Best Audiobooks for Road Trips

With most of our extended family living out of state, we are not strangers to the 10+ hour road trip. While it was pretty grueling when our kids were tiny (stopping to change diapers or spoon feed a baby meant that it felt as if we were inching down I-75 at times!), the upside of logging all those miles is that now we have little road trip warriors. And something that helped them get there? Audiobooks! Yes, we do have a DVD player in the car and of course we’re not against a movie or two but we’ve always felt that a child should be able to do about a 4 or 5 hour car trip before a movie is popped in. We save those for the end of a trip when everyone’s patience is wearing thin but between music, games and audiobooks, it’s amazing how long kids can actually last! I imagine you’ll do a road trip or two this summer, even if it’s a local staycation! I am often asked which are our favorite audiobooks (for reference my children are now ages 7, 10 and 11) and here are some recent favorites (as well as old trusted ones) and know they are fabulous for adults too!

Adventures With Waffles: My kids loved this tale of friendship. Set in Norway you follow the adventures of Trille and Lena and their families as they go through the ups and downs of life.

Angus and Sadie: This was one of the first we did when my oldest was around 4/5. It’s one that every few summers is requested again. After all, who can resist a good story narrated by the point of view of two dogs?

Appleblossom the Possum: Little possums learn to make their way into the world. A quirky story that my kids quickly fell for, and it’s read by Dustin Hoffman who, as expected, does a superb job.

Because of Winn-Dixie: We’ve done this one as a read aloud, audiobook AND seen the film. It’s THAT good.

Brave Like That: A great middle grade listen. Cyrus Olson always wishes he could be brave like his dad (firefighter, town football star), and a few things happen this year that give him the chance.

Echo Mountain: NPR Best Book of the Year in 2020 and for good reason. This is probably best for upper middle grade but it had even my husband and I on the edge of our seats. About a family forced out to Maine to live on Echo Mountain from the city during the Great Depression, it’s a complex story on loss, friendship and how things aren’t always what they seem.

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: We had been waiting for my youngest to get a bit older before starting it and right after she turned 7 we debuted it during a recent 10 hour drive back from ATL. All kids loved this strange tale of 3 children who seem to have been raised by wolves out in the British countryside. This is the first in a series so I’m expecting hours of future listens but so far, we love it and the vocabulary your children are exposed to is amazing!

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane: Another one that we’ve done as a read aloud but wanted to do as an audiobook as well. Only Kate DiCamillo can spin a story about a china rabbit who ends up having mishaps and adventures all over the world and leave you with tears in your eyes at the end.

The Mouse and the Motorcycle: I cut my literary teeth on Beverly Cleary and if you want to save Ramona for a read aloud, this is a good one for the car as you get to listen to the trevails of a little mouse putting around an inn on his motorcycle. A great one for the 5 and up set.

The One and Only Ivan: I’ve heard from many who feel that this one is too slow but I’m of the camp that sometimes you need a good slow burner of a story. We’ve actually done this one twice the kids love it so much (and followed-up with the movie which is equally good!).

The Penderwick Series: A story of four motherless sisters who spend the summer in a beautiful estate, Arundel. I started this one out when the boys were young and my daughter was tiny, so for a few years it was non-stop Penderwicks and they sort of grew up as the girls did. It’s too the point that when I catch a warm breeze as we are headed to our local lake, I myself am transported back to Arundel.

Save Me a Seat: We did this one last month and loved this cross-cultural middle grade story of an American boy and a recent immigrant boy from India who seem to have nothing in common at first, except for a

Seekers (series): Three bears (brown, black and polar) set off on a quest where their lives unexpectedly intermingle. My kids aren’t huge fantasy readers so I wasn’t sure how this one would go over and they loved it! We’ve done two books out of the six thus far and I anticipate getting through the entire series before summer’s end!

The War That Saved My Life: During the Blitz 9 year old Ada and little brother Jimmie are shipped off to the English countryside and local townswoman, Susan Smith, is forced to take them in. Warning: Ada’s mother is pretty heartless (Ada has a twisted foot and her mother is ashamed of that) but we used that as a talking point about shame. But redemption is had and it’s a story that had us laughing, and in tears.

The War I Finally Won: A sequel to the above, going a bit more into what it means to be truly loved and to be someone’s daughter. We loved being back with the characters and getting a bit more closure into Ada’s life.

Winnie-the-Pooh (I adore this version read by Stephen Fry)

Anything by Jim Weiss

The Zoo at the Edge of the World: This came recommended by a well trusted friend on bookstagram and in her review she pointed out that she was surprised this one isn’t more visible and she’s right! A mute boy who grows up in a famous zoo resort in the jungles of South America at the turn of the 19th century. Add in a mysterious black jaguar and need I say more?

My Name is Tani…and I Believe in Miracles: True story about Nigerian immigrant 8 year old Tani Adewumi whose family escapes Boko Haram but then struggles to make a new life in New York City…until he’s introduced to chess and becomes a state chess champion. We listened to this on the way out to South Dakota this summer and all loved it! Told from the perspective of Tani as well as his mother and father. Note that the parts about Boko Haram can be intense and may worry younger listeners. Mine were 7 and up and were fine but we stop at times to talk about it.