From Early Stories to Today · Drawing 35
Listening to the radio
The 20th century
At home, the radio brought news, music and programmes. Sometimes people gathered around the same radio to listen together.
Look together
What would you like to hear on the radio?
An idea to try
Tell a very short scene aloud without showing a picture. Your child draws what they imagined, then explains which sounds or words gave them ideas.
For the adult reading along
A little more to discover
Radio became increasingly important in Montréal during the 1920s. The MEM describes the development of receivers, shops and early commercial stations. Radio brought voices and sounds into homes, and the receiver became an object around which people could listen together.
Explore this scene with ears as well as eyes. Ask what your child can understand from a voice without seeing the speaker. News, music and stories create different expectations. The model shown is imaginary. The scene does not imply that every family owned a radio or listened to the same programmes at the same time.
Sources and context
These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. Source titles appear in their original language; some linked pages are in French.
Source review: 2026-09-12. Illustrations simplify places and scenes; they are not historical documents.