25+ Audiobooks for Kids

There is no doubt that taking four young kids on a road trip is daunting. Just packing the car is quite the puzzle. You have to fit all the pieces in just the right way. The portable crib for the baby, strollers, diapers, sleeping bags, pillows, clothes, food... The picture of my kids packed into the car above was when we were just going on a short camping trip!

Last summer, we traveled over 3500 miles on two road trips, one of which was a trip to Yellowstone that included three days of driving all day through the park. What saved us with all of that traveling were the audiobooks we listened to. In fact, my kids loved listening to audiobooks so much, we continued checking out more and more audiobooks from the library when we got home. It's amazing how much time little trips around town take (especially in Southern California with all of our traffic!). We go through 1-2 audiobooks a week just listening in the car. It would take far too long to list every book we have listened to and loved, but I polled my kids and here are some of their favorites. I have two boys, ages 6 and 5, a 3-year-old girl, and a baby girl. My boys especially like humorous stories, stories with talking animals, mysteries, or adventurous stories. My daughter loves books that feature young girls or magic. We take turns picking out books to listen to, so our audiobook list covers a range of reading and interest levels. My kids have often been pleasantly surprised to find that they love a book that they didn't think would interest them at first. So here are 25 of our favorites we have listened to so far...

The Phantom Tollbooth CD
This book is one of those with layers of meaning. The kids will enjoy it as a simple fantasy. Parents will find themselves listening along and laughing at all of the wordplay.

Winnie-the-Pooh (A.A. Milne's Pooh Classics)
This classic is one of the first books I read aloud to my children and it is one that they have requested to re-read again. It is another that is surprisingly entertaining to both adults and children.

A Bear Called Paddington
After finishing all of the Winnie the Pooh books, my kids wanted more, so we turned to Paddington--another silly little bear who is always getting into trouble.

Little House On The Prairie (Series)
These were also some of the first audiobooks we listened to. Though they might not seem like the first choice for young boys, all of my kids loved these books because they are fascinated with cowboys and the time of early American settlements. The books on CD even had violinists play some of the songs that Pa played which helped bring the story to life.

Mr. Popper's Penguins 
This a short, charming classic children's book. What's not to love about entertaining penguins?

Mary Poppins 
These books are a bit different from the Disney movie--but they are classic children's books full of magic and fun.

The Moffats
The ordinary adventures of this family in the early 1900s still captured enough of the essence of childhood that my children could relate with and enjoy the book.

Half Magic 
When children discover a magical coin that grants them half of each thing they wish for, they have adventures and trouble.

The Roald Dahl Audio Collection: Includes Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James &;; the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Enormous Crocodile &; The Magic Finger
We have listened to almost all of Roald Dahl's children's books. Humorous, magical, and often downright strange--the books definitely appeal to my young boys' interests.

Three Tales of My Father's Dragon
This was one of those books that was short and enjoyable enough that my kids have listened to it more than once. My kids both listened to and read the chapter book versions of these delightful stories.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
This story has adventure, mystery, and talking animals--a good combination for my boys.

Princess Academy
The whole family loved this book. It is one of my favorites, and even my boys who were initially turned off by the word "princess" found themselves caught up in the magic of "quarry speech."

The Wind in the Willows
My mischievous boys for some reason love hearing about protagonists who get into trouble--and Mr. Toad is very good at getting into trouble! And the kids stretched their vocabulary a bit along the way as we listened to this classic book.

The Chronicles of Narnia (Series)
These books were my absolute favorite growing up, so I was pleased that my kids enjoyed them as well. We listened to all seven books and were sad when we finished the series. Though there are some dark moments in this series, we love that good always triumphs in the end!

Anne of Green Gables
This was another one of my all-time favorites that I "forced" upon my kids. I told them that if they didn't like the book after the first 10 minutes we could turn it off. But they loved hearing about Anne and her big imagination.

Stuart Little , Charlotte's Web by White , and Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White
All three books we listened to by E.B. White were charming. The humor is subtle and the writing is clever. There is a reason these books have stood the test of time.

The Mouse and the Motorcycle  , Ramona Quimby, Age 8 CD (series)
Another set of books from childhood that I shared with my kids were those by Beverly Cleary. My boys enjoyed the Mouse and the Motorcycle series as well as several of the Ramona books.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Jim Dale)
This classic book is another with layers of meaning that make it enjoyable for both kids and adults. Jim Dale's fantastic narrating make it accessible and entertaining for kids of all ages.

The Fairy-tale Detectives
This is a modern twist on classic fairy-tales that my kids had fun with. They have only listened to the first book in the series so far, but they were begging for more when we finished this.

Encyclopedia Brown Mysteries
My boys enjoy trying to solve mysteries alongside Encyclopedia Brown. The many, short episodes make this audiobook good for shorter drives around town.

The Story of Dr. Doolittle 
It's hard to believe it has been nearly 100 years since this cute children's book was written. My kids loved hearing about Dr. DoLittle and his adventures.

Indian in the Cupboard
Who hasn't dreamed at some point of toys coming to life? Omri finds out things aren't quite simple when a magic cupboard brings his plastic toy Indian to life.

Tinkerbell Chapter Books (Disney Fairies Collection #5: Tink, North of Neverland; Beck Beyond the Sea)
These books were a random series we pulled off of the shelf to appease my 3-year-old daughter who felt that she never got a turn to choose the audiobook (which was true). Surprisingly, even my boys enjoyed the stories--and the stories do have positive messages.

The Light Princess 
This is an old classic about a girl who is cursed by a fairy to be "light." This means she is literally lightweight--she would float off like a balloon if she weren't tied down. And she is also light-minded--she laughs at everything.

Pippi Longstocking
This is another old classic that has stood the test of time. Pippi is a funny, mischievous, entertaining little girl that will get your kids laughing.

One challenge with an audiobook is that you can't edit out language or other content as easily as you can when you read the book aloud. Some of the books above do have occasional profanity. I usually try to check out the website www.commonsensemedia.com to determine if the content is appropriate for my children before checking out a new book. Other times if a situation comes up in a book that is contrary to what I have taught my children, we discuss it and take it as a learning opportunity--that's a benefit of listening to books together which is harder to do when children read on their own. But the wonderful thing about audiobooks is that my children have been exposed to great stories which would otherwise be outside their reading or interest levels. I'm excited to try out even more books as my kids get older. We haven't even started the Harry Potter series, which are some of my favorites. I would love to hear more recommendations in the comments if you have any favorite audiobooks/read-alouds!