Abel neemt deel aan de Media Ukkie Dagen 2024

Media hebben invloed op je ukkie. Ze kunnen prikkelen, in beweging brengen, je aan het denken zetten of juist zorgen voor ontspanning. Maar ze kunnen ook een bron van onrust vormen, overprikkelen of te uitdagend zijn. Om kinderen en opvoeders hierbij te helpen, staan de Media Ukkie Dagen van 5 t/m 12 april 2024 in het teken van de invloed van media op ontspanning. Met concrete tips vinden jullie, als ouders, de juiste balans voor jullie situatie. Op verschillende manieren leer je tijdens de campagne meer over hoe media kunnen helpen bij het creëren van rust, en wanneer je kind misschien beter even zonder kan.

‘Binnen Abel Studios vinden we het belangrijk om mee te denken over een gebalanceerde mediaconsumptie. Speciaal voor de Media Ukkie dagen, organiseert Abel Studios daarom een webinar met als titel: ‘Een betere balans in mediaconsumptie’. Juist de nieuwe generatie heeft baat bij meer evenwicht, minder schermtijd, en de voordelen van audio als medium, in een wereld met een overvloed aan media en toestellen, stelt Sanne Kanis, oprichter van Abel Studios. Daarom doen we graag mee aan de Media Ukkie Dagen 2024. We hebben speciaal voor deze editie ook een afspeellijst samengesteld voor jonge luisteraars, boordevol met leuke luisterverhalen. Hiermee kan ook deze jonge groep de voordelen van audio ervaren, of dat nu thuis, op school of op de naschoolse opvang is. We zien dat bij onze luisteraars - kinderen en families - het inlevingsvermogen wordt geprikkeld. Uit onderzoek blijkt dat audio een positieve invloed heeft op sociaal-emotionele vaardigheden, zoals empathie, zelfverzekerdheid, creativiteit, en de ontwikkeling van het vocabulaire. Daarom hopen we dat audio in de toekomst vaker ingezet zal worden bij peuters en kleuters, bijvoorbeeld voor het slapen gaan, in de auto of tijdens een vakantie.’

Abel launches the Dutch version of audio cartoon 'Sergio - a snail with a mission’

Show alert! Abel presents a brand new audio cartoon: 'Sergio - a snail with a mission!
(Dutch title: Sergio, de slak met een missie) We are proud to present this new Abel Original series in Dutch, originally released in English and nominated for 3 Independent British Podcast Awards in 2023.

What can you expect? A fun and entertaining audio cartoon, and 6-episodes (75 minutes) of entertainment, encouraging awareness of climate issues.

What is the concept? Based on real-life situations and intended as a conversation starter for children, parents, carers and educators, Sergio is trying to save the planet with his superpowers. Will he be able to save his friends from the fire in the woods, prevent an oil spill, and can he help a fox lost in the city?

Featuring the amazing talents: Willem Voogd (Sergio) Sanne Vogel (Wormie) and Martijn Hillenius (Mr. Demollin).

Check our Dutch catalogue to find the first episode (release February 8)

New: imaginative and fun audio games & challenges

Exciting news! Abel just launched a podcast series including imaginative games, sports and challenges for kids and families to play. Ideal for a rainy day, or long car trips.
The Games Wizard loves creating new games, sports, tasks and challenges for kids and grown-ups to play. Each episode is a new game to play, and the Games Wizard sets the rules and runs the wacky and wonderful timers that use funny sounds, wacky countdowns, and silly songs to make the games even more enjoyable.
Play them with your friends and family in the car, at home on a rainy day, in the park, on holiday, and anywhere else you can think of. Ready? Set? Bonk!
Available in Dutch - with 12 episodes, presented by our lovely show master Carolien Karthaus Spoor.

Official launch of Dutch Rebel Girls Podcast

In celebration of International Day of the Girl Chirls on October 11, we will launch, in collaboration with Rebel Girls, the podcast 'Bedtime Stories for Rebel Girls.' The podcast is a Dutch adaptation of the highly acclaimed book series that has been published in over 100 countries, with more than 7 million copies sold. The podcast, produced and distributed by Abel Studios tells the empowering stories of extraordinary, barrier-breaking women from around the world and throughout history to present day. 

The first season of 'Bedtime Stories for Rebel Girls' consists of eleven episodes and features a cast of eleven iconic Dutch women and share the stories of Beyoncé, Jane Goodall, Julia Child, Diane von Fürstenberg, Arianna Huffington, Grace Hopper, and many more. Dutch narrator Sterrin Smallbrugge is one of the ‘local rebels’. She is enthusiastic about her participation: "Since I was a little girl, Jane Goodall has been an important role model for me. The way she changed our perception of non-human animals without changing herself inspired me immensely. Being able to read her story now feels not only like a tremendous honor, but also as a way to inspire thousands of other girls and boys to choose their own path."

Sanne Kanis, CEO of Abel Studios, is proud of the collaboration with Rebel Girls: "At Abel, we are committed to bringing meaningful stories to young listeners. We are delighted to have made the impressive stories of Rebel Girls accessible to everyone. Our Dutch podcast version is an important step in giving Dutch-speaking children the opportunity to learn about inspiring women who have shaped history."

"Rebel Girls has inspired millions of girls around the world to dream bigger through our storytelling. We are excited to partner with Abel to bring even more stories to our audience in an immersive and elongated podcast format. Through the voices of iconic Dutch women, we know girls and their families will be immersed in the empowering stories of 'Bedtime Stories for Rebel Girls,' ," says Michon Vanderpoel, Rebel Girls Head of Sales and Licensing.”

All episodes of the season and Abel's full podcast catalog are available on Spotify, Apple, and other podcast platforms here.

Nine podcast award nominations for Abel

Exciting times at Abel! Last week, we’ve received NINE nominations across FOUR categories at the British Independent Podcast Awards for our shows:

- Sergio the Snail: Eco-Agent Children's & Young Adults, Comedy, Educational

- Victor’s Holiday Mysteries Children's & Young Adults, Fiction

- The Ultimate Fact Off Children's & Young Adults, Educational

- Brand New Bonus Mum Children's & Young Adults

- Felicity the Fish Children's & Young Adults

It’s a massive nod to the creativity and passion we pour into crafting podcasts for our young audience.
We’re excited for a future where podcasts play and even bigger role in sparking young imaginations.

What are The Independent Podcast Awards?
The Independent Podcast Awards are the brand new awards launched for those podcasts that are truly free of corporate ties. We’re taking things back to those who create their content in their backrooms, in their spare time and without the pressures of upsetting their sponsors along the way.

More news will follow after the official award ceremony, on October 30th….

New release: Victor and the Easter Egg Hunt

Not sure how you are spending your Easter yet? We have the solution for you, with two new character-driven audio plays, stay tuned for the second launch next week..

Victor and the Easter Egg Hunt: If you or your kids love Stranger Things, Enid Blyton or Enola Holmes, this is the perfect story for your festive season!
Every year, everyone in the town of Fairfield celebrate Easter with a gigantic Easter egg hunt! Victor and Elisa love covering the event in their school paper, The Fairfield Revealed. But this year, they're shocked to discover that someone has tricked the town into cancelling the event! Who did it? And why? Is it too late for Victor and Elisa to save Easter?

Episode 1: Victor and Elisa's Eggcellent Adventure
Victor and Elisa are getting ready to cover the annual Fairfield Easter egg hunt... but everyone seems to think the event is cancelled. How can they get to the bottom of this in time to save Easter?

Episode 2: Egg Hunt Hunters
Victor and Elisa find their prime suspect. Now they just need to find a way to prove it was really them... if it really was them that is.

Episode 3: The Easter Egg Conspiracy
Victor and Elisa hatch a plan to find the real person responsible for getting The Fairfield Easter Egg Hunt cancelled. Will they catch them in time to save the day?

This is season 2 of Victor and the missing Christmas presents which was released in December 2022. You can find the three new episodes of our Easter special on the Toniebox, on Spotify, Amazon and on other major podcast platforms.

New release: The Ultimate Fact Off!

New release - a fun audio game show for the family: The Ultimate Fact Off!

“How fun would it be if we could design an audio game show?” Is what we thought when meeting up with Emma Hyman (founder of Tiny House Productions)  in London in the fall. We are excited to share that, this idea became reality.  The Ultimate Fact Off! An audio game show is a fun and educational podcast for families that will surprise and delight listeners with a wide variety of fascinating facts.

What can I expect?
Each episode of The Ultimate Fact Off! features two teams competing to share as many interesting and surprising facts as possible. Topics include history, nature, geography, sports, science, and more. What do you know about Harry Potter, tsunamis or the Stone Age? The team with the most fascinating facts is crowned the winner. 

Emma Hyman, founder and Creative Director of Tiny House Productions: ‘Kids are used to consuming quick hits of content, so we’ve created 5 minute episodes that are jam-packed with high quality educational entertainment  with audio emojis, singalong jingles and a strong play-along will appeal to listeners of all ages. We teamed up with producer Suzi Dale - co-owner of Story Publishing - an award winning editorial and audio production company and Micky Curling - an award winning sound designer, engineer, composer and audio producer. ”

Where and when to find it?

The first 3 episodes (out of 10) of The Ultimate Fact Off! are available, with new episodes released every Saturday. Find them on the major podcast platforms
Spotify  Amazon or Apple or on the kids app Storitopia, our partner - which is a great source for children’s audio content (and globally available)!

Storitopia is a podcast app created for kids. It’s a space where parents, kids, and caregivers can discover the best kids’ podcasts. Storitopia is an incredible tool filled with awesome audio content that will help educate and entertain your curious kids. discover wonderfully whimsical stories, uncover shocking science facts, and learn the history of everything from hypatia to hot dogs! Caregivers can download the app, create an adult profile, then create individual kid profiles, selecting their age and favorite categories.
Go to the App store and find more info on: Storitopia.com

Grab your blanket, a mug of hot chocolate and listen to Abel's new holiday stories!

Check out the latest screen-less entertainment from Abel Studios – perfect to enjoy before bed, on the way to grandpa's, after school or on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Abel’s new Christmas adventures are fun for independent children or the whole family!

Victor and the Missing Presents

Get into the holiday spirit with this audio Christmassy mystery. Victor and the Missing Presents is a cheerful story where Victor and Elisa must work together to save Christmas. Christmas is Victor’s favourite time of the year and his favourite part is how everyone leaves gifts for one another under the giant tree in the centre of his village. But this year, something has gone wrong. On the last day of school before the holidays, all of the presents have gone missing! Can he and Elisa work out what happened to them in time to stop Christmas from being ruined? If you love Stranger Things, Enid Blyton or Enola Holmes, this is the perfect story for your festive season!

Christmas in the Doghouse: An Interactive Holiday Special

Rudy the dog needs your help in this special interactive holiday story from Abel Studios! Rudy loves Christmas. Christmas was when he first met his family and don’t get him started on the food! He can’t get enough of the stuff. But one way or another, he always gets in trouble and shut out in the doghouse on the big day. Until now! This year is going to be different. He’s going to come up with a plan. Christmas in the Doghouse is for children who want to be part of the story, themselves! A party for all the neighbourhood dogs, getting his own back on his family or throwing them a special Christmas of his own? The ending is up to you!

Available on Spotify via the following links:
Dutch

English

Abel to launch six shows this fall

Abel will be launching six new Abel Originals fiction shows this fall.

Abel strikes partnership with tonies©

Increasing screen time for kids - should we be worried?
One of the most pressing dilemmas we face in the digital age is an exponential increase in screen time. While this is something that affects all generations, it’s specifically alarming when it comes to children. The average child’s screen time doubled during the pandemic – and they were far beyond desirable levels to begin with. 

 The future is audio: With a market-increase of 20-30%, we cannot ignore that audio is here to stay. Removing a screen from the equation helps to build a child’s imagination and creativity. Listening to soundscapes specifically designed to spark the imagination engages the mind in ways that visual content simply can’t. No screen also means no longer having to worry about blue or red light-levels and the side-effects that looking at a screen may have on a child’s sleep cycle. This is especially important when it comes to finding bedtime content to help a child wind down for the night! 

Plenty of kids’ audio content already exists, but very little of it is tailored to the children of today. A five-year-old typically has an attention span of, at best, fifteen minutes. Yet, the average audiobook lasts four to five hours! This is one of the reasons that Abel produces short-form content. Our average stories are seven to fifteen minutes long. 

More importantly, though: most of the content that already exists is outdated. Much of what’s out there is archaic in nature, with a consistent point of feedback from our research panels being that many of the children don’t feel adequately represented in existing stories. “Why does the prince never fall in love with the prince?’ ‘Why do the characters always have the same skin tone and hair colour?” We believe there is huge potential to build a collection of diverse, inclusive and innovative content. Our aim is to create the largest audio library for children in Europe. This summer, we will launch a total of 70 episodes made up of our Abel Originals and Abel Classics, available in both Dutch and English.

The audio market is booming
Smart-speakers are also seeing substantial growth, and rapidly expanding companies like tonies are paving the way in the field of screen-free hardware solutions for kids. We’re incredibly proud of our partnership with the stock-listed, global company. They’re on the same mission as us: reducing screen-time and increasing imagination. 

We’re especially excited to be tonies’ first partner to deliver Dutch audio. Ten episodes of Abel content are now available in both Dutch and English. Whether you’re looking for something to entertain your kids during a holiday, a fun, new bedtime story, or just something to help pass the time on a trip to visit their grandparents, check out: tonies + Abel