We love reading, and my children still love being read to, and we encourage them to enjoy reading by trying to read to them as often as we can, usually at bedtime. When I was a child, I used to love listening to stories on my cassette player or Walkman (yes, I am THAT old!) and my mother used to let me get tapes from the library to listen to. There is something about listening to a story, when read out loud, well, that is thrilling and enjoyable. Now I have my own children, I let them listen to stories and music on our iPad and my iPod or on the computer.
We were delighted to be asked recently, if we would like to try out some audio books from Puffin Audio Book Club and share what we thought about them. We chose stories with my 5 year old in mind, but his sister loved listening too.
We chose books we know and love. We love Roald Dahl books, so The Twits & Going Solo were a unanimous pick and because The Dinasour who Pooped a Planet is a firm favourite round here, we chose that too. (this is read by the actual authors of the book itself, which delighted my small boy)
There is something about properly read stories that makes them entertaining and keeps you listening and we listened to them a few times. I was able to download them easily to my ipad so they could listen to them in the car, on our journey home from holiday, (audio books are a great alternative to other forms of media/screen time, when travelling) and they are great at bedtime, when Mummy or Daddy can curl up with the children and listen to a story for a change or leave the kids to listen to a story, whilst settling down to sleep. They are a really good way to get children to enjoy stories, use their imagination and also a great activity to keep little minds occupied, either when they are relaxing or doing other things with the story playing in the background. Both children asked to listen to the stories over and over and I was happy to oblige.
The stories are read beautifully, clearly and in a way that keeps the children’s attention. They are easy to download and there are some great classic books and some more recent ones to enjoy too. Puffin say “We believe that audiobooks are a brilliant way for families to share the laughter, thrill and excitement of a story” and they are certainly right.
Puffin Audio books gets a big thumbs up from the residents of the Mad House of Cats & Babies!
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This sounds like such a fun option for those of us with toddlers! I’d be interested in giving it a try.
I always loved Roald Dahl and listening to audio books is so soothing.