Hear Ye, Hear Ye!!

Audiobooks are the most wondrous of things.

Eons ago, when I worked in the retail bookstore I did not have the proper appreciation for audiobooks that I do now. A couple of key factors contributed to my change of position. My commute to work got a little longer and the radio got boring. So I started by listening to JD Robb and Nora Roberts books on cassette. I found that I loved to listen while driving. It soothed frustrating traffic snarls and made the hour in the car fly by. It was a way to read without holding a book and I soon found more and more titles that interested me.

Then we discovered our son was dyslexic and while he loved stories, he didn’t like to read. It was difficult to read and due to the dyslexia, reading was a chore. He was reading word by word and would loose the context of a story a few paragraphs in. It was painful to watch this very bright boy struggle to read and give up over the difficulty. He was in school reading enrichment programs to help with his dyslexia and there was progress as well.

When Ace was 5 years old, we started listening to The Hobbit when commuting to his Nana’s house for childcare. He loved it. Begged for more of the story and wanted to listen to it even when he was in the house. We put a small portable stereo in his room and played stories at night. By the time he was seven, he could almost recite The Hobbit in its entirety, that’s how many times he played those tapes over and over.

We began with short kid friendly stories that he listened to when lying in bed. His favorites were Arthur stories and Franklin and Little Bear, and of course The Hobbit. As he grew, the stories grew longer and they would carry over from night to night. He listened to The Magic Tree House books and Charlotte’s Web. He willingly went to bed as he looked forward to listening to the next installment of whatever story had lulled him to sleep the previous night.

He soon progressed to Shiloh and Where the Red Fern Grows. He loved to listen to stories with animals, specifically animals and boys. We discovered something else while he listened to bedtime stories; his reading comprehension grew at school. We began to combine his reading assignments with the audiotape where we could. It helped him tremendously to hear the cadence of the language and words. He recently had to read Where the Red Fern Grows for school. He did read the book but he also listened the audiobook again to refresh his memory. Now he likes to listen to typical kid fiction. Recent favorites are the Pendragon Series and Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie.

Traveling with the kids on vacation, we declined the in-car portable DVD players and movies and listened to the Harry Potter series and Peter & the Star Catchers instead. We talked about the stories and characters in between CD’s and pit stops. We carted the portable stereo with us so the kids could have their nighttime audiobooks even away from home. It was a great way to unwind from the excitement of vacation activities.

Our daughter also began to listen to audiobooks as well. She enjoys Ramona, Junie B. Jones and Amber Brown. Can't forget the Pendragon Series, too. They might very well be some of the most well read kids in their age groups that don’t like to read.

I continue to listen to some audiobook everyday. There's always the next one waiting to be slipped into the CD console. My sister and I share the audiobooks and discuss our likes and dislikes. It's fun to hear the different narrators and how they interpret the character's voices. There are favorite narrators and every so often I really disagree with the choice of a reader for a particular book. With MP3 players everywhere I turn, the title selection has increased dramatically which creates a deep well of listening material to be tapped.

I'm currently listening to this: Reliquary

Try some, you'll like it. I promise.