The Power of Audio Books

Circa 2006

When  my boys were younger (and shorter than I), we lived in the boonies of western Maine. Seriously...it took me an hour round trip just to get groceries (not counting time actually in a store). We spent a LOT of time in our vehicle driving to activities. 

One way I redeemed that time was to use audio books. We listened to so many fantastic, wonderful, amazing books. Someone on a homeschooling Facebook group asked about audio resources and I listed all the ones we used. I thought some might find it helpful. Here is our list, with reviews as well as links. Enjoy!

• Adventures in Odyssey - We all enjoyed journeying to Whit's End. Each story had a bible truth imparted in a fun way. There are some great history stories as well. There are 900+ episodes so if you'd like to see a starting order, go to this web page.
  • ​Designed for ages 8-12
    
  • Can listen free to recently aired episodes online.
    
  • You can purchase CDs to listen to. You can also purchase in many other retail places including Amazon. 
    
  • You can also join the Adventures in Odyssey Club. This is a monthly membership that allows you to stream unlimited episodes as well as many other perks. I had to dig a bit to find pricing...it's $9.99/month or $9.49/6 months ($56.94 charged every six months), or $8.99/12 months ($107.88 charged once). The membership automatically renews until you cancel it. You can listen via an app as well which would allow for easier listening. 
    
• Jonathan Park - The stories follow the main character, Jonathan Park, as his family goes on adventures. His father is a paleontologist who has lost his job due to his creation beliefs. They soon open a creation based museum. The stories are full of adventure and mystery. 
  
  • ​You can purchase as CDs or digital downloads. 
    
  • Each volume has four stories. 
  • The first nine volumes are the original ones. These are the ones we have listened to.
    
  • There are six new adventures as well. We have never listened to these so I don't know if they changed a lot from the first set or not.
  • You can purchase these from other sites as well, including Amazon.
    
• YWAM Publishing - I used to go to the MassHOPE homeschooling convention every year (when those were still happening). There was always a booth for YWAM Publishing and they always had a sale on their audiobooks. I usually bought five of each year I went (three total). 
  
  • There are two different sets of audio stories - Christian Heroes: Then & Now or Heroes of History. 
  • These are true stories, which was a big sell for one of my kiddos. 
    
  • Told extremely well. 
    
  • You can also purchase them as digital downloads. (Click on the red links - you must be a registered user to purchase and download.)
    
• Lamplighter Theater - Lamplighter started in order to publish godly stories. Most are very old and have been republished in order to get them in the hands of new listeners (and readers). 
  
  • You can listen to a free episode every Monday on their website. 
  • You can also purchase them on a CD or as a MP3.
    
  • Each story typically has a biblical truth it shares. We loved all of them. 
• Heirloom Audio Productions - These were absolute favorites of ours. If you ever heard of G.A. Henty, then you may already be familiar with these stories. Heirloom Audio Productions uses a top-notch cast (Kirk Cameron, Brian Blessed, John Rhys-Davies). Fantastic history stories. 
  
  • You can purchase them as CDs. Many often come with some type of study guide as well. 
• Focus on the Family Radio Theater - Focus on the Family has taken some wonderful classics and turned them into dramatic audio stories. The difference between a dramatic story and an audiobook is that the dramatic story has multiple voices and background noises (horses clomping, fires burning, etc) - think theater for your ears. An audiobook typically has one person doing all the voices and reading a book.
  
  • ​Can be purchased as CDs or digital download. 
    
  • Includes titles like The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hiding Place, The Secret Garden, and Anne of Green Gables
• Story of the World - This is hands down my favorite elementary history program. It has a storybook and an activity book (you can't do the program well without the activity book). One year it was difficult for us to get school done due to some health problems with my mom. We were spending even more time in our vehicle so I borrowed all four volumes from our library and this was our history that year. 
  
  • Volume 1 covers the Ancient World
    
  • Volume 2 overs the Middle Ages
    
  • Volume 3 covers Early Modern Times
    
  • Volume 4 covers the Modern Age
    
  • Jim Weiss reads the stories. He's wonderful and has lots of his own stories as well. You can see some on this page along with the STOW volumes. I'll be talking about him separately as well, though. 
    
  • These are widely available from many different vendors.
• Jim Weiss, Greathall Productions - Jim is a wonderful storyteller. He does a fantastic job and has many, many different volumes of stories. These were favorites of ours.
  
  • ​He offers a timeline of titles with ages the stories are geared for.
    
  • ​If you're looking for a history timeline to see where the stories fit, you can go check that out as well. 
    
  • Can be purchased through the Well Trained Mind (linked above), Amazon, iTunes and more.
    
• Classical Kids - Hands down my favorite "fine arts" audio. Each tells a fun story about a composer (with some truth of their lives mixed in) with the music they are famous for used as the score to the story. We absolutely loved these stories and listened to them more than once. 
  • ​I can't seem to find a specific website for them (they are older) but you can find the CDs on Amazon (above link) and I'm sure other vendors if you wanted digital copies. 
    
  • Titles: 
    
    • ​Beethoven Lives Upstairs
      
    • Mr. Bach Comes to Call
      
    • Vivaldi's Ring of Mystery
      
    • Mozart's Magic Fantasy
      
    • Tchaikovsky Discovers America
      
    • Hallelujah Handel
      
    • Classical Kids Christmas
• Maestro Classics - Another great way to enjoy classical music, learn the stories behind the songs, and learn more about the composers. 
  • ​Available on CDs or MP3
    
  • Lots of free resources including: curriculum, projects, puzzles and games, and even sheet music to dig deeper into the story.
    
• LibriVox - this is a completely free site. The stories are all free in the public domain and read by volunteers. We used it a lot when the boys were younger. Just remember, all the readers are volunteers. Most are excellent and I remember only once not finishing a book due to the reader. 
  • ​Free public domain books.
    
  • You can download to listen.
  • It's easiest to search by title.

I hope you enjoyed this list of resources. I have very fond memories of listening to audio books with my boys as we traveled together. I still listen to audio books when I'm in my vehicle traveling. It helps to pass the time and I try to listen to historical stories so I learn something as well. 

Audio books are a fantastic resource to use in your homeschool. You may have a reluctant reader (or a child who just doesn't enjoy it), audio books fill the gap. You may have a child who is an auditory learner, audio books are a perfect fit. You may be on the road a lot like I used to be, audio books help fill the time with learning.