Works for Me Wednesday - Read Along Books

You probably remember these from your childhood, a record (yes I am showing my oh so advanced age) that would ding when you needed to turn the page. I had a few Disney stories that I would listen to over and over again. By the time I found these I was reading on my own even at the level these books were and still loved having the record read to me.

These days everything is digital and so there is a much larger selection than my parents could find for me. Our local library has a large collection of read-along books for children, with stories geared to all different age levels and attention spans. These books are perfect for long car trips. Froggy does not like ride in the car. She does a better job of it now that she is older but it is still not an enjoyable activity for her. Planning long car trips for a family is a major ordeal. We have two scheduled in the next six weeks. My solution - hit the library and stock up on these special books. I start early. Read them at home without the CD first. If the book is requested at home again, then it goes on the list for the car. If not, it goes back to the library.

The books from the library are filler though and a break for the grownups. The best treat for Froggy are the Sing-Along books by Barefoot Books. She likes these even better than the read-alongs because there is great music with the story. Our library has Animal Boogie which Froggy can listen to and sing along with for an hour easily. But there are others in the collection. Creepy Crawly Calypso is my personal favorite. Frogyy likes Farmyard Jamboree better. That may just be part of her current fascination with numbers though. For the first night of Hanukkah, Froggy will get Dragon on Our Doorstep. I hope it provides as much joy as the others have.

For a bibliophile who cannot read to themselves in the car for whatever reason, be it age or motion sickness or being the driver, audio books are a great alternative and definitely work for me. For other great tips check out Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer