Last summer my son fell in love with the audio book. One day we were in a local library, and knowing we were going on a day trip soon, I figured we would give the audio books a try. As an emergent reader, I thought this might be a new way to get my almost Kindergartener to make letter/word/sound relationships. With his very first book, Blink and Gollie, he was hooked.
“Is this how you spell…”
“That’s the best background music!”
My son has always enjoyed books and being read to, but there was something different about this experience. He felt more in control of his reading. We went back to the library weekly to try new books. We even reached out to his school and asked for fundamental books like the ones they used (Letterland). Everywhere we went, he insisted on listening to them. It got to the point where we started using Audible when in the house. My husband and I couldn’t believe how listening to the books built up his auditory comprehension, as well as his memory.
With the gift of audio books, a whole new chapter in his life as a reader opened up. The books he now listens to have a richer story-line than the average picture book. This allows for deeper comprehension and better conversation. New genres have also opened up to my son, especially those with humor. However, the best part is that my son and I can now both be active listeners and talk as equals about the books. No longer do I have to be the active reader, and he the listener. We laugh together and comment on why we liked certain readers over others.
Don’t fret! We still read aloud daily, and now he’s reading back to us the books he can. Surprisingly, this hasn’t curbed his love for audio books. If anything, he has been inspired to listen/read along to more complex books, like The Scramble States of America by author Laurie Keller. Her use of humor and interesting dialogue has made my son obsessed with maps and states.
Another benefit is that my younger son, almost three years old, has caught the bug of reading. While he doesn’t follow along with the book in hand, my husband and I are constantly blown away with his exploding vocabulary. Often we just look at each other in amazement, as we hear him recite the lines too. The audio book experience has been a gift for our whole family.