Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret, winner of the 2008 Caldecott Medal, is one of more than 60 children’s audiobooks recently added to iTunes.
Scholastic’s compelling collection of children’s audiobooks also includes such endearing classics as The Velveteen Rabbit and The Little Red Hen, entries from the popular Jigsaw Jones and Clifford the Big Red Dog series, Gary D. Schmidt’s Newbery Honor-winner, The Wednesday Wars, and much, much more.
See the new Scholastic audiobook collection at Apple’s iTunes Store here: here.
So much for learning how to read.
How about something to listen to while eating breakfast or taking a bath. Any kids? There are several ways to learn, reading is one, listening is another.
MacMental: I second that. How pathetic, buying your kid an audiobook. Unless the idea is that the kid follows along with the real thing.
——RM
Audio books when you’re traveling is actually a great thing. I would never let my kids always just listen, but many get car sick reading while in motion, so having this available for trips or listening to as they fall asleep in bed is a nice thing.
Audio Books are great at teach really young kids to read.
As long as the kid as the book and reads along too and the person reading the book does so in a way that keeps the Kids attension and intrest. Otherwise it’s just a waste of time.
A godsend for visually impaired people.
Text Readers that read the HTML in webpages are also amazing tools for the visually impaired.
How can they make an audio book of “The Invention of Hugo Cabret”? The story is told in pictures with almost no words.
Is adding children’s books to iTunes another attempt at luring Windows users over to the Mac?
“So much for learning how to read.” he proclaims as he throws his hands in the air and walks off in disgust.
MacMental is myopic.
You talk as though audio books are displacing real books! Or that audio books are somehow undermining our education system.
I know you don’t believe that. In fact, from your words and delivery, you sound like you are in a state of depression.
Those with a desire to learn how to read will do so, those who don’t will do like they always do and it won’t include books of any type.
Good one Sarasota!
Subtle yet effective. And especially fitting after reading some of the blogs over at ZDNet.
My first reaction was the same as MacMental’s, but the rest of the comments above were eye opening. Good thoughts on the value of children’s audio books. I like reading to my granddaughters, but become brain dead after reading the same book over and over. This could definitely allow preschoolers to learn to love books (by listening along with the physical book in hand) even when parents, and others, are not available. I also remember my daughter becoming very carsick when trying to look at books on trips. I would much rather the kids listening to books thru their iPods on trips than the junk music they might turn to otherwise (talking about pre-teens and teens at this point).
Uhm, I remember in Kindergarten the teacher read to us. And, in First Grade, I read to the rest of the class. It’s not at all unusual to listen to a story being read.
I just think it’s funny when Steve Jobs said that “nobody reads anymore” when asked his reaction to the Amazon kuddle or whatever it’s called.
So he pumps a few more audiobooks onto iTunes. Hilarious and brilliant!
Does anyone think that Amazon’s purchase of Audible will get that component yanked from iTunes?
Kids need to read and be read to to learn. Nothing replaces a parent reading to a child…….but let’s face it, everyone is too busy! It’s a shame really, but that’s how it is! My children listened to audio books and sat for hours drawing pictures of the images they saw in their minds….. would build with Legos as they listened….. developing their creativity, and the TV was off! (AND I always have and still do read with them) At school, audio books are great for centers, when the teacher needs time to work with individual kids! Audio books are just another tool to use to keep them learning………….. on the go!
Anyone who is stating “so much for teaching your kids to read” either you do not have children, or you are not paying attention to the various learning styles that exist. Reading is one aspect of education, listening and comprehension is another.