Books on Tape? Who Knew, Right?!
Have you read about the benefits of listening to books on tape?
It’s amazing! As stated in The Well Trained Mind, by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer, “Children can listen to and enjoy books that are far, far above their vocabulary level. Books on tape stock a child’s mind with the sounds of thousands of words. When children start sounding out words later on, they’ll progress much more quickly if they recognize the words.”
Check out the list of great books on tape that they suggest to start with (even at 3 years old!):
- Barrie, J. M. Peter Pan.
- Carrol, Lewis. Alice in Wonderland.
- ————. Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There.
- Kipling, Rudyard. The Jungle Books, I and II.
- ————. Just So Stories.
- Lawson, Robert. Rabbit Hill.
- Lewis, C. S. The Chronicles of Narnia.
- McDonald, Georgia. The Princess and Curdie.
- Nesbit, Edith. The Complete Book of Dragons.
- ————. The Railway Children.
- White, E. B. Charlotte’s Web.
- ————. Stuart Little.
- ————. The Trumpet of the Swan.
- **Look for versions read by E.B. White himself, which are very pleasant listening.
Get 2 free audible books here:
Or Try:
https://www.booksinmotion.com/
Or:
https://www.booksamillion.com/bargain_audio
The Corbin family used books on tape for long summer vacations or road trips. I would go to the library and check out several copies of the book (one for each reader) and the “tape/CD”. We’d pop it in the player and listen to it for hours…makes the trip go much faster and less, “Mom! Are we there yet?”’s! Try it! We think you’ll be pleasantly surprised how much fun & rewarding it can be. Let us know how it goes…


I’m currently studying Elementary Education at BYU, and I absolutely love working with kids. I’m passionate about making learning fun, engaging, and confidence-boosting. One of my favorite parts of being a tutor at JoyFully Read!™ is watching children discover a genuine love for reading and writing. Helping students grow as learners—and seeing their excitement when things click—is what makes this work so meaningful to me!