It’s the most wonderful time of the year, in theory. This holds true when you’re having a happy holiday at home, and it’s also lovely to see friends and family who live far away. But you have to get from one location to the other, the wonderfulness can decrease pretty rapidly, mile by mile, rest stop by rest stop, shriek by shriek.
On our rare road trips, we search around for some audio entertainment that the whole family can enjoy—a tall order for kids aged 13, 12, 10, 9, 7, 5, 4 and 2, not to mention parents who still have some standards. We got through our last long trip with The Hobbit audio book adapted by Bob Lewis (available on cassette). It was pretty good, but the long, noisy passages with lots and lots of Gollum and Smaug took their toll on everyone.
This was the same trip on which we discovered that Bob Dylan is an excellent disciplinary tool. The first time I played “Blood on the Tracks” in the car, everyone who was shorter than me started to howl, “TURN IT OFF, TURN IT OFF!” in unison. So now when they start to act up, I just have to murmur, “Don’t make me put on Dylan . . .” and peace returns to the Fisher van.
So we haven’t had much luck finding music albums that everyone enjoys, but other types of audio entertainment may do the trick. The easiest way to please everyone is to play things that come in short segments, with lots of variety. The following suggestions are mostly albums I enjoyed as a kid, and which still hold up today, when I am very, very old (so old that I can finally admit that I don’t really like Bob Dylan, either. I’ll fully acknowledge that he’s a god, and indispensible, and seminal figure in American music and culture. I just don’t want to hear him, that’s all).
STORIES
Grimm’s and Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales performed by Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye makes me feel a wee bit uncomfortable when he’s singing or acting—it’s hard to shake that “huge talent, but something ain’t right here” sensation—but when he’s telling children’s stories, he’s at his best. We listened to this album of stories over and over again, and the versions he tells seem definitive to me now. There are just enough sound effects, and Kaye’s incredible ability to change his voice is at full advantage here. Pleasant and wholesome, funny and moving, and no dull moments at all, and includes some lesser-known stories.
It’s also very worthwhile buying “The Little Fiddle” on its own—hilarious:
OLD RADIO SHOWS
Some of the humor is dated, but most of it is just so extremely dry and peculiar that it would seem out of context at any time—but it’s the funniest thing in the world. Probably less entertaining for anyone under the age of 8, but everyone else can glean a lifetime’s supply of running jokes from Bob and Ray’s doleful, deadpan parody of early radio shows. The Slow Talkers of America, for instance, or “laughably edible chocolate wobblies,” now available due to the negligence of our alert uniformed attendants.
Here’s a taste:
If Bob and Ray is dry humor, Spike Jones is sopping wet. This is noisy, crazy, wild stuff. Start with The Best of Spike Jones and quickly wonder how you ever got through life without hearing “Dance of the Hours” played on cowbell, bicycle horns and the occasional pistol. All of the musicians are virtuosi (including at least one guy with an amazingly limber uvula http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQOXrMA4K0E) who are dedicated to the art of making semi-great music sound ridiculous.
I also feel that “Der Fuehrer’s Face”
ought to be required listening for all serious students of history.
I don’t know, maybe you do have to be Jewish, but this is some hilarious stuff. Very quick little skits illustrating all the worst stereotypes of American Jews, all of which are perfectly true. Anyone who wants to understand what’s going on in the Middle East should be required to listen to “The Chosen People” skit. Here’s one of the more famous routines:
“A Call From Long Island”
MUSICALS
I was familiar with all the songs from the original cast recordings of West Side Story and Fiddler on the Roof long before I saw either movie. Kids are remarkably tolerant of hearing bits and pieces of stories without the need for context, and a good musical has tons of variety. These shows are excellent musically, very singable, and are lively and engaging enough to interest people of all ages.
What goes over well in your car? Or are you smart enough to stay in the house this year?
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I only have 3 kiddos. But I drive a compact car. So we’re veryclose. I plug in the iPod and everyone gets a turn picking the song. The only rule is- you can’t complain about someone else’s choice. We also play Would You Rather.
The James Herriot books work really well for car trips. Each chapter is its own story, they are entertaining enough for adults and teens, but they are stories about animals, so I’m assuming most kids would enjoy them. My folks read them aloud to me and my sister before we were old enough to read them ourselves, and for trips we would check out the books on cassette. I’m just waiting until my little monkeys are old enough to enjoy them.
Oh, I love the James Herriot books! They manage to make you feel good about life without ever being sentimental.
My boys (aged 4, 6 and 11), and the baby, all love “Les Miserables”—the Dream Cast CD. They’ve even asked my husband to get me the DVD for Christmas. Even if you have to skip over the “mushy” parts, I guarantee you’ll be rewinding the Confrontation between Javert and Valjean, and “Stars.” The only song I do skip over on my own recognizance is ‘Lovely Ladies,’ only because I don’t feel like explaining prostitution quite yet.
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle cracks us all up. I think our library has at least 3 of those books to rent on tape, and our van still has it’s origial tapedeck.
A band called “Ernie & Neal” is very family-friendly. Music interesting enough for all ages, pretty edgy sound, but kid-friendly lyrics like “Are We There Yet?” You can download from itunes or Amazon.
They might be giants has put out albums of kid songs, like “Where do they make balloons” and even have an album about a slew of science topics (“Here comes Science”).
My kids are older now (20, 18 and 16) but for several years we have done “take turns with the ipods). Depending on trip lenth, everyone gets one or two or three songs, then move to the next person. Angela’s “no complaints” rule applies to us as well. You will get a big variety of music and everyone’s horizons get expanded just a little. My kids now like some Count Basie and I have developed a small taste for Simple Plan and Coldplay.
We really love Jim Weiss’ audio recordings of stories and poems. Our children have listened to them from the time they were babies, some of them. We recommend them to everybody! (Although I absolutely *hate* the tagline they came up with a few years back, “Storytelling for the thinking family.” Ugh.)
Here is his website.
www.greathall.com
Also my kids like a few of the songs from Godspell, although I would never subject them to the movie. I just taught them the tunes while we were traveling one day and now we have family renditions of “It’s all for the best!”
on a 10 hour trip with our youngest 5 a few years ago (ages 8-14 at the time), we played “Road Kill”—for a point one had to say (which turned to shouting) “Road kill _______” (identify the animal). This game didn’t last too long for a couple of reasons 1)arguments at IDing the animal 2) difficulty in IDing the animal 3) kids were too competitive.
we then played FedEx - the first to see a FedEx truck / van would get a point—it’s not as nasty as the road kill game.
My Dad used to sing that Spike Jones Hitler thing all the time - I’ve often sung it myself but I’d never heard the original so thank you for that.
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We’ll listen to traditional Irish drinking songs in the car - they span the ages.
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We also had a guess that sound CD (car door locking, computer turning on, lawn mower, etc._ which we really enjoyed but quickly memorized.
We have enjoyed listening to the Hobbit, Tom Sawyer, Treasure Island (I personally never want to hear that one again!) and several of the Narnia tales. The Horse and His Boy is one we never get tired of. We listened to some of the Roald Dahl stories. My husband and I heard a great recording of the Screwtape Letters (John Cleese? maybe someone else). Once my husband bought Paradise Lost and Richard III on cd. Those didn’t get too far—“Dad, turn it off PLEASE!!!!”. We used to listen to Raffi’s music, but our CDs got all scratched up. So only the older kids remember that. Oh, and the classic Christmas music—Bing Crosby, Jesseye Norman, Charlie Brown Christmas, etc. Happy traveling!
“The Pushcart War” on cassette. Hil-ar-i-ous, no matter what age you are. Also, the original “Cheaper by the Dozen.”
I concur with the comment about Jim Weiss. He has a talent for recording stories that children will love. My kids’ favorite? Greek mythology (and Jim has 3 of those cds). You can buy thru Itunes as well. We have many of his recordings (some of you may be familiar with Story of the World). Highly recommend Jim Weiss for road trips or any other time!
Having taken many a trip we have a catalog of stories and storytellers we rely on. And with a broad rage of kids (24-4) we can pull out ‘new’ ones the younger ones haven’t yet heard:
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Bill Cosby - a favorite of my dh and I since when we were kids, it is a joy to share him w/ our kids. Just don’t have them believing his Noah story (while very funny) is biblically accurate.
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Jim Dale, narrator supreme - not everyone agrees on Harry Potter, Mr. Dale is amazing as a narrator. Check out his “Peter and the Starcatchers” by Dave Barry or his “Around the World in 80 Days”. He is one of those rare narrators you could listen to as he read the phone book and enjoy.
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Jay O’Callahan - storyteller. Fantastic, funny, poignant talented storyteller.
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Brian Jacques - Redwall series. His own telling of those wonderful stories gives all the animals their best ‘accents’
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Richard Peck - He does great multi-generational stories w/ Gramma Dowdel in the late 1930’s. Funny and mildly irreverent.
I make mix cds of “grown-up” music that everyone enjoys, and call it a “kids’ cd”—we listen to a very eclectic mix of music here, so there’s a little bit of everything on those cds. And, if we’re really lucky, we may be traveling while Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion is on the radio. It’s a crowd pleaser, though we do have to switch it off occasionally if it gets too political or has a little too much “adult content” for the younger set. We also love the Rabbit Ears audio story collections, which feature famous actors and personalities doing dramatic readings of classic stories. One of our faves is Nicolas Cage reading Davy Crockett. They are exceptionally well done.
Jim Dale’s audio recording of Harry Potter keeps my family mesmerized for hours. We just love his voice. Also, the Fed-Ex game mentioned by anO is unfortunately a favorite. It wears on the nerves after 2 hours…especially when the kids can’t decide on who saw it first…
What? You mean I DON’T have to sing U2 ALL the way?
These clips were awesome! I love Danny Kay! “Call from Long Island?” Too funny.
The more the kids are involved, the better. I like the games. When I was a kid we used to play for points on colors of cars, types of cars, you name it. “I Spy” is always good too, because there are lots of things to see. Doesn’t work as well at night of course. When they are old enough, they can write down a single word on a piece of paper then send it to the next kid to add their word to write a story. The older kids can maybe write 2 or three words, and the little ones can get help of course.
Mad libs too!
My kids make up their own CD about once a year that we put in when we are going on vacation. They know it has to be “clean’. It has a mix of pop songs they like, musicals (we love Oklahoma, West Side Story), Beatles, Taylor Swift. Most of the time the older ones are plugged in to their own I-Pod and it is boring for Mom in the front seat (kids range from 10 - 21, so yes, we had our share of days with me in the back seat as the miles rolled by). When we did listen to stories, we liked Jim Weiss as already mentioned. Also there is Odds Bodkin, he uses music as well with his story telling - he has one about David from the Bible. Favorite authors to listen to on CD were Avi and also I remember one hilarious trip listening to the book, Caddie Woodlawn, which we all enjoyed. I know it is a struggle in the car, but I look back with fondness on those days because it is a rare occasion when all of us can even go anywhere together anymore ......
The Vince Guaraldi and the Lost Cues from Peanuts CDs (there are two of them) are excellent - nice jazz music (even if a bit too 70s-sounding in places) that never really gets old even after multiple, multiple listenings. They are pretty short CDs but still good.
Simcha, I have to agree with your kids about Dylan. When I was growing up, our road trips typically had a soundtrack written by Loreena McKennitt, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Cheryl Wheeler, and Tracy Chapman. But we had write a few recorded stories we listened to as well - stories my dad had read to us with a handheld tape recorder nearby. Those are great if you have the time to make them. If not, check out http://librivox.org/.
Radio dramas like The Lone Ranger or Dragnet were a big hit on my family’s annual summer drive to Chicago. Jim Weiss’ tapes were fun too until we’d all heard the story of Atalanta and the golden apples 15 times. Music from previous decades was generally deemed less scandalous, so we had a steady rotation of doo-wop and other oldies. Once we kids started to nod off my parents would pop in their David Benoit and other such “smooth jazz,” which we generally tolerated. Oh the memories.
For funny short stories the whole family can enjoy, hands down, Patrick McManus. We would also listen to Patch the Pirate and Odessy Adventures growing up, but those are definitely more “kid oriented”.
I always loved looking for different license plates (still do, actually…it’s a great game during the winter in Florida, especially…). When I was younger “my” lap board for the car was a dry-erase US map—it was perfect for checking off which states I’d seen, and then finding them on the map. I think we played a license plate game with the numbers and letters, too, but I don’t remember how that went…
Our 8 hour trip to visit family over Thanksgiving was filled with the following:
—read alouds, Holly & Ivy by Rumor Godden; and many others
—smashing faces up against the windows to make the other drives look/laugh/scowl/swerve
—the 17-year-old rolling down the passenger window to ‘row’ past the traffic as we passed….of course we all rowed in unison…
—getting truck drivers to stop texting and honk their horns
—singing America songs
—eating….eating…eating…
—holding up notes to other drivers/passengers like “What smells?” “Do you have room in your car for me?”
—listening to basketball on the radio (b.o.r.i.n.g but took up some time!)
We have a 12-pack filled with kids 19 down to 3 and my husband and I, our cd player is jammed and we have no other media but the radio….
To be honest, the ride is part of the fun. Gotta learn to look forward to the fun you can invent. Our plan for Christmas is to get the car paints out….“Over the River and Through the Woods…to Grandmother’s house we go…” You can write all that on a 12-pack. And of course, we look like the clown car when we stop and people just keep coming out…..
Second the James Herriot stories read by James Dale—beautiful. Also, Focus On The Family Radio Theater has several great productions—the quality is unbelievable. They aren’t audio books, but full cast dramas with lovely scores. The whole Narnia series is available, narrated by Paul Scofield, whom I could listen to reading the IRS tax code and enjoy myself. The last two minutes of the Last Battle had my entire family in tears!
I remember Les Mis was always a family favorite (four kids) of ours, too! My parents, not the particularly vigilant type, never skipped over “Lovely Ladies” but I partially credit my early knowledge of prostitution as an ugly, dirty thing to that soundtrack.
If you want to get the kids thinking, try an audio version of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” It will take them to another time and place.
John Lithgow is really great, we all love him from the toddler up to the adults! http://www.amazon.com/Singin-Bathtub-John-Lithgow/dp/B00000I8A3/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1322601111&sr=1-1 That is our favorite CD and had even me crying because I was laughing so hard (song 5)
oooh - kids just reminded me - Sandra Boynton’s music!! Her delightful words w/ Michael Ford’s voice. Absolutely hysterical - even Bad, Bad Babies - take it w/ a grain of salt and a smile.
Also, for kids who want a laugh… http://www.willyclaflin.com/store.php
I second Jamie on the Focus on the Family productions. I was a bit skeptical before listening, but I must say that their renditions of the Chronicles of Narnia are AMAZING. At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald is also very well done.
Kids ages 4, 3, 18 mos, and in-the-oven, and our rides vary from the 5 hr plane rides to SoCal 1-2 times a year, to the insane 25 hour road trip to New Orleans last month. (AUGH!!!) We have a few strategies that seem to work BEAUTIFULLY, and a few that leave us stopping for the potty 6 times in 8 hours.
On the radio: ~Cat Chat. (www.catchat.ca) is children’s catechesis narrated by the family cat. The cover a wide variety of Church teaching with songs, stories, and prayer, and are actually really cute. It works with our kids young ages, and they’ve even learned a few things. has been known to drive me crazy the fourth time in a row - also, SHOW TUNES are a must! They are obsessed with Peter Pan and Mary Poppins, but we also love Les Mis, My Fair Lady, Sound of Music, Singin in the Rain,... go ahead, name it. we love musicals - Adult faves - they love the “singing Priests,” country, oldies, classical, cowboy western, dixieland jazz, and myy kid faves - they know all the words to Joe Wise (does anyone know him anymore? totally hippie kids’ music and completely fun and singable.) Bill Gaither Trio for kids, Music Machine, and Disney collection. Anything for them to sing.
My favorite strategy, though is the pre-packed backpacks. They get to open them AFTER we’ve been driving for a little bit and we’re ready to switch the music. I pack them about a week ahead of time so that books are “new”, a few small toys that have either been packed away for awhile or are new, pencils/pens/crayons and a small notebook, and a few time-consuming snacks. (Lollipops are a nightmare for mess but it sure keeps them quiet for a few extra minutes!) I also put a few personal things individual interest for each, like babydoll clothes or a play-purse or play-doh… etc. They open them at their own leisure and it lasts for a LONG time. They also know now to anticipate them and they have so much fun exploring the pockets and finding the surprises. You can strategically repack along the way as necessary without too much trouble, too.
Traditional games work alright for short increments, as they are still young. And this Christmas, after packing up Santa’s sleigh last year for a road-trip to see family, I am VERY thankful to be waking up in my own bed this year. saw
One of our favorites is Who’s on First by Abbot and Costello. You can see a video at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8342445135331678445#
Looking forward to checking out these suggestions. Some of my favorite memories are of long trips with my family listening to Garrison Keillor’s Praire Home Companion.
Wow. Lots of suggestions so I’ll tell a story. Years ago we decided to drive to Tucson from S. California. We put in The Hobbit as we headed south on the 5, planning to turn left at San Diego. We were so caught up in Frodo’s journey that when my husband said, “hey, what’s that big wall ahead?” we realized that we had hit the Mexican border. Needless to say, we tried to pay better attention after that. Also the same vacation where our van broke down in Centralia, CA (also not far from the border). Too many kids for the tow truck to transport so they called the police to get us all to the nearest hotel. We never saw that van again. Dead engine, rented another van, and on to the shootout at the O.K. corral. Thanks for reviving the memories for me, Simcha.
Simcha, Where can I find “The Chosen People”
Thanks
Stories and funny lines from the “Jungle Jam” (and also “The Pond”) series are part of our family lexicon now. Levity with a lesson. Awesome.
My kids like audio books by George MacDonald (the Princess and Curdie and the Princess and the Goblin) and C.S. Lewis (Narnia Series).
My kids loved old radio shows and stories on tape. Joe Hayes (check him out online) and Jackie Torrence were among their favorites. We used to go hear Joe tell stories at the tepee at the museum in Santa Fe every summer. They still remember the stories, Joe remembers them (now 26 and 29) and they have wonderful attention spans and a real appreciation for the written and spoken word as a result!
Bless you for reminding me of Bob and Ray. I used to listen to them as a kid and had completely forgotten about them.
I second the Richard Peck suggestion. My kids range in age from 11-5 and they love listening to his stories- and they didn’t drive me crazy either. we checked them out of the library.
The Focus on the Family Narnia audio series is excellent. We listened to them during a 7 hour trip one summer, and my kids have about worn out the tapes listening to them on their own.
I love the suggestion about the radio shows, like Lone Ranger. I’ll have to look for those!
I can heartily recommend any of the family albums by Trout Fishing in America. Catchy, sing-along-able, funny, clever, clean, and not too juvenile. There are no children in our household and they’re still a big part of our road-trip play list!
Definitely old radio shows like My Favorite Husband (basically I Love Lucy on Radio) or Father Knows Best. Some of the scary ones like The Whistler are too much for the youngest, but the do help keep the driver awake. I remember once, we were caught in traffic and listening to one of those. The alien invasion was scheduled for something like July 30th, 8:41 PM and that was exactly the date and time we were listening! It was pretty funny once we noticed it.
A Caveat: Don’t listen to scary hitchhiker stories!
I second all the above comments, we do quite a bit of car travel with four kiddos, ages 8, 7, 5 and 4. We just discovered audio books by Stuart McLean his Vinyl Cafe series. Meant for adults, clean enough and funny enough for the kids. On our last trip I had to pull over I was laughing so hard!
Try Allan Sherman, of “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah” fame. He’s real;y funny and clever, and I unconsciously learned the tunes to some incredible music by listening to his parodies as a kid.
We modified our SUV to fit ONE MORE car seat. I have learned how to be a contortionist so I can nurse without my husband stopping. We use lap tops and DVDs. I never remember to broker a good deal on subject matter, so someone is inevitably bent out of joint. We’re happy and fully loaded if the barf bag and wipes are in position. A snack and lunch steward/stewardess is designated. We challenge ourselves to hold out on the skittles until the last, most anguished moment. I leap for joy when the little ones conk out, and then relish my power that my husband is cornered,so I can talk about stuff like house repairs. The most edifying is when we can find a good theology book, which I read aloud to my husband, and notice the teens are listening. Once we get through the central valley, where only country western and Mariachis come in, we listen to Public Radio until the kids berate us for being disgustingly boring and wear us down for pop music. They want it loud. Even the two-year-old demands that it be LOUD. I only turn it up if I like the beat.
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My Mom used Benadryl.
We love the Narnia CD’s read by various British actors (Lynn Redgrave, Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacoby, etc.). Very well done, and in the Queen’s English, which adds a certain something since all the stories are set in England. We never seem to tire of them. Also, Stuart Little, read by Julie Christie and a recent recording of the original Winnie the Pooh stories read again by various British actors (Dame Judy Dench, etc.). All of these have lots to please adults too!
“The Secret Garden” by Focus on the Family radio productions is excellent—it even held my sons’ interest (guess there’s enough of Dickon and Colin to keep ‘em on board). I think they also have a version of “A Christmas Carol” that’s a great adaptation of the original book, and keeps many Christian references that are edited out of other versions. Anything I’ve ever listened to by Focus, actually, has been very high quality. We also have a set of their Adventures in Odyssey series that’s about different times in American history, and is very good.
I also second others’ recommendations of Bill Cosby! The Noah bits and the ones about him and his brother are wonderful for kids.
Focus on the Family’s dramatized Chronicles of Narnia is really good! We have the full version audiobooks, which we also enjoy, but the dramatized version makes them all down to the very youngest be quiet to listen. The music is a little overly-dramatic in a couple of places, but the stories are enjoyable for all! We got it as a gift from friends to whom visiting entails we drive a long way and it is perfect!
We’ve managed many long car trips with the help of the Laura Ingalls Wilder series. The audio version read by Cherry Jones includes some wonderful songs and fiddling. Our six kids ages 1-11 enjoy hearing about how people did things before electricity, cars, and ipods. It also helps instill a greater sense of gratitude to hear how difficult life was and yet how optimistic and joyfully they met their daily challenges.
Another great couple of stories have been the The Trumpet of the Swan and Charlottes Web read by the author.
We also enjoy the Narnia series and the A.E.Milne books.
We’ve had fun with Beethoven’s Wig series by Richard Purlmutter wherein classical music is set to hilarious lyrics for easy fact learning.
Rabbit Ears books series are great as well as the audio books about famous composers: Beethoven Lives Upstairs, Mozarts Magic Carpet, and ones about Bach and Vivaldi.
Adventures in Odessey have been a hit. Each child has a playlist on the ipod and we take turns listening to those. We also download the Saintcast and listen to riveting stories about saints old and new. And just for yucks and ha-has we also enjoy downloads of Wiretap (with some censoring required.)
Good luck all!
I look forward to checking out your samples. I have to share that classical music, sacred music, and opera (e.g., Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen—a story which influenced Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy) work well for our family ages 1 to 9. Then again, that’s what my family is already used to outside the car. Also, “The Chronicles of Narnia” have been good for our family, too. I have to admit that my husband and I haven’t delved deeply into the audio entertainment out there even though we don’t have a DVD player built into the roof of our suburban.
Thanks a lot. Now I’ve been listening to Bob and Tom all the time. It’s worse than my Dr. Demento kick, or even my Bob Newhart/Andy Griffith phase.
I’m amazed that no one mentioned the Focus on the Family Adventures in Odyssey tapes/CD’s till just a couple comments ago. My kids - now 28, 26, 23, 20 and 17 grew up listening to them in the car and as they fell asleep at night. They are historical (sometimes), moralizing (always) tales with great production value - I used to joke that they were one of our best brainwashing tools.
We also rely heavily on audio-induced peace on road trips. Natasha Richardson reading Roald Dahl’s The BFG is uproariously funny. We also like Librivox’s free audiobooks for classics… my 10 and under kids were entranced by the unabridged Pinocchio, and when we are feeling virtuous and educational we go for Van Loon’s Story of Mankind.
I second the Rabbit Ears collection also. Jack Nicholson reading Rudyard Kipling! Bobby McFerrin doing sound effects! So much goodness there.
We, too, rely on audiobooks for any drive. We love David Hyde Pierce’s imaginative narration of “The Phantom Tollbooth” (Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2009) and “If You Give a Pig a Pancake,” Jim Broadbent’s stellar and distinctly British reading of “Winnie-The-Pooh” & “The House at Pooh Corner” (Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2004), Jeremy Irons’s captivating narration of “James and the Giant Peach,” John R. Erickson’s readings of his hilarious “Hank the Cowdog” series, Martin Jarvis’s lively reading of Richmal Crompton’s funny “Just William” Collection, William Dufris’s homey reading of “The Bears on Hemlock Mountain,” and Edward Herrmann’s expressive narration of “Misty of Chincoteague.”
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I concur with the Narnia CD’s read by various British actors - we especially loved Lynn Redgrave’s reading of “Prince Caspian!” It showed how talented & comfortable she was narrating children’s literature, whereas Derek Jacobi, though gifted in Shakespearean roles, did not seem natural in his interpretation of “Voyage of the Dawn Treader.” His rendition of Reepicheep was particularly grating on the ears!
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I also second the Laura Ingalls Wilder CD’s by Cherry Jones and Beethoven’s Wig series by Richard Purlmutter. There’s nothing like using our car time to learn from and enjoy these great works.
“Snacktime” by Barenaked Laies is a kids’ album that all others should aspire to be like. The music is fun. The lyrics are intelligent—and really funny a lot of the time. It’s a favorite of many adults, as well as being a hit with the young’uns.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
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