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9 Audio Books The Whole Family Will Love

We’re heading out on a mammoth trip these holidays – well OK, we’re not exactly driving across the country, but we do have a big week and a half of travelling ahead of us. Today, we are heading up to Sydney, dropping the little two at my parents and spending the night at Homebush so that Hannah can compete at the State School Swimming Championships with her school relay team (very excited about that!). I’ve taken leave for the last two days of term so we will go drive from the Championships to the mountains and spend a few days with my family, before driving down to Narooma for a few days of just us by the beach. Sounds perfect, but there will be a lot of travelling in the car. In our family, car travel means listening to audio books. The kids adore them, and they make a long trip go so much faster.

9 Audio Books The Whole Family Will Love

With the Autumn holidays about to start here, I bet there are lots of other families heading out on the road, so I thought I would put together a list of our favourite audio books. All of these have been listened to by the whole family and have been approved by adults (well CB and myself) and children alike. Whether you download them before you go, or pick them up on CD in a shop on the way (I order several at a time online and have them delivered), you’re bound to enjoy these audiobooks!

The Gruffalo – Read by Imelda Staunton

This is a classic tale and doesn’t take long to listen to, but is still a good start, particularly for littlies. The voices are fantastic, and I know that Toby listens mesmerised each time we put it on.

Top Family Friendly Audio Books-2

Winnie The Pooh – Read by Alan Bennet

Confession: I have never read Winnie The Pooh. We have a couple of the books, but somehow, I have never really read them. We listened to the CD in the car on the way up to Magic Beach this year, and the kids still tell me that they need “a little something” from time to time. It’s also sufficiently entertaining for adults.

Ramona The Pest – Read by Stockard Channing

I read and loved Ramona as a child, and the whole family enjoyed listening to the various scrapes that Ramona manages to get herself into. Stockard Channing (who plays Rizzo in Grease, and Abigail Bartlet in The West Wing) voices the thoughts of a five year old girl so beautifully, and we were giggling out loud at Ramona’s antics.

The Faraway Tree – Read by Kate Winslet

I adored reading these books as a child, so I picked the Faraway Tree up when I saw it on special one day. Kate Winslet has the perfect voice for this old fashioned tale full of “jolly picnics” and “beastly goblins” and so forth. In this modern update, Jo, Bessie, and Fanny, have become Joe, Beth, and Franny, but the stories remain the same. Country Boy and I giggle about the parenting that appears to be going on, but as a child it didn’t worry me that Beth’s mum made a 6 year old do all the ironing, or that one week their father lost a large sum of money which was never explained. My kids loved listening to this one, and while it’s not my favourite, it isn’t bad either!

Top Family Friendly Audio Books-4

Roald Dahl – Read by several different actors

This box set was the first audio book I bought. The girls and I saw it at Costco in Sydney and bought it to listen to on the way home, and since then, audio books are part of all our travels. Some of the books such as Matilda take several hours to listen to, whilst others such as The Giraffe, The Pelly, And Me, take less than an hour. All are performed by actors such as Hugh Laurie and Miriam Margoyles. Classic tales that are brilliantly performed and will make you laugh out loud. My personal favourite is Danny The Champion Of The World.

Harry Potter Books 1 – 7 – Read by Stephen Fry

Strap yourself in for these ones because some of them are long! Book 5 (The Order Of The Phoenix) will easily do a couple of days on a road trip. Having said this the kids LOVE Harry Potter and we are currently listening to the series for the second time. Stephen Fry reads so well, doing different voices for the different characters. His voicing of Dolores Umbridge in Book 5 is fabulous. If you’re planning lots of time in the car, Harry Potter will definitely keep you entertained.

Top Family Friendly Audio Books

How To Train Your Dragon – Read by David Tennant

If you have seen the movie or watched the tv series “Dragon Riders of Berk” you will have a general idea about the book, but to be honest the book is much better than the movie (which was only loosely based on the book). The book is beautifully performed with different accents by David Tennant who really brings the story to life.

The Rangers Apprentice – Read by William Zappa

I gave this to Hannah for Christmas this year, having heard good things about it, though we haven’t read the books. She and I listened to it on the way up to Dubbo and back a few weeks ago, and we didn’t want to hop out of the car when we got home because we got to a good part. We have since listened to the rest of the story on a trip to Canberra, and I have got the second book in the series ready for our current trip.

Top Family Friendly Audio Books-3

The Narnia Series – Read by several different actors

This is another series we have listened to several times. The girls have read the books and watched the movies as well, but we still enjoyed listening to the books being read to us by actors such as Kenneth Branagh and Patrick Stewart.

How do you pass time during long car trips? What audiobooks can you recommend for the whole family?

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Hi, I’m Jo

I'm a city girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got through shearing without a hitch (thankfully 🙏) but we’ve had a run of the flu followed by Covid run through the family since then. The kids and I have tested positive (this is my second time getting it 🦠) though so far C has managed to avoid it. There has been a lot of lying on the couch feeling pretty ordinary. Han had to reschedule her driving test for a 4th time due to Covid, which is disappointing for her because she wants her freedom and for us because it would be so much more convenient if she could drive herself places. Just to add in to the mix, our hot water system has chosen now as a good time to die so we’re on cold showers until we’re all out of iso. This is not meant to be a whinging post but sometimes life just sucks a bit and it’s good to be real. Fortunately, the sight of the fire going with a stack of wood next to it cheers us up. Things will improve soon. Onwards we go…
A picture perfect Autumn afternoon to end the scho A picture perfect Autumn afternoon to end the school holidays. We’ve been busy spending time with friends and family, harvesting the last of the summer produce, as well as a short escape to explore the big smoke. After the craziness of last term it was the break we all needed. It’s back to school for me tomorrow, and the kids are back on Wednesday. Shearing starts soon and so it’s all systems go over the next few weeks.
Covid has made some late changes to our weekend pl Covid has made some late changes to our weekend plans so we are embracing the unexpected and doing not much at home. Plenty of time for hanging out on the dam and enjoy the perfect weather.
Autumn has arrived in the orchard and the apple tr Autumn has arrived in the orchard and the apple trees are full of fruit. Yesterday we filled five baskets of apples that had fallen off the trees. Then we had apple crumble for dessert last night. Between the orchard and the vegetable garden this time of year is always super busy as we deal with all the harvest. No so busy though, that I can’t grab the camera and snap a few pics.
On weekends he makes himself a hot milo and lies o On weekends he makes himself a hot milo and lies on the veranda in the sun, just chilling and enjoying the freedom (until mum grabs her camera at least 🙄🤣).
Late summer evenings spent picking fruit in the or Late summer evenings spent picking fruit in the orchard are just the best. We take baskets down to gather the fruit and we inspect the trees and plan what we will do with it all. Tonight we gathered blackberries, nectarines and the first apples. The kids eat the fruit right off the trees - it tastes so much better than shop bought fruit. All the rain this year has not been good for all our plants; no mulberries and a lot less of some of the others. It reminds us of how much we depend on the weather and how much is out of our hands.

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Hi, I’m Jo

City girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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