her feel more at ease and trusting in God with it. This gives the reader — who might be young, or unfamiliar with the messages and writing styles of really old books — an explanation as to what the book is about. It’s a really clever tool and incredibly helpful for breaking down complex ideas and philosophies.
In terms of the audiobook itself, I really enjoyed it. The cast did an amazing job bringing the characters to life and, while it is very much an overt Christian story, it does not feel too preachy or on the nose. The characters face injustice, trials, tribulations, and sorrows and must learn how to view each one through a lens of faith. There’s a good balance between characters and character motivations; the story is gentle, but not so soft that it avoids depicting evil entirely. Additionally, the main characters demonstrate their own innate flaws and struggles realistically. They are not perfect by any means, but strive towards God’s goodness and His wisdom each day.
Now, the audiobook is an abridged and adjusted version of the original (the original novella does not have a lot of dialogue, so some was supplemented in the audiobook), however, it seems to keep immensely true to von Schmid’s original work. The edits focus on maintaining not only the story’s original message of reliance on God, but also the story in and of itself. Some things are moved around slightly for either brevity or exposition, but overall the story is the same. An excellent audio drama for the whole family!
Where to Enjoy
Basket of Flowers CD: Basket of Flowers, The - Dramatic Audio CD - Lamplighter Ministries
Basket of Flowers MP3: Basket of Flowers - Dramatic Audio MP3 Download - Lamplighter Ministries
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