Where to find audiobooks for kids
I mentioned in another article that a really good way to encourage reading is by listening to audiobooks. I realize this is easier said than done, so here is a guide to get you started!
First of all, where and how to listen?
My favorite is in the car all together as a family. I prefer togetherness things over separate things, so having a family book is always my first choice. There are so many benefits too! When you are all listening to the same story you can talk about it outside the car. You can look forward to hearing the next part. There was a season where we had a long drive to school and I remember getting to school and turning off the car and my kids trying to guess what would happen next and not being able to wait to find out. Super fun! Also, audiobooks make car rides more pleasant, at least for my family they did. Kids were quietly listening and coloring or doing a fidget toy or yarn craft or something, but mostly blissful silence aside from the book. One more benefit: no fighting over music if the default is a story. Another great option is at bedtime, you can do your night routine and then play an audiobook for the kids to listen to while falling asleep. We did “The Mouse and the Motorcycle” for years and years at bedtime and I think I still have the first few pages memorized.
For car listening, you can play from your phone either through bluetooth or an aux cable, or from CD if your car still has that. Bedtime/in the house but out loud could be an Alexa or google home, a bluetooth speaker, or an old school cd or even tape player. For private listening a small music player (like an old iPod, but they don’t sell them anymore) and some headphones is a good option. I’m not sure what devices are available now, I need to look into that!
Second, what should we listen to?
Well, I love some old classics, like Beverly Cleary. The Henry Huggins series is so fun (and narrated by Neil Patrick Harris) and her writing is just wholesome. The Ralph S Mouse books are awesome, and Ramona is always a favorite. There are the Narnia books, the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, Judy Blume is good (Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Freckle Juice are so so awesome!), and a lot of Andrew Clements is amazing (I personally love School Story, but No Talking is hilarious). We loved The Penderwicks and The Mysterious Benedict Society as well. If you like Harry Potter the audiobooks are narrated by a completely incredible artist (Jim Dale) and they are stunning. Basically anything Jim Weiss has ever read is awesome too. Oh and I love Ella Enchanted because it is narrated by a young girl and it’s just really satisfying.
Ok, so if you’ve exhausted all the easy choices, then what? It’s so hard to pick books when you haven’t read them and don’t know what’s in them. Every family is different and has different standards but you need to be armed to choose books that you personally are ok with. I have a few methods for this. One fun one is a go into Amazon and read all the one and two star reviews. I’ve caught quite a few content warnings just by doing that. Another great resource is the website Common Sense Media, it’s sort of like Kids in Mind but for books. You can try asking a librarian, or even better asking a kid that’s a couple of years older than your kids. They are often thrilled to talk books, especially if you come across them reading :). Getting into a series is great because then it’s a long time before you have to choose the next book. After that I would read lists of best books for kids of whatever age, and there is a good podcast about books called “The Read Aloud Revival” with a ton of ideas too.
And lastly, how do we get all these audiobooks without spending a fortune?
The first place is your local library. Depending on the size of your city you might have a fantastic online resource section and be able to check out free audiobooks right from your couch. Some of them might be always available (an app called Libby has always available ones here) and some you might need to get on a waiting list for. At my library I can check out up to 5 digital resources at a time which includes ebooks and audiobooks. But that’s per card. So if you get cards for your kids you can use their allotment as well. Another great source is nearby library systems. Here in Texas you can get a statewide library card (called a Texshare card) and use other library systems. So if a nearby town has a better digital library than your town, this might be a great bet. Sometimes you might need to pay to join a library out of your city, but if paying $50 a year gets you access to hundreds of audiobooks, that’s a steal! Libraries, especially in smaller towns, also have physical CDs and cassette tapes, and some even have personal listening devices preloaded with audiobooks. This is another great place to check.
You could get an Audible account. Audible is a subscription based app that gives you a credit for 1 or 2 books a month for a monthly fee. The great thing about it though is that they also have a lot of sales, such as 2 books for 1 credit, $5 books, and a daily special. The credits are great and useful to fill in the cracks that your library doesn’t cover, but by really working your audible subscription you can gather a large collection for a pretty low price tag. Also Audible is a great Christmas gift from a grandparent that you will definitely enjoy and use and won’t clutter up your house.
There are other apps for audiobooks that are less widely known, and probably have smaller collections than Audible, but Scribd is one to check out, and Librivox is 100% free public domain audiobooks, but they are recorded by volunteers so the quality varies.
As a last resort you can simply buy audiobooks online (Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify) either as digital copies or physical CDs. This is a great idea for a book you can’t find anywhere else that your family is really excited to listen to. We bought the Narnia series, the Harry Potter Series, all the Beverly Cleary’s, and some of the Jim Weiss collections. Worth every penny.
This is a ton of information and probably overwhelming, but you can start today by logging into your local library, looking at the digital resources section, and choosing just one book. The next time you are in the car with the kids try it out and see how they like it. One step at a time!