Skip to main content

Five Faves: Audio Books for Elementary School Kids

 You may remember that back in May I posted about my favorite audio books for early elementary school kids. It got me thinking, I love SO MANY audio books, and some of my favorites are also for that sweet spot of elementary school kids who can enjoy a bit more of a complex story and more intricate characters and emotions. So, here I am again to give you a list of my five favorite audio books— this time for elementary school listeners. All of these books can be found on our digital library app Libby by Overdrive. Happy listening! 


By Ernesto Cisneros 
Narrated by Timothy Andrés Pabon and Gary Tiedemann 
HarperCollins Publishers Inc., Quill Tree Books, 2022. 
Duration: 05:11:11 

In this realistic novel, Isaac and Marco are best friends—though also opposites. Isaac is a star basketball player that has a goal of getting better grades, while Marco is an A+ student who isn’t athletic but dreams of making the basketball team (in hopes that his father will finally take notice of him.) This story is all about sports and school with a healthy dose of what makes a good friend thrown in. 


By Christina Soontornvat 
Narrated by Sura Siu 
Findaway, OrangeSky Audio, 2022. 
Duration: 07:21:38 

In this adventure fantasy novel, Sai has been hired as a mapmaker on an expedition to chart the Sunderlands—a fabled land that may be full of danger, dragons, and treasures. As the voyage gets tougher, Sai has to not only hide who she really is but decide if she wants to endanger those around her or follow her dream to the Sunderlands. 


By Luke Xavier Cunningham 
Narrated by Luke Cunningham 
ZonderKids, 2021. 
Duration: 08:14:06 

In this sci-fi mystery adventure, Leo is an orphan that lives in the Academy of Florence with his pet mechanical monkey and robotic lion. When Leo finds a secret series of tunnels that has a puzzle that seems meant just for him, he discovers that his past—and his future—may be tied to a mystery surrounding a toy company. 


By Anna Rose Johnson 
Narrated by Elise Randall Modica 
Dreamscape Media, 2022. 
Duration: 08:12:59 

In this historical novel, Norvia is a young girl with biracial heritage who grew up on Beaver Island on Lake Michigan. When her family moves to the mainland, suddenly they must hide their Ojibwe heritage. Norvia’s ma gets remarried, so then she must also learn to navigate new family relationships and expectations while trying to find her place in her family and new school. 


By Celia C. Pérez 
Narrated by Victoria Villarreal 
Listening Library Books on Tape, 2022. 
Duration: 08:45:35 

This is yet another great realistic fiction book. Addie is a twelve-year-old girl who has to make a big decision when her step-father asks to adopt her. Addie likes her step-dad just fine, but since her mother has never told her who her real father is, Addie wants to figure that out before she makes such a big decision. Looking to her past brings Addie to family members that she never knew and helps her find her own way to deciding just who she is.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Fowl Play

  Fowl Play By Kristin O'Donnell Tubb New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2024. Fiction 277 pages. Still reeling from her beloved uncle's death, Chloe Alvarez is comforted and confused when at his last will and testament reading, Uncle Will gifts her his African Grey parrot, Charlie. Charlie has a robust vocabulary and loves to make Alexa requests for her favorite songs, but when she starts saying things like, "homicide," and "cyanide," Chloe becomes convinced that Uncle Will may have met his demise by murder instead of a genetic disease, as was previously thought. Ultimately, bringing in her brother, Grammy, and Uncle Frank (and of course Charlie,) Chloe's ragtag and adoring family support her search for answers ---going on stakeouts, engaging in fast pursuits, and searching for clues. But as the suspects stack up and the mystery grows, Chole will learn that the process of death and grieving is complicated, and in the end her Uncle Will's words that, ...

Review: Alice with a Why

Alice with a Why By Anna James New York: Penguin, 2026. Fiction. 240 pgs. In 1919, in the aftermath of the first World War, Alyce is living with her grandmother in the English countryside. Her grandmother, also named Alice, tells Alyce (with a y) stories from her childhood adventures in a wonderful land filled with white rabbits and mad hatters. Alyce doesn't really believe the silly stories, she just misses her father who was killed in the war. One day, Alyce receives a mysterious invitation to tea, and subsequently falls into a pond where she is transported to Wonderland. Her grandmother, of course, is that Alice. Alyce is prompted by the Mad Hatter, Dormouse, and March Hare to seek out the Time Being and put an end to the war between the Sun King and the Queen of the Moon. Thus begins Alyce's adventure through Wonderland. I have a certain soft spot for the original story of Alice in Wonderland. It is one of my particular favorites and I often have a hard time reading new int...

Review: Blood in the Water

Blood in the Water By Tiffany D. Jackson New York: Scholastic, 2025. Fiction. 255 pages. 12-year-old Kaylani McKinnon can't help but feel like a fish out of water. She's a Brooklyn girl spending her summer on Martha's Vineyard surrounded by wealthy family friends in their mansion. All she really wants is to stay home all summer where she her incarcerated father can easily reach her, and she can keep working to find ways to prove him innocent of fraud and embezzlement. Despite her protests, she finds herself on the island with the snooty granddaughters of her host. Soon after Kaylani's arrival, a popular teen boy is found murdered and she decides to conduct her own investigation. As she tries to discover what happened to Chadwick Cooper, Kaylani finds that not everything on Martha's Vineyard is as perfect as it appears. Thrillers for middle grade readers can be hard to find, but Tiffany D. Jackson succeeds in her first middle grade novel. A quick moving plot, tight d...