Children, Teens, & Family Listening Audiobooks

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Permalink Reply by Steve Steinbock on May 14, 2010 at 2:55pm

I listen to everything with my kids: classics, audiodrama, mysteries, YA novels, and even when it draws yawns from the backseat, non-fiction. I especially enjoyed listening to the "Jack Flanders" adventures produced by Tom Lopez (ZBS).

The kids are in their teens now. But when they were younger, I was not always fast enough to the power button when stories suddenly grew inappropriate for innocent ears. When my oldest was about three, I was put in the awkward position of having to answer the question: "Dad, what's a mother-fudder?"

Permalink Reply by AudioFile Magazine on May 18, 2010 at 12:34pm

AudioFile, with help from librarian Sharon Grover, just published our 2010 edition of Audiobooks on the Go: Summer Listening for Kids & Families. Don't miss this year's cool new additions, including Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice, along with favorites The Golden Compass and The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

Permalink Reply by Nadean Moore on May 29, 2010 at 9:49pm

Some of the audiobooks we have listened to are: the Harry Potter series, the Hobbit, Thief Lord (written by Funke), Stoneheart (written by Fletcher), Masterpiece (written by Broach), Samuel Blink and the Forbidden Forest (written by Haig) and one of the Avalon series (written by Roberts).

Permalink Reply by Jenn Dowell on June 4, 2010 at 3:32pm

2010 ALA Media Awards

Here's a great resource--the ALA's recommended audiobook lists for kids and teens:

Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production

Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults

Notable Children's Recordings

Permalink Reply by Paul Johnson on June 8, 2010 at 11:13am

What about "His Dark Materials" by Philip Pullman? The voices are very crisp and well done.. I especially like the voice of Lyra... Ignoring all the allegories to the authors own feelings on religion or whatever that people with agendas seem to want to pull out of a hat (it's a fairy tale for god's sake) I thought the ending of the whole series might have been seen as "inappropriate" for anyone other than older teens. Anyone listened to this have any comments?

Permalink Reply by AudioFile Magazine on June 8, 2010 at 11:28am

All of us at AudioFile are HUGE fans of His Dark Materials—and especially of Sean Barrett's Iorek, certainly one of the best bears in audio literature. It's also an example of a particularly successful full-cast performance (and it doesn't hurt that Pullman does marvelously in his role as narrator). We have a lovely reflection about the series and the audio production from editor Robin Whitten, written when THE AMBER SPYGLASS came out, here: http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/features/A0017.html

Permalink Reply by AudioFile Magazine on June 8, 2010 at 11:32am

Have you seen AudioFile's new interview with author Rick Riordan, hugely popular author of the Percy Jackson series? He talks about the first book in his new series, THE RED PYRAMID, and about the particular challenges of writing believable kid protagonists: “It can be tricky for an adult to capture the voice of a kid, especially when you’re using a first-person narrator. It’s tough for me to write that voice, but to bring it to life in audio is an even greater challenge.” Read the whole interview here: http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/features/A2539.html

Permalink Reply by Lori on June 8, 2010 at 12:32pm

I did read that interview. I LOVE Rick Riordan. I also anxiously await every AudioFile magazine as well.

Permalink Reply by AudioFile Magazine on June 8, 2010 at 4:36pm

Thanks, Lori—we always love to hear that!! (When we were lucky enough to meet Rick Riordan at BookExpo a couple of weeks ago, we had him autograph copies of the magazine as well as his new audio CD.)