Will anything be missed listening to Alice in Wonderland instead of reading it?

[ExcitedMama]

I am bookworm. I didn't let DS listen to an audiobook until I'd read him the actual book aloud. Personally my mind wanders and I zone out listening so I wanted us to read together. DH has work out of town that will definitely be 1 week but could be as long as 3 weeks. For that first week I'll be able to take the kids to Disneyland while he's at work. Our last trip to Disneyland was about 3 years ago so it's been a long time for my kids who were much younger then. At the time I'd thought it would be fun to listen to Alice in Wonderland for the drive but they were too young and it didn't last long. I'm wondering if it would be fun to try again so they'd know the characters. We have an abridged version they've both heard me read aloud, and DD asks for often, so they know the story somewhat. I've never read or heard the unabridged version. It's also a selection in ELTL2 but unfortunately not at the beginning so we won't get to it before we leave. Should I wait to do the slow reading for ELTL2? Or go ahead and listen to instead of reading it?

[Julie of KY]

I think it is fine to listen to books. I consider it the same if it is unabridged like what I read. My kids listen very well so it's not like they are zoned out and it's just background noise.

 

 

[nixpix5]

Listening can be fun and you could always have them do a short narration after a section in the car. I have done that on busy morning with Story of the World.

 

If you find a nice animated reading it can really bring it to life.

[Insertcreativenamehere]

We are listening to the BBC radio theatre version right now. Obviously abridged, it's difficult to follow because so much description of the characters is lost. I think an unabridged reading would be easier to understand.

 

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

[Farrar]

There are a few books where the illustrations are key, but not that many and this really isn't one of them. I'd say listen away and enjoy.

[fralala]

I say listen to it, but I've always found taking breaks to be key to preventing the mind wandering zone out when listening to audiobooks. We've never been able to binge on an entire audiobook for the duration of a long car ride with young kids-- it has to be broken up by music and whining, I mean conversation. I think if you go into it planning to break after 1 or 2 chapters the same way you would do when reading aloud yourself, sometimes you can prevent feeling like you just had an unsuccessful audiobook experience.

[MeaganS]

You could always listen and then read it again later, if you're concerned. I really do not like reading aloud (blasphemy, I know), so audiobooks are my saving grace and so far I don't think it has hurt them. I'm only familiar with eltl1, but couldn't you skip ahead and do that section next if you wanted? It's mostly just narrations, copywork, and dictation, right?

Edited August 3, 2017 by Meagan S

[ExcitedMama]

Thanks so much everyone! And thanks very much for the advice Fralala! I should schedule in time for whining! But that really makes sense not to expect it to be something I can just play for hours.