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Audiobooks

If you have just one take-away from my blog, I hope it will be a resolve to make great audiobooks a part of your toolkit to get your kid reading. The best audiobooks can inspire a love of words and stories, and sometimes even a curiosity about what these words and stories look like on the page. They can turn hours of often-wasted transit time into an absorbing literary experience, one that the whole family can enjoy together.

With the recent boom in the number of audiobooks and in ways of accessing them, these resources can be both overwhelming and under-used. What to listen to, how to listen, using what devices, websites and tools...? I sift through all of it, together with my kids as often as possible, to bring the best of the best to more kids. Check back here often to find out the best and latest...

Roadtrip Roundup 2: Another 14 great audiobooks for the road

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As the holiday season gets underway here in the US, many people hit the road for long stretches. Good audiobooks are essential companions on these trips.

My previous Roadtrip Roundup thas been the most popular post on Read, Kids, Read! to date. Here are another 14 audiobooks I am delighted to recommend. Some will make you laugh, some may make you cry. All will make the miles fly faster and enrich your time together with your kids. Read more…Roadtrip Roundup 2: Another 14 great audiobooks for the road

How to prepare when Hamilton mania comes to town!

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Hamilton: The Musical has finally come to Boston! And after a long wait for a birthday present given years ago, my lucky family and I got to see the show last night. And people, the show did not disappoint! In fact, it was 2 hours and 55 minutes of incredible.

Unlike my kids who know most of the lyrics inside-out, upside-down, and back-to-front like many kids across the country, I’ve been a bit of a Hamilton ignoramus. But these two resources helped me get quickly up to speed, and were great companion-pieces for my kids as well. Read more…How to prepare when Hamilton mania comes to town!

Book and audiobook review: The One and Only Ivan

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Title: The One and Only Ivan
Author: Katherine Applegate
Format: Single book, audiobook
Audiobook narrator: Adam Grupper
Audiobook length: 3hrs 46min
Age Group: 10+

There once was a 400lb western lowland gorilla named Ivan, who lived in a concrete cell in the middle of a shopping mall. For 27 years, he entertained shoppers and gawkers, but had no contact with others of his kind.

It is from these dire, real-life circumstances, that author Katherine Applegate spins a soaring and unforgettable tale. Read more…Book and audiobook review: The One and Only Ivan

Lost in North Korea

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Title: In the Shadow of the Sun
Author: Anne Sibley O’Brien
Format: Single book or audiobook
Audiobook narrator: Jackie Chung
Length: 8hrs 56min
Age group: 10+

North Korea has been in the news almost constantly. But other than alarming headlines, snippets of grim reports from defectors, and images of a strangely-coiffed dictator, what do we or our kids really know about this country, its history, its people?

In the Shadow of the Sun is a gripping adventure that lifts the curtain’s edge on one of the world’s most secretive nations. Read more…Lost in North Korea

Roadtrip roundup: 14 great, kids’ audiobooks on hoopla

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As you probably know by now, I am a big fan of hoopla, the digital entertainment service offered for free by over 1,500 libraries across North America.

If you have a hoopla account and an upcoming road trip, here’s a list for you: 14 tried-and-tested kids’ audiobooks all available on this awesome service. Read more…Roadtrip roundup: 14 great, kids’ audiobooks on hoopla

Nine intelligent music albums for little kids

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Why a selection of music albums in a blog about reading, you might wonder.

Because I believe some of these albums, with their catchy tunes, rich vocabulary, and intelligent wordplay, laid the early ground work for my children to truly pay attention, to work at decoding language, and fall in love with what words can do. Read more…Nine intelligent music albums for little kids

Ten audio classics for the summer road

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It’s officially summer here in our neck of the ‘burbs. And for my boys this means the three Rs: Rest, Recreation and, inevitably, the Road.

Between road trips and rides to camp, the in-car interludes get longer for us just as for many others around this time of year. And there’s no better chance to catch-up on some of the many wonderful audiobooks out there.

Here’s a list of ten, great, 5hr-and-under audiobooks of ageless classics to take along for the ride. Read more…Ten audio classics for the summer road

Rabbits in my garden, rabbits in your car

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We’ve had a bunny bonanza in our garden this spring. Well, that makes it sound like a good thing, and they are really, very cute, especially the little ones. But now that young and old have indiscriminately chewed through many of the emerging shoots I had waited for all winter long, I’m pretty fed up with rabbits in general.

Raging over rabbits however got me thinking (seriously and on a more positive note!) about one of our all time favorite audiobook collections: The Rabbit Ears Listening Library series. Read more…Rabbits in my garden, rabbits in your car