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We have a secret weapon when it come to family road trips! If you are really quiet I will whisper it to you…..audiobooks. Now don’t go telling everyone because it truly is a secret weapon to making family road trips pleasant, quiet, and fight-free.
Why audiobooks work so well is anyone’s guess. We have a minivan with a DVD player built in, but the kids get bored quickly with movies or fight over what to watch. The kids have a Nintendo DS, a Nintendo Switch, iPods, iPads, Spotify, you name it! But the devices run out of juice and have to be recharged leaving a great opportunity for a sibling spat.
But something magic happens as soon as I put on an audiobook. The kids quietly listen for hours! Not minutes, not until their devices are recharged, but for hours! I love listening to them too, and by the end of our road trip we have a book we can discuss.
If you are new to audiobooks as a family road trip secret, here is how to make them work.
Where do I get audiobooks?
Audible Subscription
We get our audiobooks from our Audible subscription. With the subscription we have, we get 2 books per month, which is enough listening time for the average road trip, there and back.
Pros: enormous inventory, instant downloads, easy to use app, sharing ability with another person, ability to return books that don’t live up to your expectations, much cheaper than buying individual audiobooks
Cons: price is more than the library
Local Library
Most library’s have hard copies (CDs) of well known audiobooks that you can check out just like a book.
Pros: free with a library card
Cons: less selection, restricted to 30 days, scratches on discs sometimes make you miss a chunk, you physically have to go there
Online audiobooks through your library
Many libraries throughout the United States now offer an online audiobook rental. Most are through the library website or a sponsored app.
Pros: free with a library card, more selection that your local library’s physical collection
Cons: clunky app that often struggles to download, less selection than audible, restricted to 30 days, best sellers often have a long waiting list
Purchasing from iTunes or Amazon
You can purchase individual titles from iTunes or Amazon. They are all available for immediate download.
Pros: quick and easy to download, large inventory.
Cons: this is your most expensive option. The average book is $15-$25 per title, no returns, no app to keep track of what you have downloaded.
AudioBooks for families with kids of all ages:
How did we pick these particular books? They are books we have listened to as a family, and everyone has found them entertaining (even the parents!).
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
If you haven’t read the Harry Potter series yet, your entire family is missing out! This is the story of a young, forgotten boy who finds out he is a wizard. He is admitted to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry and enters a world of magic and wonder.
You will love the battle between good and evil, the little touches by the author that make the wizarding world feel real, and listening to one of the best narrators in audiobook history!
Our family listens to all of the books in the series fairly regularly, and we are quickly drawn back in again and again.
Tip:
If you have very young children start with the first two books and then wait until they are older for the rest of the series; the books get a little more intense.
Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25
My boys couldn’t get enough of this series when they were younger! Michael Vey has Tourette’s syndrome and also happens to be able to shoot electricity out of his hands. This special power makes him a target for people who want to harness his powers.
Your kids will love the non-stop suspense and adventures, while you will love the example of good character taught when Michael is faced with moral dilemmas.
The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe
Narnia is a fictitious world where animals talk, dwarfs live in large communities, and witches rule. Four siblings from our world happen to enter Narnia through an old wardrobe. They are thrust into the fight between the White Witch and Aslan, the Lion.
Your kids will love the action and the suspense of the story. You will love finding all of the literary themes within the book that are very apparent to an adult.
The Indian in the Cupboard
A small plastic toy is put into a magical cupboard and becomes real. This book was one of my favorites as a young child, and it was so much fun to share with my kids.
You kids will love hearing about the different toys coming to life, and you will love their exposure to some pretty great vocabulary words.
The Witches
You can’t go wrong with anything written by Roald Dahl. I chose the Witches because it was one my kids talked about for a long time after we “read” it. The Witches tells the story of a young boy who discovers that witches hunt small children and kill them. (It’s not as scary as it seems, bare with me!) The problem is that witches look almost like anyone else and blend into society. The young boy learns, from his grandmother, how to spot a witch and avoid them. This information proves helpful when he unwittingly faces an entire convention of witches.
Your kids will enjoy the scary factor without it being too scary. You will enjoy the absurdity of the entire situation in which the young boy finds himself.
Tip:
You know your own kids best. If you think this will scare them, then avoid this book. I have very anxious kids, and they loved this book without being scared.
Holes
Stanley has been sentenced to a reform camp for a crime he didn’t commit. He is assigned to dig holes- again and again, day after day. Stanley and the other boys are treated unfairly and yet they become close to each other. They start to realize that there is a mystery at the reform camp and they set out to solve it.
Your kids will love the camaraderie between the boys at the camp, and you will love the message that life isn’t always fair and yet we can persevere. You will both love how funny the book is.
The Lightening Thief
Percy Jackson is a 12 year old boy who has dyslexia and ADHD. He is also half mortal and the son of the Greek god Poseidon. As the book progresses his powers begin to develop until he is able to control water, talk to fish, and breath underwater. He ends up using his powers to stop a war between the gods.
Your kids will love the super human powers Percy discovers and masters, and you will love the refresher on Greek mythology!
Anne of Green Gables
We listen to another book in this series every time we drive to Prince Edward Island. The first time we listened to it I was amazed at how well it kept my boys’ attention. I had always thought of it as a girls’ book. Anne of Green Gables is the story of a young orphaned girl who is adopted by a brother and sister in Prince Edward Island, Canada. She is a free spirit and has a knack for getting into trouble.
You will love the beautiful descriptions of PEI, the time she dies her hair green, and the love that grows between Anne and her new parents.
Little House on the Prairie
This is the story of a homesteading family in the American Midwest in the late 1800’s. The story follows the struggles and hardships endured by pioneers helping to settle the Kansas territory. The book chronicles the Ingalls family who are at times playful, overwhelmed, and overworked, but it also captures the beauty in the simple pleasures of life.
You will love the depiction of a family puling together in difficult times, your kids will love the contrast to our modern day life.
Book of a Thousand Days
You will love the touches that are added for older readers, your kids will love the bravery and kindness of Dashti. You will both root for her on her perilous missions to save Lady Saren.
Audiobooks for older kids and teens:
The Martian
This is the story of Mark Watney, an astronaut, who is left on Mars after an accident. He has to figure out how to survive on Mars with few rations, limited space and supplies, and all alone. He figures out how to grow crops on Mars to help sustain him while he makes a plan to be rescued.
You will love the science, the dark humor of Mark Watney, and the race against time and space.
Tip:
There is some mild swearing in the book.
Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares
This book was such a fabulous surprise! We didn’t know much about it when we started “reading” it, and we all fell in love. Dash and Lily are two teenagers living in New York City at Christmas time. They start a correspondence through the use of a red leather notebook and give each other a series of dares to accomplish. The dares range from the absurd to the impossible, and all of them will keep you laughing throughout!
You will love the peek inside the teenage mind, while your kids will love PG romance. You will all be laughing.
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, age 13 3/4
Adrian Mole is sure that he must be an intellectual, but the BBC won’t publish his poetry. He writes in his diary and worries about his girlfriend Pandora, his mother’s new “friend”, and how he is doing in school. He is also quite clueless and writes about events happening around him while missing what is really happening.
Your kids will love it because it is funny and they can relate, and you will love it because it’s hysterical and teenagers are so clueless!
Conclusion
It is my hope that you will find adventure, humor, and maybe even a little peace in your family road trips with the introduction of audiobooks. It has sure made a difference for us!
If you want to try out Audible you can get 2 titles and 30 days absolutely free by clicking here.
It’s a great way to try out Audible and try out 2 of the titles above. To claim your free trial simply click on the link and select your free audiobooks. Happy road tripping!
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