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Bookswithtea
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I'd like to get some audiobooks that would hold the attention of a 12 yob, a 9 yog, a 6yog, and a 3 1/3 yr old girl. Even if the 3 1/2 yr old doesn't listen, is there anything that will interest a 12 yo without losing a 6 yr old that you can think of? I'm stumped. 
~Books
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Christine
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I can only think of a set that would be appropriate for a 12 year old and his parents ~ The Mistmantle Chronicles. My husband and I enjoyed listening to it.
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Christine
Mommy to 4 girls, 5 boys, & 2 in God's care
Memories of a Catholic Wife and Mother
Pretty Lilla Rose
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alicegunther
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I have the exact same age range, and my children have enjoyed many books on tape together. Here are a few favorites:
The Wheel on the School
Misty of Chincoteague
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Hobbit
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
The Black Pearl
Island of the Blue Dolphins
The Little House series
Anne of Green Gables
A Little Princess
Little Lord Fauntleroy
The Secret Garden
Redwall
Swallows and Amazons
You really can't miss with books on tape!
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teachingmom
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We've enjoyed many of the ones listed by Alice. I would add that some books that may seem "below" a 12 yo can be very enjoyable to listen to on audio. We really enjoyed Beverly Cleary's Henry Huggins and Ribsy books and Charlotte's Web, although my oldest wouldn't pick them up to read to herself at this point. We also enjoyed Caddie Woodlawn and Mr. Popper's Penguins on audio.
alicegunther wrote:
You really can't miss with books on tape!
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Well, I had my first "miss" (sort of) recently. We just finished _Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm_. I had picked it up at the library, thinking it would be enjoyable to all like the Anne of Green Gables series had been. Unfortunately, the vocabulary of this book was quite a bit more difficult than others we have listened to. My 11 year old and I both loved it. My 9 year old enjoyed it for the most part. But my 6 and 7 yo's complained everytime I put it in the van CD player after awhile. They said they didn't understand it, so it was boring. Since there are not other times in our schedule for my older dd's and I to listen to audiobooks, I made the younger ones stick it out so we could finish the book. I ended up pausing every once in awhile to be sure they had followed what had just happened and to explain the plot a bit.
When I noticed that the book is listed in Elizabeth Wilson's _Books Children Love_ as appropriate for 6th grade and up, I realized that I should probably consult lists like that a bit more in the future to decide if a book will be appropriate for all.
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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Bookswithtea
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Thank you Alice, for the great list. One of the problems I have is that ds is such an avid reader that almost everything I think of he has already read.
Maybe I'll just invite him to listen in and maybe he'll take me up on it now and again.
~Books
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alicegunther
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Bookswithtea wrote:
Thank you Alice, for the great list. One of the problems I have is that ds is such an avid reader that almost everything I think of he has already read.
Maybe I'll just invite him to listen in and maybe he'll take me up on it now and again.
~Books |
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I know what you mean about those avid readers--they seem to cover all bases when it comes to literature. Sometimes though, the kids who have read the books on their own love hearing them again and seeing how the others enjoy them. We've listened to most of these more than once, but they stand the test of time!
Irene, I'm laughing about your "miss." We had a huge miss a year or so ago--"For the Temple" by G.A. Henty. We were visiting that time period in history, and I thought it would be perfect on tape. My oldest daughter, always anxious to cooperate, tolerated the book bravely, until one day the next two girls (ages 8 and 6 at the time) mutinied, actually weeping real tears begging me not to turn on the tape! Now that's a boring book!
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Cottage Blessings
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alicegunther
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A couple more favorites on tape:
Heidi
Ginger Pye
Where the Red Fern Grows (gory in parts, perhaps you might want to skip it for the little ones, but wonderful)
The Bronze Bow
All the "Mountain" books by Jean Craighead George
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Love, Alice
mother of seven!
Cottage Blessings
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Kelly
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The BBC production of "The Lord of the Rings". My dc were about the same age as yours when we listened to THE WHOLE SERIES...and loved it. We pulled it out and started it again last year. Hours and hours of great listening. The 3 yo might not get much out of it, but they'll like the sound effects---it has different voices for all the characters and great sound effects.
Kelly in FL
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abcmommy
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off the top of my head some stuff that might work...
what about all the horse stories, like Black Beauty and Mustang, Spirit of the West?
We like the arabian knights tales
myths and legends like greek myths and tall tales
All of a Kind Family (youngish)
Harry Potter (if it suits your family)
Call it Courage
Narnia
Freddy The Detective ?
Pilgrims Progress is supposedly good on tape (a fundamentalist prot told me this I am not familiar with it.)
By The great horn Spoon (is that right?)
Alcott's stuff (Little Men is rarely mentioned but great, so is Jack and Jill if you could find it)
The Rattoons (silly book about rats who make it in the music world)
Madeleine L'Engle maybe?
Sign of the Beaver
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Elizabeth
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abcmommy wrote:
Pilgrims Progress is supposedly good on tape (a fundamentalist prot told me this I am not familiar with it.)
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Oops. That one is pretty anti-Catholic.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Cay Gibson
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Books,
We are listening to the unabridged version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz narrated by Anna Fields from our library.
I love it. The children love it. Quite frequently, I see the 13 yr old put his pencil down and just stare into space...listening. Or he'll look up and say, "Hey, I thought it was such-and-such." or "Hey, in the movie it's ------ instead of -----."
The 4 hr old has been happily listening to it with us. 
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Cay Gibson
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Dawn
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My boys (10.5, 6.5 and 4) enjoyed Harry Cat's Pet Puppy by George Selden.
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abcmommy
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Elizabeth wrote:
abcmommy wrote:
Pilgrims Progress is supposedly good on tape (a fundamentalist prot told me this I am not familiar with it.)
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Oops. That one is pretty anti-Catholic. |
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I had wondered about that. Its ancient as the hills and mentioned in Alcott's Little Women, which is the only way I had even heard of it. I'd like to hear it myself to see what is anti catholic, but I am not going to read it bc of the ponderous language.
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JennGM
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abcmommy wrote:
Elizabeth wrote:
abcmommy wrote:
| Pilgrims Progress is supposedly good on tape (a fundamentalist prot told me this I am not familiar with it.) |
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Oops. That one is pretty anti-Catholic. |
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I had wondered about that. Its ancient as the hills and mentioned in Alcott's Little Women, which is the only way I had even heard of it. I'd like to hear it myself to see what is anti catholic, but I am not going to read it bc of the ponderous language. |
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That's exactly why I picked it up years ago...because Little Women mentions it so much. It was so long ago...I can't remember too well. I also read Hind's Feet in High Places which was a similar read....I didn't really enjoy them, but I understood a bit more of what Alcott was using!
What I did enjoy in later years was C.S. Lewis' version The Pilgrim's Regress.
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Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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teachingmom
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I have another recommendation to make. Unlike our experience with Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm  , this one is a big hit with all ages in my family.
The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit
We found it on CD at our library. The girls really like the narrator, which is a big plus. Here's the blurb:
"Jerry, Jimmy, and Kathleen can’t go home for their school holiday because their cousin is sick with measles there. Instead, they stay at Kathleen’s school with the French teacher. One morning, they set out to find adventure. Instead, they find an enchanted place--and magic, too! Walking through a nearby forest, they discover an enormous mansion, where a girl lies asleep in the garden. Although she pretends to be an enchanted princess, she is Mabel, the housekeeper’s niece. But she has a ring that really is magical. It can make the wearer invisible and grant wishes. It’s not long before the four friends are surrounded by strange and wonderful things. E. Nesbit, born in 1858, was an unconventional woman whose home was a center for writers and artists, including George Bernard Shaw and H.G. Wells. When she was asked to try her hand at children’s stories, she created a series of books that combined fantasy and memories of her own childhood. First published in 1907, The Enchanted Castle is a timeless story of friendship and magic."
We've only just finished the first CD, but it's been so enjoyable that I thought I'd recommend it here.
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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Rachel May
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alicegunther wrote:
Bookswithtea wrote:
Thank you Alice, for the great list. One of the problems I have is that ds is such an avid reader that almost everything I think of he has already read.
~Books |
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I know what you mean about those avid readers--they seem to cover all bases when it comes to literature. Sometimes though, the kids who have read the books on their own love hearing them again and seeing how the others enjoy them. We've listened to most of these more than once, but they stand the test of time! |
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One thing I've found for myself is that often when I read and reread the books we books we listen to now, I had glossed passages I didn't understand or put a different emphasis than the reader does on certain parts. So I am getting more out of them.
Also, there is a sort of "opening night" enjoyment that my kids get from hearing a book performed on tape even if I have read it already. So often we will miss parts because everyone is laughing hysterically!
We just finished Farmer Boy and the boys are finally interested in hearing the "girl books". BTW, if gluttony is your issue, don't listen. I was hungry the whole time.
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Rachel
Thomas and Anthony (10), Maria (8), Charles (6), Cecilia (5), James (3), and Joseph (1)
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abcmommy
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Rachel May wrote:
We just finished Farmer Boy and the boys are finally interested in hearing the "girl books". BTW, if gluttony is your issue, don't listen. I was hungry the whole time. |
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OH
MY
WORD
I think I had puddles and pools of drool on the pages of this book as I read it to my ds. It really pointed out to me how many more calories people burned when they were so active.
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: Literature that spans the ages
