Audio Books for Kids

I just LOVE books and that would include books on audio. Hubby and I have a nice collection of audio books that we listen to when we go on long car trips…like Harry Potter on audio. He actually got me started listening to audio books when he started collecting them while he was a driver trainer for a truck driving company. He didn’t have the time or desire to read while on the road but audio book he could do.

Now my kids are really starting to like audio books. My son has a collection of the Know It All books on CD. His faves are Mummies and Sharks. My daughter has a Tag Reading System that plays audio books. They are a nice TV free way to entertain kids and they help them with reading and vocabulary.

Two rather new addittions to our collection are Brown Bear & Friends and The Cricket in Times Square.

Brown Bear & Friends is a set of contemporary classics written by Bill Martin and Eric Carle and it is read by Gwyneth Paltrow which is really fun. She is a great narrator IMO with lots of warmth, humor, and good character voices. I am one of those people who reads children’s book in a VERY animated way so I hate dull narrators. These stories have been a hit with children for many generations, and have sold more than eleven million copies. This set is a wonderful compilation CD that brings together the beloved first three Bear books—Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?; Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?; and Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?—and includes the newest addition, Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See? Children ages 3-8 should love this set.

The Cricket in Times Square is a great classic story as well. One night, the sounds of New York City–the rumbling of subway trains, thrumming of automobile tires, hooting of horns, howling of brakes, and the babbling of voices–is interrupted by a sound that even Tucker Mouse, a jaded inhabitant of Times Square, has never heard before. Mario, the son of Mama and Papa Bellini, proprietors of the subway-station newsstand, had only heard the sound once. What was this new, strangely musical chirping? None other than the mellifluous leg-rubbing of the somewhat disoriented Chester Cricket from Connecticut who hopped in a picnic basket and ended up in Times Square. ensues is an altogether captivating spin on the city mouse/country mouse story, as Chester adjusts to the bustle of the big city.

This book is for kids ages 9-12 and it is narrated by Garth Williams.

Also check out some of my other audio books for kids recommendations. Enjoy!