Name: Spreading the Feast Gathering
Start: 2025-07-11T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-07-12T23:59:59-05:00
Location: LaGrange, KY

Tagged: audiobooks

This topic has 24 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 10 months ago by jm.

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August 3, 2013 at 2:11 pm
Angelina
Participant
Just noticing on the OP the mention of reluctant reader, so wanted to add something, also on the subject of librivox.org:
I had what I thought was a reluctant reader – when DS was 6.5 to around 7.5 years. Looking back (he is now 8.5) I realize he was not so much reluctant as much as frustrated that he could only read (independently) at a basic level. He WANTED to read good and more complex stories than he could manage. He loved it when I would read to him, could listen for hours, but when it came to reading on his own it was only ever short spurts, and he was easily distracted or bored.
Librivox got us beyond this, but I think it only happened because we used it alongside a physical copy of the book. When I would turn on a librivox.org recording, I would only do so when I had a physical copy of the book for him to sit and diligently follow along with. Two chapters at a time and then an oral narration. Doing this daily (alongside our read alouds where I am the only one with a copy of the book) took his reading level from gr 2/3 to grade 5/6 in ONE year. I’m not really one to care about “levels” but thought it worth mentioning. The best thing that happened to us via Librivox was that my son’s decoding skills and reading ability skyrocketed –alongside enjoyment of great literature. Best of both worlds! Thought I would share in case this helps someone 🙂
Blessings, Angie
August 3, 2013 at 2:13 pm
sheraz
Participant
Agreeing with Angie – reading alongside has done wonders for my dd too.
August 3, 2013 at 2:56 pm
Karen
Participant
I’m going to try this with my reluctant reader – she’s 7 1/2 yo. And easily frustrated.
August 3, 2013 at 4:15 pm
Wings2fly
Participant
Thanks Sheraz! I did not know Raggedy Ann was on LibriVox. What others do you get from there that are not on the AO list?
August 3, 2013 at 4:47 pm
sheraz
Participant
I don’t know for sure. =) I have been looking up the books mostly from SCM recommended lists, my bookcases, favorite authors, AO, a recommendation from someone on this forum…just whatever.
I guess sometimes it’s based on whatever I am interested in at the moment. When I print a booklist I often take the time to quickly check them against the libivox catalog. I have a dd that learns much better with audio and a book together, so we use them as often as I can so I can be free to do something besides read out loud all day. =)
I have found several of the Burgess books as audios since we love them:
http://librivox.org/the-adventures-of-buster-bear-by-thornton-w-burgess/ which is a 106 Days of Creation book
and there are many more:
https://catalog.librivox.org/search.php?title=&author=Thornton+Burgess&status=all&action=Search
Jane Austen:
https://catalog.librivox.org/search.php?title=&author=Jane+Austen&status=all&action=Search Pride and Prejudice, Emma, more
Louisa May Alcott:
https://catalog.librivox.org/search.php?title=&author=Louisa+May+Alcott&status=all&action=Search Little Women, Little Men, Jo’s Boys and more
Shakespeare – I love this! Most are his actual plays. We read along in our books as we listen if I don’t have a good BBC movie version:
https://catalog.librivox.org/search.php?title=&author=Shakespeare&status=all&action=Search
Anne of Green Gables series:
https://catalog.librivox.org/search.php?title=&author=Lucy+Maud+Montgomery&status=all&action=Search
Lots of the Yesterday’s Classics and several of the Heritage History’s collections are on there. I did a blog post about the YC collections that were on audio through Librivox here:
http://mysouldothdelight.wordpress.com/2013/02/27/yesterdays-classics-ancient-greece-books-librivox-audio-books/
August 3, 2013 at 7:20 pm
Wings2fly
Participant
Thanks Sheraz! I should check there more often. I will look into YC and HH on Librivox.
August 3, 2013 at 8:27 pm
Karen
Participant
Talking about listening to books – how do you all listen?
Currently, If we want to listen to a book, we have to be in the school room. Four desks, no chairs, no pillows, no carpet on the floor. Not very listening-inducing. It seems like in order to listen in the school room, we have to be coloring.
When we listen to me read aloud in the living room, we’re fine with just laying around on the couch/recliner/floor (carpeting).
Do we need more technology in our lives???? *L*
August 3, 2013 at 9:27 pm
sheraz
Participant
I burn it to disc and take it wherever we are. I have kept the discs so that when I open my living book library they can be available too.
I recently pulled out puzzles on the kitchen table while we listen. We also color, cook, paint, use playdough, eat lunch, listen in the car on the way to medical appointments, etc. – depends on the book and the day. I made a special drawn narration book that they can draw in while listening as long as it is about the book we’re listening to.
Does your school room have a place for an area rug with a basket of pillows?
August 4, 2013 at 12:34 am
Karen
Participant
Not really. IT’s rather small – and cramped, with my desk and four kiddos. I’m thinking about ditching the individ. desks adn going to a table. I’m open to all options right now!!!
August 4, 2013 at 5:23 am
jm
Participant
OP here! Thanks for all the ideas. I especially love the direct links to the librivox recordings as we try to do most of our “read alouds” as audiobooks.
Thanks too Angelina for sharing your experience – she is a reluctant reader and a reluctant listener. You are right that she is at the age where she can’t quite read the stories she likes and that is part of the problem.
Since we got onto the topic of audiobooks, I just wanted to mention http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/ in case some-one finds it useful.
It’s like a small version of librivox but the readers tend to be of a higher standard and there is one reader for a whole book. They have also got a nicely formatted copy of the text which you can save as a pdf.
Also, one of our favourite librivox readers has her own website where she has posted audiobooks in addition to those she has recorded for librivox.
http://kayray.org/
Thanks again for all the suggestions!