Books on CD and Tape

Post Reply New Topic

Somehow I woke up in a good mood and wanted to post something positive. So here goes...

Here is something that has worked really well for my family- books on CD and tape. We started using them in the car to drown out bickering. My son liked them so much he started listening to them on his own with a CD player and headphones when he was about seven or eight.

They serve a dual purpose- when we are out the headphones drown out his surroundings a bit and help him feel peaceful. The stories also entertain him, of course, and and it was a way of him enjoying books that he couldn't read yet. He particularly likes fantasy (shocked anyone?) and went through all the Harry Potters quickly. Then we found top notch fantasy writers like Rick Riordan and Nancy Farmer. Surprisingly, he even likes classic fantasy, like the Narnia Books and 20000 Leagues under the Sea.

Something to try out maybe?

when my boys were little, we used to get kids book sets that came with a cassette recording, the book, and a stuffed animal. the cassette tape would beep when it was time to turn the page....kept them quite occupied in the car.

I got some books on tape last summer when we went on a road trip. He loved them (Magic Tree House) but most of all, he liked an audio tape of Laura Ingalls Wilder which has her voice and excerpts from These Happy Golden Years and On the Banks of Plum Creek. I'd like to get more of the series on tape or CD for next summer.

I like to listen to all the Harry Potter books on CD. I have them all on my mp3 player now. The local Hastings store has a few books on CD but if you're wanting to listen to HP books or other series you can't ever rent the books in order and the discs are usually scratched up. So I found this neat online rental place called BooksForFree.com. No, its not free so I don't know why its called that. But it works much like Netflicks and they have so many plants across the US that it only takes about 2 days to receive the audiobooks and you can keep as long as you want. I received a damaged disc once, the thing was actually snapped into two pieces and I was scared that they would think I did it but they believed me and sent me a replacement set.

Just a hint if you join Books for Free and then discontinue your membership they will email you a few months later with an offer to rejoin at just $15.

Books on tape or CD rule,

Particularly for long car trips.

It gives everyone something to focus on during the drive.

An additional benefit, is that it gives the whole family something in common to talk about.

It can be a segway into reading books by the same author.

I don't think that there is a downside to it.

I have listened to books on tape/CD/MP3 my entire life. I am horrible at reading text, so I love it.

I'm with everyone else: absolutely love books on CD. We only use them in the car, but both my kids (one Aspie, one NT) LOVE them. Which is more than I can say for watching movies - my daughter is into movies but my Aspie son really is NOT.

I hadn't known there was a rental service on the internet - I have GOT to look into that! Thank you to the poster who wrote about it!

Our most recent purchase was "A Little History of the World" which is 8 CD's summarizing world history, mostly from a European perspective. Both my children really enjoyed listening to it.

Where we live the library has a ton of books on CD, and they will also order them from interlibrary loan for you for free. My Dad used to get them from a service that provides books for the blind. I wonder if they would also provide them for people with learning diasabilities?

I know somebody on my cat site who used to work at a place that had recordings for blind and dyslexic people.

I myself would like to listen to tapes of books I have already read. I think the Lillian Jackson Braun "Cat Who..." books would be fun.

my husband is an actor and a voice over artist for radio. he is looking into doing audio description for theatre and tv for the visually impaired at the moment. my sons reading skills are excellent, as are most AS kids, but his comprehension wouldn't be as good. he has a book, 'roll of thunder, hear my cry' to read for exams in school, but is struggling just a bit, so my husband is going to see if he can do books on the school curriculum to help him.

that last post was actually from me, flower. i didn't realise my son, gizmo, was logged in instead of me!!