In Praise of Audiobooks for Children

If you haven't listened to any children's audiobooks lately, you may be pleasantly surprised at what you find. Increasingly, in audiobooks for children, the reading is done by the author or a professional actor. In some cases, it is accompanied by music and sound effects appropriate to the story. Some audiobooks for children include a number of actors to create a full cast of characters.

Where Can You Find Children's Audiobooks?

You can find audiobooks for children in the public library, in bookstores, and, increasingly, online. There are both free online recordings available and services to which you can subscribe. Many children's publishers have an audio divison.

Houghton Mifflin publishes book and cassette tape sets. Each recording includes sound effects, music, and professional narrators. On one side of the tape, page-turn signals are included; the other side contains an uninterrupted reading. Titles include such classics as "Curious George" and "Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel."

At the HarperChildrens website, you'll find a long list of available audiobooks for children of all ages. These include 21 pages of listings of books available in audio as well as print. In general, publishers provide audio exerpts for at least some of their audiobooks on their websites.

Previewing an Audiobook for Your Child

When you preview an audiobook for your child, consider the following:

• Is the reader's voice both pleasant and appropriate for the subject matter?
• If there is music, is it in keeping with the text or does it detract from the words; is it too loud?
• Do the sound effects, if any, enhance the story?
• If the book is presented by a cast, are their voices appropriate for the ages and characters they represent?
• Remember, not all wonderful writers are wonderful readers, although many are.

The Benefits of Audiobooks for Children

I was amazed (and irritated) to have someone tell me, "Audiobooks make kids lazy and not want to read." That's ridiculous. Children go through a number of years when their reading ability is lower than their intellectual capacity. That's when it's particularly important to read aloud to your children and expose them to children's audiobooks. There are a lot of benefits to listening to audiobooks, and these include:

• Improving listening and comprehension skills,
• Increasing vocabulary,
• Learning the proper pronunciation of words,
• Learning to "see" a story by using imagination instead of illustrations,
• Getting motivated to read more by an author they've been introduced to through an audiobook,
• Engaging a child's interest in a way that a parent reading aloud may not, and
• Providing an enjoyable family activity.

Recommended Children's Audiobooks

Finally, just to whet your appetite for audiobooks for your child, here are several recommendations. Poet Jack Prelutsky presents his funny poems with rhyme, rhythm, and music in the audio version of his picture book "The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders." It was named one of the 2003 Notable Children's Recordings by the American Library Association. If you'd like to try a full cast version of a book, look for Full Cast Audio's version of Eleanor Estes' "The Moffats" for ages 8 to adult. For more suggestions, see my Top Picks of Best Children's Audiobooks to enjoy while traveling or at home.