We’re sure you value literacy. What do you know about the connections between listening and literacy? June is a great time to explore them through audiobooks, and we have lots of new suggestions to set you on that adventure.
The Audio Publishers Association’s Sound Learning initiative has updated both their visual display and the list of research articles that address the importance of listening to becoming a more literate, aware, and empathetic person. If you aren’t already an audiobook fan, you might want to start here to get a more informed sense of why and how they can enrich the lives of your kids (and yourself).
The Audio Publisher’s Association is also sponsoring a month of challenges that you and your family might enjoy as a change of pace from other focused activities you’ve undertaken in the recent weeks of pandemic-induced changes in lifestyle and access to learning and libraries.
Our own publishers have an array of audiobooks you can access both online and, in some cases, physical copy. Here are some recent award winning options for your family:
Live Oak Media is well known for developing and producing high quality read-along recordings of award winning picture books. This might be the time to explore Jon Agee’s The Wall in the Middle of the Book, narrated by Everest de Montebello and Marc Thompson, who together “provide a young knight with a youthful voice and a large ogre with a deep and gravelly voice in this examination of children’s perception.” Somewhat 
older listening readers can find inspiration both as poets and basketball players by tuning into the Odyssey Award winner by Christopher Myers, H.O.R.S.E., narrated in style by the illustrating author and Dion Graham. “The entire production is infused with infectious energy and good-natured competitive fun.”
This year Karadi Tales won the London Book Fair’s award as audiobook publisher of the year. You can find their audiobooks on their website and get started listening with some of your favorite print titles, too, including Shobha Viswanath’s Little Vinaya
This month also brings What On Earth and
Christopher Lloyd’s Absolutely Everything, brand new to the audiobook format and read by the author. This one has much to offer middle grade listeners who love to browse with their eyes and can now enjoy hearing the factual explanations the print book includes. Treat yourself to a clip from it here.
There’s a fantastic free audiobook program for teens underway as well. You don’t need to belong to any institution or even geographic location to take part in this whole world access opportunity to download to keep a pair of free audiobooks each week from AudioFile Magazine’s AudiobookSYNC program for ages 13 and up. Follow the directions on the site for registering, connecting with the Sora app, and then “borrowing” the offerings; we put “borrow” in quotation marks because once borrowed they are yours for over 98 years–plenty of time for listening!