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Audiobooks Our Whole Family Loved on Road Trips (No Screens Needed)
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items We started this list on our summer road trip, when we put on Harry Potter (the Stephen Fry edition) hoping for a little peace and quiet in the car. We tried the full-cast version first but found all the different voices a bit over-stimulating. Stephe...
This is the one that started it all for us. We put it on for a summer road trip hoping to buy a little quiet, and ended up with the whole car asking for "just one more chapter" every time we pulled into a rest stop. We tried the full-cast version fir...
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - Narrated by Stephen Fry
This one was originally just for me and my husband, no kids involved. Within a chapter or two our older one (mine is 9) was leaning in from the back seat asking what happened next. It's not written for kids at all, but Michelle Obama's story turned o...
Becoming
After Harry Potter we wanted something with that same one-narrator calm, and Andy Serkis reading The Hobbit delivers it. He's clearly having fun with it without tipping into the over-the-top territory that made the full-cast Potter edition feel like ...
The Hobbit
Shorter than the others on this list, which makes it a good pick for a quicker drive or a first try if you're not sure audiobooks will hold everyone's attention. Roald Dahl's humor lands well read aloud, and it's familiar enough that even the littler...
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Kate Winslet narrating Matilda is one of those pairings that just works. She brings real warmth to Matilda without overdoing the villain voices, which matters a lot on a long drive. Nobody wants Miss Trunchbull shouted at them for three hours straigh...
Matilda
A natural follow-up once Harry Potter wraps, since it scratches the same magical-world itch without needing seven books to get through. It's shorter too, so it's an easy one to finish on a single leg of a trip rather than stretching across the whole ...
The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe: Narnia
This is the one that kept the momentum going for us after Harry Potter. Same adventure-every-chapter pacing, and it's become a favorite with the older kids especially. Good pick if your family wants another series to work through road trip by road tr...
The Lightning Thief: Percy Jackson Book 1
Holes gets recommended constantly for road trips and now I understand why. The mystery at the center of it keeps everyone paying attention, little kids included, and there's enough going on that nobody gets bored even on a longer stretch of highway.
Holes
We picked this one knowing it would probably lead to a conversation afterward, and it did. It's a gentler listen than some of the adventure books on this list, but it gave us a lot to talk about once it ended, which felt like a nice bonus on a long d...
Wonder
This is the one I'd reach for with a mixed-age group, including younger kids who might not be ready for some of the other books here. It's gentle, it's based on a true story, and it doesn't overstay its welcome, which makes it an easy yes for a short...
The One and Only Ivan
This one's for the older end of our kids as it's a bit more challenging and sci-fi leaning than the rest of the list, but it's a good stretch once they've worked through some of the easier listens here. Good to have in your back pocket for when they'...
A Wrinkle in Time