In Praise Of Audio Books

Another holiday driving season is coming up and it brought to mind just how much my children and I have enjoyed unabridged audiobooks.

I originally became a fan of audiobooks when my oldest son - now 29 - was 8 years old and we would make 10 or 12 trips a year across the state of Texas. Usually these trips were at least 8 hours and there is only so much you can do in a vehicle for 8 hours without kids getting bored, cranky, whiny or all three. To us, the audiobook of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer›s Stone opened up a whole new chapter in our lives.

We would put in a cassette tape and be transported by Jim Dale›s wonderful reading of this story. A story I might add that I was interested in, but had no urge to read if I had any free time. Suddenly the long, grueling trip was over too fast — we hadn›t finished with the story...

As soon as we got to our destination, Alphonso and I went to the nearest Wal-Mart and bought the 2nd and 3rd in the series — we were officially hooked!!

It's hard to believe that was 20 years ago and during that time we have listened to all different types of books; Dan Brown, Janet Evanovich, Stephen King, Phillippa Gregory and of course every single J. K. Rowling!

Alphonso, Bubba, Wee Bossy Baby and I have put a lot of miles on vehicles and listened to lots of audiobooks. It is something we can do as a family, that encourages us to use our own imagination instead of a movie director's vision for a story. I can say that we will be listening to our favorite books on our road-trips for many years to come.

Thank you for bearing with me on a post that had nothing at all to do with e-books and letting me praise the audiobook. Next time you are taking a road-trip with your family, consider getting an audiobook from your library and having everyone listen. It is an experience that you won›t regret and just might help foster your young one›s love of the written word — all 3 of my children love books. I highly recommend anything that Jim Dale reads as he does a fabulous job of separating the characters dialog with inflection and emotion.

by Deena Rae

ABOUT DEENA RAE Deena Rae was born and raised in Texas – home of bluebonnets, boots, beef and big hair – into a family that was in the printing and publishing industries.

With a total of 20 years in publishing, in 2010 she decided to branch out as eBookBuilders helping established & new authors, designing books, ebooks and websites.

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DANIELLE URBAN

Danielle Urban lives in North Central Arkansas with her family. She started by blogging about her favorite books, short stories, and writing prompts. Soon her blog became something more than just that. Writers needed more than just reviews. That's how Urban Lit Magazine came to be. It features reviews, interviews, news of new literary agents and more. Her goal was to help readers connect with writers from all over the world.

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