The 20 Best Audiobooks for Kids of All Ages to Enjoy
It's true: You get to be the listener, for once.
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There are so many benefits to reading out loud to your kids. You get to bond together. It helps kids develop language skills. Even if you have older kids, reading out loud can expose them to vocabulary and concepts they might not be getting from books at their reading level. In an ideal world, you'd read to or with your kids every day.
But in the real world, sometimes you're just not up to it. Maybe there's work to be done, or you're driving in the car, or you just can't stand the thought of thinking up another voice for the millionth character in a YA book series. Or maybe you just want to be read to, for once. When those moments arise, let a professional step in and do the reading for you. These best audiobooks for kids will take the work out of a good story. Some are full-cast productions with lots of actors taking on the different roles. Others tap into the talents of kids' musicians, and have some kind of song component to go with the stories. There's even one produced like an old radio program. (We've even located a few services where you can find audiobooks for free, so you can load up before your next long road trip.) Snuggle up and let someone else do the talking.
HarperAudio The Graveyard Book
A full cast of actors takes on this Neil Gaiman novel, including Sherlock's Andrew Scott, veteran stage actor Derek Jacobi, BAFTA winner Miriam Margolyes (aka Professor Sprout from the Harry Potter movies), and Gaiman himself. The story follows a kid who grows up in a graveyard and is raised by ghosts.
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The Crossover is a novel written in verse, so it makes sense to hear it read aloud. The Newbery winner by Kwame Alexander uses poetry to tell the story of twin brothers, Josh and Jordan, growing up on and off the basketball court.
Audible The Flying Flamingo Sisters
The Flying Flamingo Sisters takes place in the 1930s, so, fittingly, this book is performed like and old-timey radio serial, complete with in-studio special effects. In it, the sisters go on a mission to find their missing parents, a pair of ace pilots.
Pottermore Publishing The Harry Potter Series
Narrator Jim Dale takes on a whole cast of voices as he narrates the seven-book Harry Potter saga — perfect for parents who feel daunted by the task of coming up with a new cadence for every Hogwarts student. Once you've finished the Dale version, you can start the series all over again with a streaming version narrated by actor Stephen Fry.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
This version of the L. Frank Baum classic comes from LibriVox, which offers tons of free audiobooks for stories that are in the public domain. In fact, there are seven versions of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz available there.
HarperAudio A Series of Unfortunate Events
A Series of Unfortunate Events is a book franchise, a family-friendly Netflix TV show, and a multi-voice audiobook series, so no matter where you are, you can find out more about the mysterious fate of the Baudelaire orphans. Actor Tim Curry anchors the cast, taking on the voice of the nefarious Count Olaf.
Simon & Schuster Audio Ghost
Ghost follows a team chosen to be on an elite middle school track team, though Ghost himself has had no formal training. The book has won a slew of awards and was even named a Notable Children’s Recording by the American Library Association.
Audible Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons
Music and mysteries come together in this jazzy, New Orleans-set story by Ashli St. Armant (aka children's musician Jazzy Ash). After her grandmother reads her an article about a possible lost treasure, Viva Durant goes searching the city for clues, which may be hidden in the lyrics to the song "Miss Mary Mack." (Listen for free on Audible Discover.)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
For thrifty readers, Lit2Go also offers a huge selection of free audiobooks in mp3 format. You can brows their titles by collections — books about math, princesses, monsters, dragons and so on — or you can skip straight to the classics, like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
All of the Roald Dahl's books benefit from being read out loud because he has such a fantastic way with language. Actress Kate Winslet is a perfect match for Matilda, because her voice is naturally sweet, but can be spiky when it needs to be.
Blackstone Publishing Raybearer
For fans of YA fantasy, this New York Times best-seller follows the story of Tarisai, raised by a mysterious figure known only as The Lady. When Tarisai is invited to join the Crown Prince's Council of Eleven, the Lady wants to use the position to her advantage and have Tarisai assassinate the prince. Where will her loyalties lie?
This fantastical, musical story comes from the minds of Blues Clues' Steven Burns and Steven Drozd of the band The Flaming Lips. It follows a unicorn — possibly the last unicorn — who wants to start a band with a princess, a giant and a spider. (Listen for free on Audible Discover.)
Burn Baby Burn
Burn Baby Burn is read in both English and Spanish, about a cuban immigrant named Nora who lives in New York City in the tense, turbulent summer of 1977. Throughout the summer, Nora's brother Hector becomes increasingly violent himself, and she has to figure out how to contend with it. This audiobook is available for no charge on Audiofile via Sync, a free audiobook club for teens 13+. (You can also buy it if you choose.) Sync will select a new book series in spring 2021.
Audible I'm From the Sun: The Gustafer Yellowgold Story
Lots of parents already know Gustafer Yellowgold as a beloved children's musician. His musical story takes place on the sun, where young Gustafer has to contend with neighborhood bullies and his family's expectations — normal kid stuff, even though he's a sun-dweller. (Listen for free on Audible Discover.)
Hachette Audio How to Train Your Dragon
Dr. Who's David Tennant is the narrator for this series, the inspiration for the movie franchise. Kids love the friendship between Hiccup, the hapless viking, and Toothless, the Night Fury dragon that changes Hiccup's fortunes with his clan.
Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus
This book takes place in Stagecoach Pass, a western theme park in Arizona that has a mystery surrounding it. The middle schoolers determined to solve it? Aven Green, a girl born without arms, and her classmate, Connor, who has Tourette syndrome. The novel is available for free through Overdrive, which works with different local libraries, but if it's not available through your public library you can find it on Amazon.
For the little ones, this picture book is told in rhymes that make it a great read-along book. It tells the story of a mouse who tells all sorts of predators that he's going to meet a Gruffalo, a creature with terrible tusks, claws and jaws, so they'd better leave the mouse alone.
New Kid
If you're going to do an audiobook of a graphic novel, you're going to need a lot of voices for all of the different dialogue — and New Kid has the full-cast treatment. The story follows a seventh-grader named Jordan, who is one of the few kids of color at his new middle school. The audiobook is available for free on Audiofile, but you can buy it if you prefer.
Anne of Green Gables
If you're looking for free audiobooks and ebooks, Loyal Books has them in more than two dozen languages. The selection veers towards older, classic titles, like this L.M. Montgomery favorite.
Scholastic Audio The Parker Inheritance
This book follows a young girl in Lambert, South Carolina, who starts to investigate the reason why her grandmother suddenly left town. What she uncovers sheds light on both her family, and the history of her whole town. The audiobook is narrated by actress Cherise Booth.
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