talk2ham.1 Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I want to get audio books for keeping my can't-read-yet little K-level and younger boys occupied with something more wholesome than TV while I steal a few moments a day to get some uninterrupted work done around the house. They LOOOOOOVE audio books. But I'm not interested in putting $$ out for books that are politically driven, philosophically screwy, or otherwise just brainless listening. I would love to hear your suggestions for twaddle free, wholesome audio book lists. Secondly, if you know of a good source for finding the audio books at a good price, I'd be all ears. And finally, I know there are some good children's radio series available online too. I'm interested in sites that put those out as well. TIA!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsingscrapper Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I don't know if you're familiar with this site but it has some of the books listed on the amblesideonline and oldfashionededucation sites as audiobooks for free! http://librivox.org/ We downloaded The Burgess Animal Book and The Burgess Bird Book and my middle son loved both of them. Most of the books are old school stuff that volunteers have read. I believe they are all public domain books if that tells you how old they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momee Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 storynory boomerang - might be too old but a great audio resource Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Kirsten~ Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 We all enjoy Jim Weiss' CDs, but some people don't like his voice. I haven't found an objectionable one yet, and those are ones I'll actually purchase unheard. My newly 5-year-old just received a Paddington Bear audiobook for her birthday, and it's in heavy rotation for her. She also loves the Frog and Toad CD read by Arnold Lobel and the Francis collection (though I personally find the reader's voice very grating and annoying on that one :glare:). I think owning the Winnie-the-Pooh collection is totally worthwhile, and I love listening to it with the accents. :D But that's less popular with my girls, for some reason. We have thoroughly enjoyed the Harper Children's Audio editions of the Chronicles of Narnia--fantastic narration. I also really like listening to others read E. Nesbit, and even my then-4-year-old loved both The Enchanted Castle and Five Children and It. HTH a bit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amazzie Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Books by E B White - Charlotte's Web, The Trumpet of the Swan. My son also loved the Ramona and Henry series by Beverly Clearly. Another great audio series is the Little House books. My son especially liked Farmer Boy. He does like to listen to twaddle, too, especially The Boxcar Children and The Magic Tree House series. Another big hit in our house is the Redwall series, but I'm not sure they'd be appropriate for all kiddos (scary battles, etc) and you'd probably need to wait until your kids are a little bit older. If you're interested in a recommendation of where to purchase, I use Audible to download audiobooks. We have a membership and get a discount on all the books. It's much nicer to have the books in my iPod rather than keeping track of multiple cds from the library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Occasionally Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Check your library website. Ours has audiobooks to "borrow", but once they're on the mp3 player, they don't expire. We have Paddington, Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Complete Takes of Beatrix Potter, Charlotte's Web, Arnold Lobel stories, and many others. It's worth a look. We also have a bunch downloaded from librivox.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 (edited) I have no idea what your philosophical or political leanings are, but I think you'll find some good ideas listed here: http://wiki.librivox.org/index.php/Recordings_of_Books_on_the_Ambleside_List and http://librivox.org/my-fathers-dragon-by-ruth-stiles-gannett/ My library also has many CDs from Rabbit Ears productions, with tales from around the world including American tall tales and Johnny Appleseed. These are very well done. Edited July 11, 2011 by stripe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama2two Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I second the Jim Weiss recommendatio! My kids love all his recordings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talk2ham.1 Posted July 11, 2011 Author Share Posted July 11, 2011 These are great ideas, thank you! I found a few of the selections you have mentioned at our library. I put them on hold online, so hopefully I can check them out for the kiddos in a couple days. Yay! I'm loving the ideas so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 (edited) I rarely buy audiobooks because our library has an extensive collection, and I frequently download from librivox.org. We just recently listened to the Jungle Book from that website. Also, Chronicles of Narnia read by Dr. Hart is free here. Librivox.org may be difficult to navigate since it doesn't seem to separate their books by genre (I think), so this place has sorted some of them under different categories. Edited July 11, 2011 by crazyforlatin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellesmere Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinannie Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Books by E B White - Charlotte's Web, The Trumpet of the Swan. My son also loved the Ramona and Henry series by Beverly Clearly. Another great audio series is the Little House books. My son especially liked Farmer Boy. He does like to listen to twaddle, too, especially The Boxcar Children and The Magic Tree House series. Another big hit in our house is the Redwall series, but I'm not sure they'd be appropriate for all kiddos (scary battles, etc) and you'd probably need to wait until your kids are a little bit older. If you're interested in a recommendation of where to purchase, I use Audible to download audiobooks. We have a membership and get a discount on all the books. It's much nicer to have the books in my iPod rather than keeping track of multiple cds from the library. Do you really consider Boxcar Children books twaddle? I really love those books. There is a lot of great nature study in them as well. I don't think they are twaddle, but maybe that is just my personal preference! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 (edited) My kids love audio stories too. I'll link in the free sites we use the most though most have been mentioned. LibriVox The quality of the readings will vary. You'll find great literature though. Search under Children's or Children's Stories. StoryNory Check out the Fairytales, Classic, Educational, and Junior sections for good quality literature. They are read well. My son began reading with a slight British accent though after listening a lot to her read! KiddieRecordsWeekly This one has some really good recordings. I don't know if you might consider them twaddle-ish but they are far better than tv or videos! You may want to pre-select. These are shorter generally which was nice especially when my kids were younger. They are from old children's records based on books of course so really enjoyable recordings generally. If you google you'll find lots of free audio stories online. I found some are better recorded than others. But the three above are the sites we revisit often. Also check your library system. Using interlibrary loan we enjoy all kinds of great audio books. Our favorites are anything by E.B. White (The Trumpet of the Swan and Charlotte's Web particularly) , Rohl Dahl (James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Chronicles of Narnia, Beverly Cleary (The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Ribsy), and The Railway Children. Edited July 11, 2011 by sbgrace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnMomof7 Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 My daughter might be odd, but she has been addicted to any of the free Louisa May Alcott stories at Librivox for a few years now. She ADORES them. I think she has listened to The Eight Cousins a dozen times on her iPod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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