My parents live a little more than an hour from us out on the North Fork of Long Island. Naturally, as soon as the weather starts getting nice, we pack up the car and head out there almost every weekend to enjoy the beaches, farms, and quaint community life. This past weekend, I had the pleasure of taking my 8-year-old nephew, Danny, along with us, who is not only good company but a great help in the car with my 1-year-old.
Knowing where I work, Danny expressed interest in listening to an audiobook during the ride. He had recently become acquainted with audiobooks when subjected to listening to our family book club title in the car with my Mom and Grandma. Many other 8-year-olds might’ve considered this experience torture, but he loved it so much that he then proceeded to crash our book club meeting with all of his opinions about the book (he did NOT like the ending of Brooklyn!).
Upon getting in the car, he asked if I had the Agatha Christie story we’ve planned for our next book club discussion. I opted for a more family-friendly title (with a 1-year-old being in the car and all), and had brought along a few audiobooks for him to choose from. We went with a title in the Magic Tree House series. The story was great – easy to listen to and follow along with while searching for the random toys and binkies that were occasionally thrown around the car by my son. My nephew had infinite patience during the ride, which I give partial credit to the audiobook. Listening to the story helped to distract him from the items whizzing by his head and falling into far to reach crevices in the car. And it made the 2+ hour traffic-filled ride (no, I won’t be leaving at 5:00 p.m. on a Friday again anytime soon) seem much less tedious than it would have been without the pleasant distraction.
So that being said, plan ahead for your next car trip. Grab a few audios that will appeal to all ages and pop them in – and I’m not just saying this because I work here. My nephew is a perfect example of how audiobooks can help make a car ride much more enjoyable and I have no doubt they’ve helped with his reading as well. I also have my emergency Dr. Seuss in the car for when my son starts getting antsy on the way home from day care, the grocery store, wherever. As soon as What Pet Should I Get? turns on, he immediately calms down. Just give it a try.
And check out this great list of 10 awesome audiobooks for kids from sheknows.com for other listening suggestions as well.