Audiobooks are a terrific literacy tool for competent and struggling readers alike. And there are lots of cool sites for audiobooks online, if you know where to look.
Not only are audiobooks a convenient way of enjoying a well-told story, but for young adults and teens who find reading written text difficult, audiobooks can make ‘reading’ accessible, while also increasing skills such as vocabulary, comprehension and listening.
But, where do you go to find good quality, varied audiobooks for teens and kids, especially when the family budget is limited?
Read on to discover nine recommended sites for dyslexic readers (as well as anyone who enjoys listening to a good story).
1. Your local library
Did you know you can borrow audiobooks for free from many local libraries? Borrow Box is an app that allows users to easily borrow audiobooks from their local library.
Borrow Box was launched by Australian company, Bolinda Audio in 2010. It’s now used by most libraries in Australia, allowing library members to easily borrow and listen to audiobooks on their favourite devices.
The range of titles may vary between libraries. But, at my local library I found audiobooks by popular authors such as David Walliams, Kate DiCamillo, Andy Griffiths and Ridley Pearson, to name but a few.
When you visit your local public library, it may be worth asking what other audio options your library offers. For example, many libraries also provide access to TumbleBooks, a digital collection targeted at primary-aged users.
2. Vision Australia
Vision Australia is a not-for-profit organisation that provides a range of services for people who are visually-impaired, or who have a print disability such as dyslexia.
It’s library service is available free to anyone diagnosed with dyslexia and includes thousands of titles across various popular genres.
One feature I particularly like is the library’s support of the Premier’s Reading Challenge program.
To find out more, check out the Vision Australia website.
3. Jill Sherlock Memorial Learning Assistance Library
The Jill Sherlock Memorial Learning Assistance Library is a fantastic resource for teachers, allied professionals and parents in NSW.
The library features a variety of resources to support students with learning needs, including audiobooks by popular authors such as Roald Dahl.
Membership of the library is free for NSW parents and teachers. Find out how to join the Jill Sherlock library here.
4. Librivox
Librivox is a volunteer-supported site. It allows users to download audiobooks that are in the public domain for free.
Librivox has an extensive collection of novels, novellas and poetry collections that are no longer protected by copyright.
Each title is read by volunteer narrators, then uploaded to the site for users to access. Because these titles are narrated by volunteers, there’s a lot of variation in the sound quality or the narration. I’d suggest listening to a preview of each version to find one you like to listen to.
Looking for a few kid and teen-friendly authors or titles to start browsing? A few to try:
- Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Mark Twain)
- Anne of Green Gables (L M Montgomery)
- Little Women (Louisa May Alcot)
- Peter Pan (J M Barrie)
- Treasure Island (Robert Louis Stevenson)
5. Spotify
Librivox isn’t the only place you can find free public domain titles suitable for younger readers.
Spotify also has a number of titles readily available with a free Spotify account.
The collection of available titles is nowhere near as extensive as Librivox’, but some of these are actually narrated by professional actors so the voice quality is more consistent.
Spotify is also not limited to public domain titles.
To begin, try doing a search under ‘playlists’.
6. AudioSync
AudioSync is a site you might want to bookmark and make a note in your calendar for. Each Northern Hemisphere summer (it’s a US site), AudioSync gives away two audiobooks to encourage teen reading.
Each week, over roughly three months, two titles are made available for free download.
You will need the Overdrive app to play these books, but doing so will work on most devices.
7. YouTube
We all know that it’s easy to spend hours watching videos on YouTube. But did you know that you can also find audiobooks here too?
Granted, this is a less convenient option, as you are limited to listening to the uploaded books on YouTube, but there is a surprising number and variety of books that have been shared.
A couple of my favourites:
Sherlock Holmes, narrated by Benedict Cumerbatch
8. Audible
If you’re after high quality audiobooks, with a full range of contemporary titles – fiction and non-fiction, you can’t really go past Audible.
Audible is a monthly subscription service belonging to Amazon.com (and Amazon.com.au here in Australia). How it works is that each month members get one ‘credit’ to use on a chosen audiobook. Most audiobooks are only a single credit, but there are exceptions.
If you already own an Amazon Kindle or Fire, you might find Audible particularly appealing. Using Amazon’s Whispersync technology, readers can switch between their Kindle eBook and audio version, seamlessly and easily. This is a nice feature if you like to read and listen to books at different times of the day.
Audible costs $16.45 a month for the Australian service.
9. iTunes
If you’d prefer not to be committed to a monthly plan, but are happy to pay for professionally read audiobooks, then check out the iTunes store.
Using the desktop app you can browse for audiobooks and there’s a good range of contemporary and bestselling authors to choose from.
A quick search and you’ll find many popular authors such as David Walliams, Dav Pilkey, Andy Griffiths and Morris Gleitzman.
Conclusion
Audiobooks are a great way to encourage a love of books and storytelling. Even more importantly, they make stories accessible for young people who struggle with the written word.
Over to you
Do you like audiobooks? Got any favourites? How do you use them with your children? Let us know in the comments below.