450-audio-book.jpg

I suppose I should preface this by saying my preschooler is the type of kid who will listen to us read for literally hours. From as early as two, when picking out books you could see his calculating little mind assessing which ones contained the most text, and as such, would take the longest to read. So, as you might imagine we starting introducing audio books early on.

An audio book isn’t nearly the same as reading to your kids, but seeing them on their own get completely lost as the story unfolds in their imagination is pretty magical. My son listens to them during car rides, lounging in a nest of pillows on a rainy day, turning into a prune in the tub, or while dinner is prepared and laundry is folded. We listen to a lot of audio books.

Yesterday I took a look at our iTunes library, curious to see which books get the most play. Here’s the top ten list:

Charlotte’s Web written and performed by E.B. White

Nate the Great Collected Stories by Majorie Weinman Sharmat (Read by John Lavelle)

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren (Read by Esther Benson)

A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond (Read by Stephen Fry)

The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne (Read by Stephen Fry, Judi Dench, Michael Williams)

The Roald Dahl Audio CD Collection Written and Performed by Roald Dahl
Includes: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Enormous Crocodile, The Magic Finger

Mr Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater (Read by Nick Sullivan)

Frog and Toad CD Audio Collection written and performed by Arnold Lobel

Three Tales of My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles (Read by Robert Serva)

Stuart Little by E.B. White (Read by Julie Harris)

Is your family a fan of “books on tape?” Which ones do your kids turn to over and over again?

(image: Ben Partridge)

You might also like