Audio Books. An Invaluable Item…
Audio Books… I can’t emphasize enough the great wonder and value of audio books. If you’re in the car for more than 15 minutes on a regular basis with your children, audio books are your friend. They’re an extension of your reading to them at bedtime, they’re the thing you can do together in the car on your way to town, summer vacation or any trip for that matter. Of course, they don’t need to be restricted to the car. On countless mornings, our ‘school day’ got started late because we were engrossed in a gripping chapter of the current audio book during breakfast. It’s also a great way to introduce children to good literature.
Librivox has a large library of books narrated by a variety of people, with many, many of them freely available for download on either computer or in an IOS app like Audio Books. It is worth checking them out before downloading them. We once got a book that was narrated by a famous man, but his reading of the story was so monotonous and without any cadence at all that we couldn’t even follow along and had to turn it off.
Another option is Whispersync. This is an Amazon option that allows you to alternate between reading a book on your free Kindle app and listening to it on your Audible app. While these do have a fee per book, the versatility of being able to read at bedtime and have your app pick up where you left off the night before while you run your errands the next day, is a wonderful thing. You can also try a classic for $0.99 by checking the box that says Add Audible book to your purchase for just $0.99 to see how they work.
Don’t forget, don’t EVER forget, the value of the local library! They usually have a selection of audio books you can borrow, as well as a variety of online resources from which you can choose.
Here’s a list of some of our favorites.
- How To Train Your Dragon series by Cressida Cowell (narrated by David Tennant)
- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- The Lost Prince by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
- Heidi by Joanna Spyri
- Five Little Peppers series by Margaret Sidney
- Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
- The Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery
Do you have any favorites you’d like to share?
Start Somewhere. You never know where it will lead you!
