Best Audiobooks for kids on road trips
Audiobooks are our best friend when we travel. It started with podcasts and then slowly built up to longer stories and longer rides. Once we connected our library card with the app Libby, our world really expanded. I used to get library books before road trips to keep my kids entertained. But, around 4 years old they started getting car sick, so we had to switch to audiobooks.
These are some of my fave audiobooks for the road divided by age. These are by no means the only ones out there, these are just ones that we listened to and loved. These are also all great books to read as well, some of these we read one book of the series, listened to the next, etc. These are interchangeable.
Ages 4-7
Series
Magic Tree House - two siblings set off on many adventures from their treehouse, guided by Morgan who sends them back in time during historical events
Boxcar Children - 4 orphaned siblings live in a boxcar until they find their grandfather and solve many mysteries with their dog Watch
The Wild Robot - can a robot survive in the wilderness?
Ages 7-12
Lalani of the Distant Sea - 12 year old island bound Lalani, sets off beyond to save her people, set in Fiilipino Folklore
I Can Make This Promise - Edie finds a box in her attic and discovers that her mom was adopted by white couple, which in turn begins a journey to discover her Native American past
A Long Walk to Water - juxtaposing stories about a girl in Sudan in 2008 and a boy in Sudan in 1985. who was one of the lost boys, torn apart from his family during a rebel attack and walked across giant swaths of the African continent. Their worlds collide, a serious tear jerker
Island of the Blue Dolphins - Story of a Native American girl who was left alone, with her wolf on the island of Santa Cruz, part of the Channel islands off the coast of Southern California.
Pax - A story of a boy and a fox he found as a kit. He’s forced to release Pax back to the wild during the war and the story is about their journey to find each other again. Tearjerker for sure
SERIES
All Rick Riordan Presents Series
Pandava Quintet, Aru Shah - Indian-American 12 year old girl protagonist, adventure and mystery solving within a web of Hindu mythology. 4 books, new one comes out in April 2021
Storm Runner Trilogy - Middle school boy from New Mexico learns that he has secret powers, steeped in Aztec & Mayan Mythology
Thousand Worlds Series - Dragon Pearl - a SciFi adventure set in Korean Mythology of a girl seeking to save her older brother
Race to the Sun - Siblings from New Mexico are set out to save the world aided by Navajo Gods
Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond Series - A 12 year old from New Jersey’s parents mysteriously vanish and sets her on a course of serpent slaying and finding out who her parents really are, set in the Bengali lore as she finds she is really an indian princess.
Paola Santiago - a 12 year old girl overcomes evil with science and the power of love based on Mexican legend of La Llorona.
39 clues - two orphans set out to save the world, there are a plethora of stories here, all written by different authors
Jason Reynolds’ Track Series
Ghost, Patina, Sunny and Lu - 4 kids from different backgrounds have to come together for an elite track team. Confronts big topics of grief, racism, poverty,
Land of Stories - Chris Colfer (aka Kurt from Glee) wrote a modern take on classic fairy tales, 6 books in total
I Survived - a collection of historical fiction stories explaining near death experiences from the twin towers to the great molasses flood
Birchbark House Series - This story follows a 7 year old Ojibwa girl Omakayas, the sole survivor of a small pox epidemic who is adopted and lives in the Madeline Island on Lake Superior. 3 books
BOOKS TO READ
While we all listen to these audiobooks as a family since my kids don’t have their own devices yet, Oliver has an insatiable thirst for reading, so I though I’d list some of his favorites for books that he’s already read on these trips.
Ages 7-12
Series
Harry potter - the first two can be read earlier, but as the series goes on, people start dying.
All Rick Riordan Series
Keeper of the Lost Cities - two 12 year olds are telepathic and learn quickly they need to leave this world and enter into a new one to save the world
