Listen and learn: why audiobooks are great for your child

Audiobooks can improve your child’s reading by increasing their exposure to a range of vocabulary and syntax and helping them to engage intellectually with the content.

According to research from the National Literacy Trust, listening to an audiobook requires the same cognitive skills as reading in print and supports language comprehension skills and the ability to understand and retain information in the same way reading a book does. Read-along book and CD sets can also help them with the link between the printed and spoken word. And with research suggesting that children’s listening skills are becoming poorer, with a knock-on effect on academic success, audiobooks could help your child become a better listener.

All children can benefit from listening to audiobooks, but they may be of particular advantage to reluctant readers. ‘If a child finds decoding or comprehension difficult, audiobooks can make literature more accessible,’ says Irene. ‘They get to hear the story in real time, rather than it becoming disjointed as they struggle through the text. It gives them the opportunity to become absorbed in the book.’

Audiobooks can also help children who find reading tedious. ‘They’re great for restless children because they can be doing something else at the same time,’ Irene explains. ‘It’s quicker to listen to a story than to read it yourself, so they get a faster pay-off.’ Plus University of Memphis research shows that we’re more likely to persevere with an audiobook that doesn’t immediately grab us than we would with a book, so they could help build stamina for stories if your child loses interest in books quickly.

So when and how can you use audiobooks? ‘You can listen any time: in the car, the bath, at bedtime to help your child wind down, or just have one on in the background during the day,’ Irene says. ‘Children go through phases when they’re less interested in reading, so listening to audiobooks can keep up their exposure to literature.’

But while audiobooks can buy you some peace and quiet, listening with your child is beneficial, too. ‘It can be a good bonding experience, and improve your own storytelling skills,’ Irene says. Research also suggests that to help your child get the most from an audiobook, it’s important to ask questions about the story, boosting critical thinking skills.

There’s a vast range of children’s audiobooks available on CD or to download.

• Libraries are a good (and cost-effective) source of story CDs.
• You can also download audiobooks – some free of charge – onto phone, tablet or computer from websites such as Audible and iTunes.
• LibriVox offers a large collection of free audiobooks of much-loved children's books (fairy tales and classic stories like The Railway Children and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) to download.
• Puffin's Roald Dahl audio app is a library of new recordings of 19 of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s titles read by celebrity readers including Kate Winslet and David Walliams, with brand-new sound effects. The first chapter of every book is free, so you can sample before you buy.
• Some children’s books contain QR codes that, when scanned with a smartphone, link to the audio version and interactive features.

Okay, so audiobooks might have slightly fusty connotations, but children’s versions are far from boring, thanks to celebrity narrators such as Stephen Fry, Anne Hathaway and Matt Lucas. ‘A good narrator can transform the story, and your child’s understanding and enjoyment of it,’ says Laurence. ‘There’s something about being read aloud to that never fails to be comforting, regardless of your age.’