Classic Audiobooks Kids Will Actually Listen To

Most parents have tried it. You put on a classic you loved as a kid, settle in, and within ten minutes your child is asking for something else. Old books can be slow to get going, the language takes some getting used to, and a few of them spend whole chapters describing scenery.

But plenty of classics work brilliantly out loud, sometimes better than they do on the page. After building the free audiobook shelves for Little Vox, we've noticed the ones that hold up tend to have a few things in common.

What makes a classic work as an audiobook

Something happens early. If nothing has happened by the end of chapter one, you'll lose most kids.

Short chapters, or separate stories. A book made of self-contained adventures is easy to start and easy to stop.

It's funny. Kids will put up with a lot of old-fashioned language if there's a joke every few pages.

A reader who's enjoying it. With free recordings this matters more than anything. The same book can be a delight or a slog depending on who's reading.

Classics that hold up

Peter Pan, by J. M. Barrie

Funnier and stranger than any of the films. The narrator keeps stopping to make remarks to the grown-ups, Captain Hook is properly menacing, and the Darling children are flying out of the window by chapter three.

The Jungle Book, by Rudyard Kipling

The Mowgli stories are good, but the one kids remember is Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, a mongoose defending a family from two cobras. It might be the most gripping story Kipling ever wrote for children.

A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens

Ghosts, a miser and a deadline. Dickens performed it as a public reading for years, and it shows. The version in the app is read by Glen Hallstrom, and it's short enough to finish in a week of bedtimes.

Anne of Green Gables, by L. M. Montgomery

Anne talks constantly and dramatically about everything, and kids find her hilarious. In the app it's read by Karen Savage.

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, by Howard Pyle

Each chapter is its own adventure, usually involving a fight with a quarterstaff and a feast afterward. The old-style language ("quoth he") sounds odd for about five minutes, and then kids start using it themselves.

Around the World in Eighty Days, by Jules Verne

A bet, a deadline and a lot of things going wrong. The race against the clock keeps kids asking for the next chapter.

Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell

Told by the horse himself. Animal-loving kids get very invested. There are some sad parts, so it's worth knowing that going in.

Treasure Island, The Wind in the Willows and Sherlock Holmes belong on this list too. They're in our guide to free audiobooks for Yoto by age.

Ones to save for later, or try a retelling first

Some great books are just hard going out loud for young kids. Often there's a shorter retelling that keeps the good parts.

Robinson Crusoe. The original has long stretches of Crusoe counting his supplies. James Baldwin's Robinson Crusoe Written Anew for Children keeps the shipwreck, the island and Friday, and drops the inventory.

The Odyssey. Start with The Odyssey for Boys and Girls by Alfred J. Church. The Cyclops is all there.

King Arthur. Malory is tough going even for adults. King Arthur and His Knights by Maude L. Radford is a far gentler way in.

The Swiss Family Robinson. Some kids love it. Others can't stand the father, who stops the action every few pages to lecture about plants and animals. Try a chapter and see which kind you've got.

The Story of Doctor Dolittle. Talking animals and lots of fun, but a heads-up: the original 1920 text has racist passages, mostly in the chapters about Prince Bumpo, that later editions rewrote. Free recordings use the original, so you may want to listen ahead or skip those chapters.

How to get them listening

Listen to the first chapter together. Old language gets much easier after the first ten minutes. Sitting with them through that part makes a big difference.

Start with a quick win. The Velveteen Rabbit or a few Just So Stories before you try anything long.

Check the reader first. In Little Vox you can play a one-minute preview of any recording before you send it to the Yoto. If the voice doesn't suit your kid, try another book or another recording.

Let them repeat. If they want Peter Pan for the fourth time in a row, that's a win. Kids pick up more on each listen.