The Best Audiobooks for Kids
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Now that travel within the U.S. is significantly safer than it was a year ago (especially if your kids are old enough for the vaccine at this stage), we thought we’d share some of the best audiobooks for kids for your family road trip and beyond.
What are your recommendations for audiobooks for kids — either for travel or for listening to at home? (Do your kids like to listen to audiobooks to help them fall asleep?)
Here are some of the best audiobooks for kids to take along on your travels this summer… Note also that you can often get the audiobooks out of your local library, and you can often find deals at Chirp. (Another way of saving: if you buy it on Kindle the Audible add-on is often minimal.)
Harry Potter series
Let’s be real — you can’t make a list like this without including Harry Potter. I’ve never listened to the audiobooks (I read all the books as soon as they were published!), but everyone raves about the narrator, Jim Dale. Fun fact: Dale used 134 voices in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Stephen Fry, who I’m sure is just as impressive, narrates the UK versions. (I’m wondering, is Dobby as annoying in the audiobooks as he is in the films? Hmm.)
Even if your kid (and/or you) have already read the books, listening to the stories of Harry and friends (and foes) brings a new experience. Here’s a five-minute sample of the first book (link underneath cover image).
You can get all seven audiobooks on CD for, uh, 300 bucks — but they’re also available on Audible (which has a free 30-day trial, btw).
Hidden Figures — Young Readers’ Edition by Margot Lee Shetterly
Nonfiction audiobooks can be just as interesting for kids as novels — and here’s a great choice with some amazing role models. The regular version of Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race is on my to-read list (I really liked the movie), but I didn’t know until recently that there’s a version for kids (recommended for grades 4–6).
Besides entertaining young science fans, the experiences and accomplishments of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Christine Darden can lead to some important discussions with your kids about segregation and racism.
The book is read by the award-winning Bahni Turpin. Here’s a five-minute sample of the first book (link underneath cover image).
The audiobook CD is $20 at Amazon, and the book is available on Audible as well.
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
I always get a nice, nostalgic feeling when my son reads a book that I read as a kid — sometimes it’s even my copy. (In school, he’s currently reading A Wrinkle in Time and Tuck Everlasting, both of which I vividly remember from my childhood.) My son has my old copy of this book in his room (but hasn’t read it) — is this book a blast from the past for you, too?
It’s always an interesting experience to hear an audiobook that’s read by the author — and to my surprise, E. B. White narrates the audiobook! Here’s a 15-minute sample (link underneath cover image). A second option is a very different version that is performed by Meryl Streep and a full cast — including, coincidentally, Bahni Turpin (see above). A five-minute sample is available on the page.
The audiobook CD (E. B. White option) is $26; both are available on Audible.
How to Train Your Dragon series by Cressida Cowell
Kat recently informed me that the audiobook versions of the How to Train Your Dragon books are read by David Tennant, which caught my attention, because I’d enjoy listening to David Tennant read the phone book (or, you know, a video designed for calming cats). Here’s a five-minute sample (link underneath cover image).
My knowledge of this book series is limited to seeing the movie trailers, but in short, the stories are set in a fictional Viking world and tell the story of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III as he has adventures and tries to become a hero.
The CD set of books 1–6 is $45 at Amazon; the series of 12 is available on Audible.
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
When my 10-year-old needed a fantasy book for school last month, I pulled this book of the shelf and offered it to him. I’d gotten it free in a book swap and haven’t read it yet, but he ended up loving this story of a boy raised by ghosts. The book has earned lots of awards and is the only novel to win both the Newbery Medal and the Carnegie Medal. (If you’re looking for books that appeal to the whole family, this is a good bet — my husband recently listened to it while running and really enjoyed it.)
The audiobook cast is seriously impressive and may have convinced me to listen to the book myself. It includes Gaiman himself as well as Derek Jacobi, Andrew Scott, Miriam Margolyes, Lenny Henry, and others. Here’s a five-minute sample (link underneath cover image).
The audiobook CD is $18; the book is also available on Audible.
What are your kids’ favorite audiobooks? (How about podcasts?) When you travel, are your kids more likely to use an iPad or watch a movie than listen to a book? Or are they lucky enough to be able to read a physical book without getting carsick? (I’m jealous.) Also: When you listen to audiobooks yourself, do you prefer when they’re read by the author?
Stock photo via Deposit Photos / pahis.ukr.net.
Favorites have included:
Phantom Tollbooth narrated by Rainn Wilson
Wizard of Oz by Anne Hathaway
Chronicles of Narnia
Ramona series
Currently reading and loving the Aru Shah series. Percy Jackson also good on audio in a similar vein
Kate Winslet did a good Matilda but I find the story hard to listen to as a parent
We mostly use Libby and old-fashioned CDs. Winnie the Pooh, Paddington, and Wind in the Willows for classics. Harry and the Dinosaurs and the Kitty superhero series for more modern. My son listens to the CDs in the car, and then listens for a bit before falling asleep at night.
I downloaded a collection of Dr Suess books off of Audible for me 3 yo for a car ride. The books are read by famous (male) actors. The collection was 5 stories, and 2 hours long in total, but my son fell asleep by the 2nd book each time I put it on (which was a win in my book)! He gets carsick watching the ipad, so I wanted to be sure I had an audiobook for him. I had also downloaded a 2 hr audiobook of Frozen from Audible, but luckily we didn’t end up needing that.
Highly recommend The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates series. Great story and wonderful narration. My 7 and 9 year olds love it as much as my husband and I do!