Audible Audiobooks for Back to School

This post is sponsored by Audible

With back-to-school season in full swing, you likely are doing more driving around whether it is carpooling to and from school or driving to soccer or dance or music practice and other events.

I don’t love spending a lot of time in the car, but when we have to, a good audiobook makes it a lot more fun.

I’ve put together 3 lists of 5 favorites – one list for little listeners who are just getting into audiobooks (think 3-6 year olds!), one for older elementary and early middle school listeners with books the whole family can enjoy, and one for adult listening when you’re in the car solo and can pick just the right title for YOU!

All of these titles are available from Audible and if you’re not a current Audible member, you can sign up here (if you’re new to Audible, you’ll get a free month to try it out! I also have an Audible 101 post here to get you started).

Audiobooks for Little Listeners

Mercy Watson by Kate DiCamillo
There’s something just so delightful about a couple who treats their pig like a child. My girls are obsessed with these books and I like that they are a little longer (more like 20 minutes for each story) and each Audible set has 2 stories on them.

The Frog & Toad Audio Collection by Arnold Lobel
Read by the author, these are just SO delightful. They have fun music and I just feel happy whenever I hear these in the car or playing in our house. I love every single one of these sweet stories and my girls have listened to the whole collection a million times.

The Princess in Black by Shannon Hale
My girls absolutely LOVE The Princess in Black series and listening to them is just as fun as reading them. This is books 1 – 3 and books 4 – 6 are here. You may know Julia Whelan because she’s narrated lots of super popular books, including Educated and The Great Alone.

James Herriot’s Treasury for Children by James Herriot, read by Jim Dale
I grew up on James Herriot – my mom is a huge fan – and she introduced my girls to his sweet stories about being a farm vet. She gave us this collection that’s meant especially for children and it’s just wonderful. And, just when you thought his stories couldn’t get any better, they’re read by Jim Dale of Harry Potter audiobook fame.

Ribsy by Beverly Cleary
Oh, how I LOVE Beverly Clearly. I think her books might be some of the best children’s books ever written and they’re especially delightful on audio. I’m fairly sure Bart and I could recite this entire book from memory since Star listened to this on repeat the year she was 3.

Audiobooks for the Whole Family

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
When I was working more seriously on reading all the Newbery winners, I picked this one up, knowing exactly nothing about it. A story about potters in 12th century Korea might not sound thrilling but this book is PHENOMENAL. I listened to it again with my girls a few years ago and we all were entranced. I may have gotten teary in the driver’s seat multiple times. (Full review here)

Savvy by Ingrid Law
I just LOVE this book about a family where everyone gets a magical talent (a savvy) when they turn 13. But just before Mibs’ 13th birthday, a tragedy occurs and now Mibs is desperately hoping her savvy will turn out to be something that can save her family. This is one that I mentioned in my list of the MOST listened to audiobooks in our Audible library. (Full review here)

Ghost by Jason Reynolds
Ghost is a very fast runner – starting with a run from his dangerous father when he was a little boy. Now, he mostly runs away from his problems until an Olympic-runner-turned-coach sees Ghost’s incredible raw talent and wants to help him harness it for the Junior Olympics. But Ghost will have to stop running from his past in order for that to happen and that might be the hardest thing he’s ever done. This is the first book in a four-book series, each of which focuses on a different member of the track team. Jason Reynolds is a big name in the world of children’s literature for good reason – this book is FIRE.

Framed by James Ponti
Ella has loved the City Spies books, so when I discovered this mystery series by the same author, I snagged all three of them for Ella who blew through them in a week. This series follows Florian Bates who is the only kid that the FBI Director has on speed dial (and a kid that a whole lot of criminals want taken care of). After a move to DC, Florian and his new friend Margaret uncover a mystery that involves a major crime ring, the FBI and the National Gallery. It’s up to them to solve the mystery AND get their homework done.

The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicholas Day
This one of my nonfiction picks for the 2024 Everyday Reading Summer Reading Guide. It was the perfect book to read before our family trip to Paris, and it made the visit to the Louvre more fun (not only does it talk about the theft of the Mona Lisa but also about the painting of it, Leonardo da Vinci, and other famous artists). I had no idea about a lot of this history and it’s fast paced and well done! It’s fun for adults and kids alike!

Audiobooks for Adults

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand
This is hands down the MOST fun audiobook you can listen to (and the ones I’ve gotten more positive feedback on than almost any other book I’ve ever recommended). It’s based VERY loosely on the true story of Lady Jane Grey who was Queen of England for a whopping 9 days before she was killed. It’s full of laughs and truly ridiculously plot twists and it’s probably the most fun I’ve ever had listening to an audiobook. (Full review here).

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes
If you grew up with The Princess Bride like I did, there almost can’t be a more fun book than this one. I LOVED all the behind-the-scenes about the making of this movie. After I convinced Bart to listen to it too, we watched the movie again and loved it even more, knowing so many funny things about various scenes and actors. Best of all, they managed to get almost the entire original cast to record their stories in the book, so hearing their voices is an extra bonus. (Full review here)

The Chemist by Stephanie Meyer
This basically feels like a Jason Bourne movie in audiobooks form, with a female interrogation officer for one of the U.S. government agencies. She’s known as The Chemist because she uses chemical cocktails to get information out of her subjects, but now she’s less worried about her job and more worried about her life because the agency is now trying to kill her. This was just a FUN listen with lots of lauhg-out-loud moments – say what you will about Stephenie Meyer, but she can write some SNAPPY dialogue. (Full review here)

The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth
This was a book from the 2020 Summer Reading Guide and it’s SO fun – the audiobook is especially good. A mother-in-law who turns up dead told from the point of view of the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law. I loved this one.

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawand
You know it’s a good audiobook when you listen while driving literally coast-to-coast (North Carolina to California) and you wish for MORE time to listen. This book focuses on the idea that today medicine has huge abilities to fight against disease, but eventually everyone is going to die and how, from a medical and from a personal perspective, the best way to face that reality is. I know that sounds so dull and also depressing, but it’s really anything but. I couldn’t get enough and I secretly think EVERYONE should read this book. (It has more than 46,000 reviews on Amazon with an average of 4.7, so it’s not just me who loves this book). (Full review here)

And if you’d like a printable copy of this back to school Audible audiobook list that you can take to your library or screenshot on your phone for easy access, just pop in your email address below and it’ll come right to your inbox!