DANFORTH, Maine — Sam Hiscoe, a teacher at East Grand School in Danforth, was looking for something to encourage his third-grade class to get interested in literacy.
To do so, he had to look no further away than his own uncle Bill Duffy, who also is known as William Dufris, the man who was the original voice for “ Bob The Builder,” a popular children’s television show character.
Duffy, a Houlton native who lives in South Portland, also is an award-winning audiobook producer and narrator, and has performed in radio plays.
He recently directed an audiobook by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez called “ Locke And Key.” Joe Hill is the pseudonym for Joseph Hillstrom King, son of Stephen and Tabitha King.
Duffy has been nominated 10 times as a finalist for the Audio Publishers Association’s prestigious audiobook Audie Award, winning in 2012 for nonfiction, and has won 21 AudioFile Magazine Golden Earphones Awards.
Hiscoe invited his uncle visit the school in late October, spending an hour with students in kindergarten through third grade and reading to them.
“The kids really enjoyed it,” the third-grade teacher said Thursday. “Before he read to them, he talked about his career and the TV show, and it was great for them to hear that. A lot of times kids say that they love video games and cartoons, but they don’t really believe that can transition into a career for them.”
Duffy read several chapters from “The Twits” by Roald Dahl, and thrilled the children with his animated gestures and by giving characters their own voices.
“They were laughing so hard,” Hiscoe said. “They just loved it. They begged him to read more.”
Hiscoe said that he saw an instant change in his students reading styles after the visit.
“My students read to me, and they used to read to me in this monotone,” he said. “Now, they are getting more animated. It is great.”
Hiscoe said that he is hoping to get his uncle up sometime later for a schoolwide assembly.