Recommended Listening and Audiobooks

1980s-era tape cassette player, a box booming with sound!

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Q. I got to explain to an older patron today that audiobooks can be downloaded! She last listened to an audiobook when they were still on cassette tapes.  Now that she knows, she would love to give her 13-year-old granddaughter something else to listen to on her tiny music player. I told her about the Odyssey Award. Does ALA have any lists of audiobooks for children?

A. The annual Notable Children's Recordings list that comes out of ALA's Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC, a division of ALA) has always been a mix of children's music and story titles, with the format evolving from lists of cassettes to CDs to downloadable files.

If the titles in the Notable Children's Recordings list seem too young, ALA's Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA, a division of ALA) has their annual list, Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults.

See the ALA Recommended Listening page for additional recommendations and resources, including the Booklist Editors' Choice Top of the List.