Audiobooks for car ride--both fiction & non-fiction

[Earthmerlin]

I'm planning a long car ride to Florida & would like audiobook suggestions for this trip. My child is 9 & loves adventures that are full cast. I'd also like to throw in a few educational CDs--things she can learn from but are well done (somewhat entertaining, not dry) but not over her head. She liked 'How They Croaked', for example. In terms of fiction, more light-hearted & adventurous stuff is welcome as are super funny stories. Any suggestions?

[SKL]

I found that our library only had a limited number of good age-appropriate literature on CD, so I would start by seeing what your library has, and picking their Newberry award winners that seem appropriate for your child's age and interest.

My kids' first audiobooks, which they loved, were the Harry Potter books.  They were 8 or 9 when they started listening.

Our favorite read-alouds around that age were probably Heidi, Understood Betsy, and Anne of Green Gables.  They would probably go over well as audiobooks.

[Earthmerlin]

1 hour ago, SKL said:

I found that our library only had a limited number of good age-appropriate literature on CD, so I would start by seeing what your library has, and picking their Newberry award winners that seem appropriate for your child's age and interest.

My kids' first audiobooks, which they loved, were the Harry Potter books.  They were 8 or 9 when they started listening.

Our favorite read-alouds around that age were probably Heidi, Understood Betsy, and Anne of Green Gables.  They would probably go over well as audiobooks.

The Newberry suggestion is a good one. We go through audiobooks like water so we've already done HP & Anne (one of her all time faves). Heidi was 'boring' to her although she liked the Shirley Temple movie of it. I've never heard of Betsy so I'll look into it.

[Earthmerlin]

We're going to SW Florida so I may try to find CD books on Edison, manatees, & the Everglades. 

[Earthmerlin]

46 minutes ago, OKBud said:

The only full cast on I can think of off the top of my head that my kids really liked was The Hobbit ❤️

I can not stress enough how much they loved The Wilderkind Trilogy on Audible!

Oh! Speaking of Tolkien, there are several short books/stories on Audible that my kids really enjoyed. Leaf By Niggle, Roverandom, etc... 

And if you're Catholic, or don't mind a good book from a Catholic POV, all the TAN audiobooks are great. 

We don't have Audible. Am I correct in thinking that's from Amazon? If it is, I can ask my hubby if we have it through our Amazon subscription. The Hobbit has been on my read aloud list for some time though & this upcoming trip just may be the time to pop in the CD set. Great idea! I'll also look into your other suggestions as well.

[Familia]

Everyone here liked any Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books until into their teens.  It lightened the mood in the car for all of us - I miss it!

For a little higher-order ... and adventure, I recommend Jules Verne.  

[theelfqueen]

We loved the Ramona audio books read by Stockard Channing and the Little House books read by Cherry Jones. For full cast the Focus on the Family presentations of the Narnia books. 

[8filltheheart]

We check out Play Aways from the library all of the time bc we spend so much time in the car every week.  Our most recent favorite was The Emerald Atlas. Not full cast, but it was well done.

[shawthorne44]

World War Z is hands-down my new favorite audiobook.    Full cast and then some, people that don't DO audiobooks.   Several times I'd recognize an actor's voice and think, "Is that so-and-so?   It can't be."   Yup it was.   I guess when you are Max Brooks, you have the private cell# of these people.  My husband read the book, and he said that it even seems as if a different author did each section.  

For nonfiction, I think our favorite is the Rush Revere series.  
 

[Earthmerlin]

On 6 décembre 2018 at 10:39 AM, 8FillTheHeart said:

We check out Play Aways from the library all of the time bc we spend so much time in the car every week.  Our most recent favorite was The Emerald Atlas. Not full cast, but it was well done.

I have seen lots of playaways but am unsure what they are exactly. Can I play them connected through the car?

[Earthmerlin]

We've had a recent unexpected death in the family, which is the reason for the trip. I'm thinking spiritually-based or other deeper books would be welcome, so long as they don't directly address loss/grief but instead focus on spiritual strength, etc. So any titles to that effect? I've thought of Siddhartha (which I recall may be appropriate for 9 yr olds) & The Tao of Pooh. We're more spiritual as opposed to religious & both my kid and I are deep feelers/thinkers. A good, bolstering (but not preachy) story would go over well here.

[8filltheheart]

1 hour ago, Earthmerlin said:

I have seen lots of playaways but am unsure what they are exactly. Can I play them connected through the car?

I started getting them bc our new car does not have a CD player. You connect them with a jack to jack auxiliary cable. My 8 yr old loves them. She'll put on headphones and listen while does her chores.

The Christmas Doll might be too sad, but it is a wonderful story. The Miracle on Maple Hill was an uplifting book about strength of family.

[Earthmerlin]

8 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

I started getting them bc our new car does not have a CD player. You connect them with a jack to jack auxiliary cable. My 8 yr old loves them. She'll put on headphones and listen while does her chores.

The Christmas Doll might be too sad, but it is a wonderful story. The Miracle on Maple Hill was an uplifting book about strength of family.

OK, great & good to know. I will both ask my librarian & check one out to see if it's comaptible with my car. I'm sure my hubby can help me figure out the logistics if need be.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

We love, love, love By The Great Horn Spoon, which is full cast.  It was SO good.  I loved the book as a child, and the audio with voices and some light sound effects was just wonderfully done.  

We just finished A Door in the Wall.  This book is all about inner-strength, but not death.  

A fantastic adventure story is the Green Ember series.  Not full cast though.  

 

[Earthmerlin]

On 10 décembre 2018 at 1:46 PM, Monica_in_Switzerland said:

We love, love, love By The Great Horn Spoon, which is full cast.  It was SO good.  I loved the book as a child, and the audio with voices and some light sound effects was just wonderfully done.  

We just finished A Door in the Wall.  This book is all about inner-strength, but not death.  

A fantastic adventure story is the Green Ember series.  Not full cast though.  

 

I got the first book you mentioned. 

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I hope you enjoy it!

[katilac]

On 12/3/2018 at 3:18 PM, Earthmerlin said:

We don't have Audible. Am I correct in thinking that's from Amazon? If it is, I can ask my hubby if we have it through our Amazon subscription. 

 

Amazon now owns Audible, so you can buy directly from Amazon without an Audible membership. Someone posted the other day that the regular Amazon price on a certain book was better than the sale price on the Audible page! 

[katilac]

My kids enjoyed: 

• Greek Myths and Legends
• The Tale of Troy
• Adventures of Odysseus
• The Blue Fairy Book 
• King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

And poetry collections. If you have Amazon Prime, you can stream Where the Sidewalk Ends free. Other Shel Silverstein titles can be streamed for a fee or purchased. 

They did NOT enjoy: 

• A Christmas Carol (too slow, never finished)
• Tales from Norse Legends (too gross for them, listened to some for school but never for fun)