Hi gang!
This just crossed my virtual desk, and it looked like something that might be useful.
It's a free audio book service with MP3s for grades K-12 that you can play on your computer or can download to an MP3 player. They even have a link to ITunes if you use that software, so it's very simple. The lit selection looks pretty academic and useful to me (lots of Austen, Hawthorne, Aesop's Fables and Twain), and they also seem to have a goodly number of science and math books!
Enjoy!
http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/
Oh great resource. Thanks!
JB
We were just listening to _Alice in Wonderland_ after dinner.
I'm hoping to use the audio books as a tease to get DS7 to read some of the classics. Fingers crossed!
Cool! What a great resource. Thank you Kriston.
I have a question I meant to ask for last few weeks. What are good audio books? I know that we go through the book list on regular basis but sometimes even the best books can be pretty bad on CD.
Sorry to say so but some of the audio books put me to sleep which is not a good thing since we usually listen to them in the car
Then there are audio books read by Broadway actors which are awesome. Geronimo Stilton on CD is what made DS5 hooked on his books.
Good find, Kriston - thanks!
LMom,
You're right. It all depends upon the reader. You have to check the cover to see who the reader is. I have no clue who anyone is, but DH recognizes all the actors. My only requirement is that the books have to be unabridged.
DS loved these audio books - not from the site Kriston listed, but through the library or the stores (note, often there are English accents which might be a bit tough to follow for the young ones, depending):
Beverly Cleary, The Mouse and the Motorcycle
Complete Stories of Winnie the Pooh (British accent - no surprise)
The Chronicles of Narnia
A bunch of those tapes that come with books in the children's area of Borders and Barnes and Noble - Peter Pan, Dr. Seuss, Monsters, Inc., a bunch of others (For the most part, they're read well and clearly in an entertaining manner. Our only problem was that they were so short, and therefore not cost effective.)
Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything (also a British accent, but excellent reader. Note: the tapes are unabridged, the cds are revised)
Stephen Squyres, The Mars Rover Program (quite engaging, some minor swear words)
Dud:
Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time (don't bother; poorly read - better off reading it aloud yourself, which DS enjoyed -- if you do that get The Complete Illustrated Brief History of Time - great illustrations)
Thanks for the suggestions, question. I too don't recognize the actors, but at least I learned to stay away from books read by authors. If the cover talks about the actor about their Broadway carrier then I may give them a shot
I think the kids are pretty ok with the accents. We listened to the Alice in the Wonderland (he read it before we did so) and Peter Rabbit both read in English accent.
I'll have to try The Mouse and the Motorcycle next. I think DS6 would enjoy Beverly Clearly books if only he read one.
Happy to help, gang!
BTW, in our conversation about what we'll do in homeschooling this year, DS7 asked for adventure books, tales of fabulous trips for reading. After playing him part of
Alice in Wonderland from this site, I asked if that particular story qualified. He said "Sure!"
Yay! I love it when an evil plan comes together, thanks to Internet resources!
