June 19, 2017 – by Gwen Gatto, Library Assistant at Belmont Hills Library.

The car is packed, the cooler full of sandwiches and cold drinks, and its time to hit the road for that 7-hour car trip to the grandparents or campground. A deck of cards and puzzle books are good, but five minutes out of the driveway and the whining starts – can they use the iPad or play a video game. Fortunately, you remembered to stop by the library the day before and picked up or download a few audio books for the looooong ride.

There are a number of wonderful children’s audio books that will appeal to all ages, so just pop in the first CD and enjoy (or download to a device connected to your car stereo). Even if the book has previously been read, listening to a story creates a different experience and one that can be immediately shared. Push pause periodically and have a mini-discussion about a character or the plot. Below are just a few recommended audio books that my 11 year-old daughter and I have listened to and enjoyed over the past few years. The stories are rated mostly for 9 to 12 year-olds, but younger and older kids will enjoy these equally entertaining and enchanting stories.

A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck, 4 hours and 17 minutes.

One of our favorite authors to listen to is Richard Peck and we can recommend any of his books, but our favorite is A Long Way from Chicago. Listeners will become instant fans of eccentric Grandma Dowdel and her more mild-mannered grandkids, Joe and Mary Alice. A Long Way from Chicago covers eight summers, from 1929 through 1942, that the kids spend with their grandmother as she manipulates, plots, intimidates, schemes, and sometimes has fun with the members of the small town in Illinois where she lives. Also available from Montgomery County’s Overdrive collection: download digital audio here

The Frog Princess: Tales of the Frog Princess, Book 1 by E.D. Baker, 5 hours and 30 minutes.

The first in this delightful eight-book series follows Princess Esmeralda (Emma) as she tries to find a way to turn herself back into a human, after kissing a frog reverses the usual frog-into-prince spell. Prince Eadric, unfortunately still a frog, and Emma go off on a wild adventure, complete with talking bats and green witches, to break the spell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love, Ruby Lavender by Deborah Wiles, 4 hours and 48 minutes.

Ruby and her fun-loving grandmother, Miss Eula, embark on lots of madcap adventures together, from rescuing chickens to painting the house hot pink, but this summer Miss Eula is spending time in Hawaii visiting her new grandbaby. Ruby is certain that this ugly baby will turn Miss Eula’s head and so sends daily updates on life in small town Halleluia, Mississippi. Through these exchanges, we see angry and jealous Ruby grow into a young girl coming to terms with all the messiness and beauty that life has to offer.

 

 

 

Matilda by Roald Dahl, 4 hours and 18 minutes.

Any of Roald Dahl’s works are a delight to read or listen to, but Matilda is especially enjoyable as the reader roots for the downfall of “the Trunchbull,” the mean headmistress of a primary school and every student’s worst nightmare. Often hilariously pranking her negligent and outrageous parents, and Miss Trunchball, precocious Matilda saves the day and develops a special bond with her teacher, Miss Honey.

 

 

 

 

 

The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop by Kate Saunders, 6 hours and 52 minutes.

Eleven-year-old twins Oz and Lily move with their family into the house, complete with a ground floor chocolate shop, once owned by their triplet great-great-uncles. Soon a battle between good and evil begins, pitting the twins, and the house’s resident talking cat and rat, and an elephant ghost, against the bad guys who want to use the now not-dead Uncle Isadore’s chocolate recipe for immortality, to take over the world.

 

 

 

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren, 2 hours and 35 minutes.

A classic that is still an exciting story for both girls and boys, Pippi is the kind of kid we wish we could all be, defending the weak against bullies, running circles around would-be robbers, and being as strong as a horse, all the while doing exactly as we please.

 

 

 

 

 

Wonder  by R. J. Palacio, 8 hours and 6 minutes.

The movie is coming out in November, but this endearing story of 10-year old Auggie Pullman who suffers from a severe facial deformity, is definitely worth listening to and will have kids of all ages appreciating the difficulties of being different yet still wanting the same things that all kids wants – friendship and acceptance.

 

 

A few more titles (find the audio CD or find the downloadable audio:

The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer Holm

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron

Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

Lord and Lady Bunny – Almost Royalty by Polly Horvath

The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Moving Day: Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls by Meg Cabot

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

Children’s Audio Books for Summer Listening

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June 19, 2017 – by Gwen Gatto, Library Assistant at Belmont Hills Library.

The car is packed, the cooler full of sandwiches and cold drinks, and its time to hit the road for that 7-hour car trip to the grandparents or campground. A deck of cards and puzzle books are good, but five minutes out of the driveway and the whining starts – can they use the iPad or play a video game. Fortunately, you remembered to stop by the library the day before and picked up or download a few audio books for the looooong ride.

There are a number of wonderful children’s audio books that will appeal to all ages, so just pop in the first CD and enjoy (or download to a device connected to your car stereo). Even if the book has previously been read, listening to a story creates a different experience and one that can be immediately shared. Push pause periodically and have a mini-discussion about a character or the plot. Below are just a few recommended audio books that my 11 year-old daughter and I have listened to and enjoyed over the past few years. The stories are rated mostly for 9 to 12 year-olds, but younger and older kids will enjoy these equally entertaining and enchanting stories.

A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck, 4 hours and 17 minutes.

One of our favorite authors to listen to is Richard Peck and we can recommend any of his books, but our favorite is A Long Way from Chicago. Listeners will become instant fans of eccentric Grandma Dowdel and her more mild-mannered grandkids, Joe and Mary Alice. A Long Way from Chicago covers eight summers, from 1929 through 1942, that the kids spend with their grandmother as she manipulates, plots, intimidates, schemes, and sometimes has fun with the members of the small town in Illinois where she lives. Also available from Montgomery County’s Overdrive collection: download digital audio here

The Frog Princess: Tales of the Frog Princess, Book 1 by E.D. Baker, 5 hours and 30 minutes.

The first in this delightful eight-book series follows Princess Esmeralda (Emma) as she tries to find a way to turn herself back into a human, after kissing a frog reverses the usual frog-into-prince spell. Prince Eadric, unfortunately still a frog, and Emma go off on a wild adventure, complete with talking bats and green witches, to break the spell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love, Ruby Lavender by Deborah Wiles, 4 hours and 48 minutes.

Ruby and her fun-loving grandmother, Miss Eula, embark on lots of madcap adventures together, from rescuing chickens to painting the house hot pink, but this summer Miss Eula is spending time in Hawaii visiting her new grandbaby. Ruby is certain that this ugly baby will turn Miss Eula’s head and so sends daily updates on life in small town Halleluia, Mississippi. Through these exchanges, we see angry and jealous Ruby grow into a young girl coming to terms with all the messiness and beauty that life has to offer.

 

 

 

Matilda by Roald Dahl, 4 hours and 18 minutes.

Any of Roald Dahl’s works are a delight to read or listen to, but Matilda is especially enjoyable as the reader roots for the downfall of “the Trunchbull,” the mean headmistress of a primary school and every student’s worst nightmare. Often hilariously pranking her negligent and outrageous parents, and Miss Trunchball, precocious Matilda saves the day and develops a special bond with her teacher, Miss Honey.

 

 

 

 

 

The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop by Kate Saunders, 6 hours and 52 minutes.

Eleven-year-old twins Oz and Lily move with their family into the house, complete with a ground floor chocolate shop, once owned by their triplet great-great-uncles. Soon a battle between good and evil begins, pitting the twins, and the house’s resident talking cat and rat, and an elephant ghost, against the bad guys who want to use the now not-dead Uncle Isadore’s chocolate recipe for immortality, to take over the world.

 

 

 

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren, 2 hours and 35 minutes.

A classic that is still an exciting story for both girls and boys, Pippi is the kind of kid we wish we could all be, defending the weak against bullies, running circles around would-be robbers, and being as strong as a horse, all the while doing exactly as we please.

 

 

 

 

 

Wonder  by R. J. Palacio, 8 hours and 6 minutes.

The movie is coming out in November, but this endearing story of 10-year old Auggie Pullman who suffers from a severe facial deformity, is definitely worth listening to and will have kids of all ages appreciating the difficulties of being different yet still wanting the same things that all kids wants – friendship and acceptance.

 

 

A few more titles (find the audio CD or find the downloadable audio:

The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer Holm

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron

Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

Lord and Lady Bunny – Almost Royalty by Polly Horvath

The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Moving Day: Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls by Meg Cabot

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

Children’s Audio Books for Summer Listening