I’ve heard rumors that there are people out there who don’t have TVs, or don’t let their children watch them for hours on end. I’m not one of them, but I definitely enforce lots of screen-free time around my house, especially with endless hours of summer free time that can be spend in much better way.
Listening to books on CD is a great way to spend some time together as a family. I always picture families gathered around the radio in the living room, like they did in pre-television days. Even if you don’t use them that way, they are a great way to while away long hours in the car, or even to encourage your child to have some quiet solitary time in his or her own room. My daughter Amanda is such a bookworm that if she has a book on CD to listen to, she is much more likely to tackle the project of cleaning or organizing her room.
Brown Bear & Friends is read by Gwyneth Paltrow and contains the full text of that story, Polar Bear, Panda Bear, and Baby Bear in English and Spanish. The first two books have been board book staples in my home–beloved by my daughter many years ago and equally appreciated more recently by my son. Eric Carle’s bright creative pictures and Bill Martin’s simple and mellifluous text hold up to many repeat readings. Kyle just turned four, so we don’t read these books much anymore, but I thought that he’d like to follow along with the CD. I put the copies of the book in the car and invit
ed Kyle to follow along with the story. Paltrow uses her professional dramatic skills to read slowly and expressively. You can hear the mom in her as well, as she makes the animal sounds come alive. The music in the background adds a nice touch, resulting in a calming, attention-grabbing few minutes.
There are also a few bonus interviews with Eric Carle, which provide interesting information about his background. For some reason, Kyle found these funny, and asked to listen to the “lobster story” more than once (It’s part of Carle’s story about how he and Bill Martin teamed up to create these books).
This audiobook would be perfect for ages one to three (and their Eric Carle-loving parents).
The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden is a book that Amanda read as part of a school-wide reading project when she was in the first grade. I 
remembered that book from my childhood, so each night I loved introducing her to Chester Cricket who finds himself in Grand Central Station after accidentally getting taken away from his home in Connecticut in a New Yorker’s picnic basket, Harry Cat and Tucker Mouse who live in the subway station and befriend and protect Chester Cricket, and the young boy Mario who keeps Chester as a pet and discovers his unique musical talent. This new audiobook version is read by actor Tony Shalhoub. He does a fantastic job voice-acting and distinguishing each character.
I highly recommend this story, and specifically this audiobook version, suitable for ages four and up. You could listen to this on a trip or on TV-free evenings at home and I think that the whole family from preschooler to tween to Mom and Dad would be rapt with attention.
In Travel Time Stories you’ll find classic fairy tales told in a calming voice (Have you noticed that I’m big on “calm”? If
you had met my children, you’d understand why) introduced by a snippet of classical music. The narrator also provides a bit of background about the particular story or author and then launches into a retelling of such stories as Rumpelstiltskin or The Emperor’s New Clothes. Each CD includes several stories and is over 60 minutes long.
I recommend these collections for children from about five to ten years old, because these aren’t quick cutesy tales–but rather full detailed original stories, with the characteristic strong moral lessons that the Grimm brothers are known for. The telling of the story grabbed Kyle’s attention, and he listened for a bit, but because the content was above his four-year-old comprehension, he soon got lost in the detail.
A unique feature of these CDs is that it comes custom-printed with the child’s name you specify, which adds to the “wow” factor in presentation. You can order one of several Travel Time Stories CDs on their website.
Three readers will win a set of all three CDs. They each target a different age group, but even if you don’t have a child in that age range, these make great gifts–My son has already given a copy of the Cricket in Times Square CD to his best buddy for his fourth birthday. His mom was thrilled, since they have a long car trip coming up this summer. Those Eric Carle books are one of my standard baby gifts, so I’m thinking that the CD would be a wonderful addition.
Leave a comment here if you’d like to win and come back on June 24 to see if you won this or any of the other giveaways designed to help encourage some Creative Summer Days.
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{ 300 comments… read them below or add one }
This sounds wonderful!!
Sounds like the perfect thing for summer car trips!
I’d like to win!
God bless-
Amanda
I would LOVE those!!! I’ve been reading Brown Bear to my kids since they were babies ( & I love Gwyneth Paltrow – she seems like such a devoted mom)and “A Cricket in Times Square” was one of my favorites books to read with my 4th graders. I’m so excited! I’ll keep my fingers crossed!
Absolutely awesome give away!
Hadn’t really thought of books on “tape” for my 4 year old daughter but I love the idea! And would love even more to win them! Thanks!
These look fantastic! Please enter me in the drawing.
We enjoy stories on CD at our house and would love to add these to our collection.
Abbi
We love stories on CD in our house! These look great, and we’d love to add them to our listening repertoire.
What a great giveaway!
Oh, we LOVE audio books here. I haven’t read The Cricket in Times Square with my son yet, and I’m sure he’d enjoy it. Thanks for the contest.
I would love to win this!
Please enter me! The Cricket in Times Square was one of my favorite childhood books and I’d love to share the audio version with my son.
oh i’d love to win these. i don’t think you can ever outgrow eric carle and i’ve never read the cricket in times square.
I would love the chance, thank you!
What a wonderful idea! *crossing fingers*
I’m new to the site and this is great! I will definitely bookmark it! I am also a stay-at-home mom with 2 children!
I’m one of those non-tv people! Love a chance to win!
Fantastic giveaway…we would love these!
this would be great!!
We go on lots of car trips, we’d love this.
Sounds great!!
These would be a great thing to have on long car rides!
I loved A Cricket in Times Square when I was younger and when I found a copy the other day at a garage sale I had to buy it. I love the idea of audiobooks and I would love to win!
awesome! I’m gonna win this one too. thanks, Snap.
The way we handle “quiet time” (we wouldn’t *dare* use the n*p word around here LOL only *babies* take THOSE!) is both Vikings received a small CD-playing boom box for their rooms from DaGrandparents. The deal for quiet time is this: I put in an hour long CD and they have to stay in bed, keep their feet off the floor for 60 minutes doing something quiet. Ninety per cent of the time 2-year-old Pojke conks out. About 50% of the time 4-yr-old Flicka does.
Regardless, we could *really* use some kid-friendly new CD’s around here! LOL
I’d love to win these!
We would love those, thanks for the chance!
I LOVE listening to cd’s with my little ones. Thanks for the chance to win these!
My niece and nephew would LOVE these!
I’m picturing happy car trips for one and all:)
These sound so awesome! We could use new listening materials!!!
I would love to win these to listen to in the car – it would be a wonderful change from the same old kids songs over and over…
Our family loves listening to stories on audio. The kids play a different one every day while they eat their lunch. We would really enjoy something new and different to listen to.
Thanks…these look great!
Those sound great!
These sound like fun. I remember reading a cricket in times square when i was in elementary school. Good stuff!
This would be great to have. The different age groups would be no problem whatsoever. Please enter me.
Oh I used to love to listen to books on tape when I commuted. I don’t have a CD player in my car, but I think the kids would love this. It would sure give me a little quiet time … I’d much rather listen to a book (especially if they enjoyed it to) then the antics they can come up with!
Please enter me. Thanks!
ooooh, i’m a HUGE fan of books on CD….we get them from the library all the time and I would love to win these for my girls!
I love books!
Sign me up for this drawing too! Hey, if I enter enough of these, I’m bound to win one – right?
we are taking a road trip with the girls and can no longer play movie in the car so it should be interesting
My little girls just ADORE books on CD!! They ask for them al lthe time
.
What a great idea for an activity. Best these are great for the car!
My two sons listen to stories every night before they go to sleep! They read a book with me or their dad and then they want a story CD on! Please enter me in your drawing for these wonderful story CDS. Thanks very much…..Cindi
I would love to win this! Please enter me
The kids would love these for our trips back and forth from Florida to North Carolina!
these would be good for car trips-I’m sure the kids would enjoy them
I absolutely LOVE the Brown Bear series of books!!! I read them all to my son (over and over again) and they were a staple for my kindergarten class as well. What a wondeful prize!!!
Great for our grandkids!
neat prize
count me in
i love it
Enter me please!
How perfect!
Me Me Me please pick me, what a great prize to win
These will be perfect for the 12 hour car trips we go on to visit family
Fun for car trips!
Sounds like audiobooks my kids would love. COunt me in!
I so want this!!!
Please enter me–thank you!
I TEACH PRESCHOOL THESE WOULD BE AWESOME!!!
I have potential gift recipients in all those age groups–and these would make wonderful gifts!
These prizes sound wonderful! Thank you.
we’d love to win this
wow
I would love to win these. I love these stories and as a teacher, I know my students would love them too.
They couldn’t have picked a nicer collection of stories to make these CDs with. Classic and timeless. Thanks for the giveaway.
Brown Bear, Brown bear is my daughter’s favorite! She is 2 1/2 and “reads” it to herself all the time! I would LOVE to win these!
nice idea very creative
My daughter listens to audio stories every night while going to sleep. We would love these new additions.
enter me
I sure that my grandson would just love listening to these audio books before going to bed. I hope that I win them for him.
My daughter would love these! Thanks.
Oh, these cds sound so special! I’d love to have them for my grandkidlets to listen too!
Twitter: TheAngelForever
June 18, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Eric Carle is am absolutely favorite as a mommy and teacher. Books on CD are wonderful additions to any traditional library.
Sounds right up my kids’ alley!
Those would come in mighty handy for our car trip to the lake with Big Boppa and Grandma! And for homeschooling and for toddlers coming home from China and for mommies who ADORE children’s books . . .
My little girls would love this! It would be great to have this summer. Thanks for this awesome giveaway!
Wonderful prizes! Thanks.
Thankyou!
hi!!!!!
“Cricket in Times Square” was a favorite of mine too. I believe I still have a stuffed mouse (with pink gingham ears) that I named “Tucker.”
What a great win for the summer!
These cd books sound wonderful. Thank you for offering this and please enter me. Thanks.
These sound wonderful!!
My post with your button is here:
http://www.livinwithme.com/2008/06/fabulous-giveaways/
great giveaway
I think we could use these on one of our road trips when we cannot seem to get any radio stations. I could also see my husband getting into them and enjoying them (although he would not ever admit this)
I’d love these for my kids!
I’ve personally used audio Cds while traveling long distance and it’s great. I’m sure my family would like it as well.
gkstratos @yahoo.com
What a great idea! We have zero books on cd and this would be awesome for a very long upcoming car trip!
Thanks so much,
~Lana~
My kiddos would love these!
I teach English as a second language and could really use this for my collection.
I would love to have these for the visits from my great grandkids! I didn’t realize they even made audio books for kids. Great idea! This old lady learns something new everyday, thanks to the internet!
This is my favorite giveaway so far. AWesome!!
Count me in!
These sound great — please enter me!
would love the chance to win this CD set…sounds like something to listen to before bed with my kids. Just another way of bedtime story nights….
Would love to win!!
Great idea! I bet he’d love to listen to a book on long car rides. Thanks!
Brown Bear is my son’s favorite book right now, and we love to listen to books on CD on our many trips to FL to visit our family!
This is a fantastic idea for traveling. Our library has kids books on CD. We’re going on a trip in 2 weeks and I think I’ll pick some up before we leave. Great idea.
I would love to win. please enter me.thanks,Anne
I don’t want to enter the contest, but I did want to say that my favorite place to get books on tape/cd is my local library. Our library even has read along packages you can check out where there is a cd/tape, along with the corresponding book.
Nice!
We are HUGE Eric Carle fans . . . and have all the books except for Baby Bear (which I have to go find now!). My preschool aged son is really enjoying getting books on CD and tape from the library, too, as it gives him some great indepedence to sit and “read” a book on his own. As an educator, I also know that the CDs are great for bolserting confidence of struggling readers and helping them build good reading skills “independently”.
What a great prize. Please enter my name. Thanks.
This would be fantastic for my kids.
This would be sure useful during quiet time on a super hot summer afternoon.
We love the Brown Bear series, and we’d love to win.
Thanks.
sounds cool
We are one of those no TV families! We love to listen to books in the car when we are driving down to visit the grandparents so these would be wonderful! And we’ve already heard the Cricket in Times Square, but it’s good enough to hear many times!
This would be perfect – my son & I are in the car 1-2 hours each day and he gets tired of me singing to him – but I don’t want him to listen to the trash that is on the radio nowadays.
My little nephew would just love this!
I’d love this for my son, we could use something for quiet time in the summer!
sweet
sounds great count me in
Music is great for learning. Thanks for the chance.
sounds good
i’d like to win
we are taking our grandson on a summer trip and this would be great in the car
This is sure to be a treat!
We’d LOVE this. My daughter can’t sleep without listening to books on tape (this is after we read to her for 1/2 hour), and gets tired listening to the same ones over and over. And my 2 year old adores Brown Bear, Brown Bear.
we love to listen to stories when we drive around. keeps the kids quiet so they can hear the story.
THIS IS SO COOL
Nice giveaway, I want to win !! Thanks !!!
My daughter is taking a long road trip in July with her husband, a two month old, a two year old, and a big dog. A book on cd would probably help on this trip (which sounds like a nightmare to me).
Thank you for having this contest. I really appreciate it.
I just adore a penthouse view
I “do” books on CD for myself but have not yet tried them out on my boys. I’d love to win so I could!
Thanks,
Maureen (jnomaxx at hotmail dot com)
THANK YOU GOD BLESS
I love fairy tales…enter me please.
Love it… please enter me. Oooh.. I hate just love it comments. These would be great for our car rides. Thanks.
These would be perfect for long car rides this summer.
This would be great to have!
My son loves music and anything audio, these would be great for the house and the car!
I would love to add to our audio library. These sound like great options.
owatz (AT) telus (DOT) net
Ahhh! Quiet Time! Thanks!
Pick me. Great prize!
well, we have a tv but no cable. It’s been a year without and I love it! These cd’s sound great!
my kid would love this
These would be perfect for our 8 hour road trip this summer!
Great books!
I would love to win! Thanks for the chance!
ooh – I haven’t had a good audio book in awhile, but I do love them! Thanks!
We’re those people who don’t let our son watch a lot of tv. He’s hooked on listening to books…while reading the book at the same time.
These sound great. Thanks!
Perfect! My kids would love this!
These all sound great! My family could use the Eric Carle one, and the others would make great gifts!
Great prize!
Great stuff!
Love this
I love the books great for doing housework and listening.
These would be a nice prize to win. I want the kids to develope good listening skills and this would help encourage that. Thanks
Kicker and I love Brown Bear and Friends. These cds are great!
i think the kids would really enjoy listening to these. then they can read along when they learn the story.
I love these boks and with a daughter who is 12 I no longer get to read them but we plan on become foster parents so this would be a wonderful gift to win. PICK ME< PICK ME
Would love this for my son!
I would be absolutely thrilled to win these. Our kids love to listen to audio books, and these would be perfect!
Enter me too. I would love to listen to these on a long car trip with my girls.
Great prize! My kids would really enjoy listening to these in the car.
Twitter: ptownmoofus
June 19, 2008 at 10:21 pm
I would LOOOOOOOOVE this and so would my kids. Especially my bookworm girl, age 3! Thanks for all the great giveaways! You girls rock!
i love books, i love to win, so the combination of winning books is great!
Please enter me would love to win. Thanks for the chance
Super prize for a long vacation road trip!
Good Luck to all
We love Eric Carle’s stories and the other two CDs sound very interesting. Thanks!
We love Eric Carle’s stories. The other two CDs also sound very interesting for when the kids grow older. Thanks!
My kids and I love to listen to books on cd while driving around town.
we don’t have any books on CD at our house…so this we be something different and fun. plus i love gwyneth paltrow!!! count our family in….thanks
)
These sound great – they’d keep my daughter entertained on car trips too!
I don’t have any books on CD but this would be great on our 1 hr. daily compute to and from work/daycare.
Thanks!
this is great, my little girl is legally blind so she loves audio books because she does’nt have to strain her eyes trying to see the words.
I’d like to listen
I would love to win these and give them to the childcare center down the street. I’m sure it would bless someone who can’t afford them.
Eric Carle is the best! These books are amazing! Thank you for this opportunity!
Please enter my name.
I’d love to give these a try with my kids.
Great giveaway
We’re driving 13 hours with a 22-month-old, 6 year old, and 10 year old. I think this would cover everyone! Thanks for a chance!
This is great!
what a great idea!
These would be great to listen to during our 12 hour trip to see Great Grandma! How fun! Thanks for this thoughtful giveaway!
This would be great for the kids for our LONG road trip in July to North Dakota! The more unique entertainment I can find for them the better! Please enter us to win! sweetpeacakesetc (at) yahoo (dot) com
I love The Cricket in Times Square! We’d so enjoy these….
Enter me in
Wow, what a cool prize.
Thanks for the chance to win!
New CDS! Hopefully will replace some of the old favorites (which everyone has memorized)
These would be great for summertime trips
Great item for the road trips! Thanks
great trip item!
We would love to have these to listen to on our family road trip this year! Thanks.
I would love to introduce my 3 year old to books on cd. he already has a love for books read to him.
cool my son would love this
This would make for some great car trips!
This would work great for us!
This would be great for my goddaughter, as she loves the Brown Bear book. Thanks!
My Daughter would love these CD’s They would be great to listen to in the car
Not only would my boys love these, I could use ‘em in my first grade classroom! Thanks so much for sharing!
This would be great for road trips!
This is fantastic!
What a wonderful prize!
enter me please
I’d love to win this!
This would be a great gift for my 2 granddaughters.
My daughter would love this.
I’d love to have these CD’s
count me in
I’d like to win this.
This would be a great prize to win. Thanks for the drawing!
Fun and useful!
Thanks
awesome give away!
Great for road trips.
The kids would love these cds!
i love auto books I am lisening to one now….
I’ve never tired auto books, but I’d like to.
These CD’s are great when we are in the car. The kids love them and I don’t have to worry about what is being said on the radio. Thank you so much.
I listen to books on cd’s all the time, when there are no children in my car, but I did not know they had them for children.
Sweet niblets!
We love audiobooks! Very handy on long trips!
lifesavers in the car!
I love this contest
Would love to win these great cd’s!
would love these for my kids
We’ve got some car trips coming up and this would save me a trip to the library (and those pesky overdue fines as the CD’s disappear into the black hole otherwise known as the back seat of my car!)
I would love to win these – thanks for the giveaway!
very cool!
Music, Music, Music – we could always use more Music!
sign me up!
I would love some tales on CD for our summer travels.
This would be good to use when traveling to my moms house!
would love to win this for my grandson!!
This would be great for traveling, thanks for the chance!
grandkids again
Count me in please.
Thanks for making a great site!!
Please enter me into the contest!!
I’d love to have these.
These are great. sign me up.
These are some great CDs. I love that the “bears” is in both English and Spanish.
Great for traveling, enter me.
classic books, would love this!
The Travel Time Stories would be great to turn on while the kids are trying to go to sleep!
I could put these to good use this summer while we go on our road trips!
With 4 kids…we travel by car for long trips. This would be wonderful!
Great contest-my granddaughter would enjoy these books.
These sound great! I’ve never read The Cricket in Times Square. Please enter me. skullaria at gmail (dot)com
I would love to win these. Would make a car trip pleasant.
count me in please
Perfect for the grandkids!
This would be perfect for my one year old son.
This sounds wonderful!!
very sweet thanks
this is perfect for those long car trips when we go visit my sister with the kids. thanks.
This would be great for the long ride to my mother’s house for the kids.
I’m getting ready to go on two long road trips at the end of Summer. These would be so great to help ease the pain of sitting in the car that long!
Thank you for the great contest!
I would love to win this for my grandchildren!
Thanks for the contest!
Good books, thanks
Wow….as a speech therapist in the school system, these books are great!! I love it when sites promote reading to our children. Thanks!
I would love to win this. My son would really like the CD’s.
Those would be fun!
I would so love to win this.
I think my son would be really into this!
Audiobooks always put the little ones to sleep in the car. I would love these
We love audobooks for our travels go Grammie’s house!
We listen to a LOT of audiobooks, so we’d definitely enjoy these!
i love you would u marry me
count me in
My kids love to listen to Books on CD. This would be PERFECT for them!
Great giveaway count me in.
I’d love to win this set for my nephew. Thanks for the chance!
Love Eriv Carle!
i need 5 minutes! thanks!
Music makes for happy kids. Please and thank you.
Nice!
The first two are both wonderful books and the Travel Time Stories sounds great as well! We certainly don’t need stimulation in the car, do we? Thanks for a great contest!
I would so love to win this, for my own children, and for use in my classroom! I’m a teacher, and am always looking for more books to add to my listening center. Thank you!!
I would love to win and listin on our roadtrips this summer.
enter me please
i really think my whole family would love this!!please enter me!
i’d love some calm too! we listen to books in the car all the time. this would be great to add to our listening.
Books on tape; do it for continuing education within my profession. why not for entertainment by the pool, in the vehicle, and in relaxing night time. Many thanks SW
Nice prizes. Thanks for entering me in the contest!
need for roadtrip with grandchildren
I would LOVE to have these to share with the children when I travel on service learning trips. Brown Bear and Friends in Spanish would be so awesome in the Colonias in Mexico.
would love this my girls love to read well i do i like eric carle books
My kids would love this.
* * Perfect gift for my niece! * *
Thanks for the chance to win this giveaway!
Thanks for the contest!
My daughter and family will travel this summer with their 5 year old and 17 month old, and these cd’s would be wonderful to keep the kids occupied (not to mention quiet)!
These would be great for those 6-7 hour roadtrips I know we’ll be taking this summer. Thank you!
These sound perfect for the summer!
please count grandpa in
Please enter me into the contest. Thanks!
Winning this would be great!
I hope I’m not too late because we would LOVE LOVE LOVE these!
WIN WIN WIN!!!