Summer is often a popular time of the year to take a road trip with the entire family. Audiobooks are a great way to pass the time, but it’s important to find ones that everyone can enjoy. Some of the best books written for children can be enjoyed by adults as well, and listening to them makes for a more enjoyable trip.
Check out some of our audiobook and e-audiobook recommendations for your next road trip.
Young Children
The Wild Robot – Roz the robot discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island with no memory of where she is from or why she is there, and her only hope of survival is to try to learn about her new environment from the island's hostile inhabitants.
How to Train Your Dragon – Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the quiet and thoughtful son of the Chief of the Hairy Hooligans, tries to pass the important initiation test of his Viking clan by catching and training a dragon. Can Hiccup do it without being torn limb from limb?
Matilda – Matilda applies her untapped mental powers to rid the school of the evil, child-hating headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, and restore her nice teacher, Miss Honey, to financial security.
The Mercy Watson Collection, Volume 1 – This collection features the first two titles in the Mercy Watson series about an adventurous and sometimes silly pig.
Stuart Little – Stuart Little is a shy, philosophical little mouse with a big heart and a taste for adventure. In spite of his diminutive stature, barely 2 inches tall, Stuart sets forth into the world with some mighty big plans: to ride a Fifth Avenue bus, to win a sailboat race in Central Park, and to teach school for a day. But Stuart's greatest adventure begins when he decides to find his best friend, Margalo, a little bird who once lived in a Boston fern in the Littles' house in New York City.
Middle Grade Readers
Because of Winn-Dixie – One summer's day, 10-year-old India Opal Buloni goes down to the local supermarket for some groceries—and comes home with a dog. But Winn-Dixie is no ordinary dog. It's because of Winn-Dixie that Opal begins to make friends. And it's because of Winn-Dixie that she finally dares to ask her father about her mother, who left when Opal was three. In fact, as Opal admits, just about everything that happens that summer is because of Winn-Dixie.
The Horse and His Boy – On a desperate journey, two runaways meet and join forces. Though they are only looking to escape their harsh and narrow lives, they soon find themselves at the center of a terrible battle. It is a battle that will decide their fate and the fate of Narnia itself.
Echo –
Wonder – Ten-year-old Auggie Pullman, who was born with extreme facial abnormalities and was not expected to survive, goes from being home-schooled to entering 5th grade at a private middle school in Manhattan, which entails enduring the taunting and fear of his classmates as he struggles to be seen as just another student.
Older Readers
Ace of Spades – A contemporary thriller by New York Times bestselling author Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé about two students, Devon & Chiamaka, and their struggles against an anonymous bully. Devon Richards and Chiamaka Adebayo, two students at Niveus Private Academy, are selected to be part of the elite school's senior class prefects and struggle against an anonymous bully who reveals all their secrets.
The Crossover – Fourteen-year-old twin basketball stars Josh and Jordan wrestle with highs and lows on and off the court as their father ignores his declining health.
The Mind of a Bee – A rich and surprising exploration of the intelligence of bees. Most of us are aware of the hive mind—the power of bees as an amazing collective. But do we know how uniquely intelligent bees are as individuals? In The Mind of a Bee, Lars Chittka draws from decades of research, including his own pioneering work, to argue that bees have remarkable cognitive abilities.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone – Harry Potter has no idea how famous he is. That's because he's being raised by his miserable muggle aunt and uncle who are terrified that Harry will learn he is a wizard, just as his parents were. Everything changes when Harry is summoned to attend an infamous school for wizards, and he begins to discover some clues about his illustrious birthright. Not only is this the beginning of a fun series, but narrator Jim Dale’s unique voices for each of the characters make it even better.
Station Eleven – Kirsten Potter narrates with a pleasant voice and stellar pacing; she brings personality to each character. One snowy night, a famous Hollywood actor slumps over and dies onstage during a production of King Lear. Hours later, the world as we know it begins to dissolve. Moving back and forth from the actor's early days as a film star to 15 years in the future, we see how the world tries to carry on, wanting more than survival.
Leviathan – In the first installment of Scott Westerfeld's alternative history Leviathan trilogy, the year is 1914, and the world is embroiled in a global war. However, this war is fought by giant airships and monstrous, walking death machines.
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