Staff Picks
Ear Reading Favorites for 9, 10, and 11 Year Olds
- Laura Rogers
- Wednesday, May 15, 2019
Collection
Listening to audiobooks is good for all ages, regardless of reading level. Students need audiobooks to increase their fluency, build vocabulary, and enjoy a broadening base of background knowledge that will boost their learning on many levels.
For students that experience dyslexia or other reading challenges, audiobooks can level the playing field and bring their vocabulary up to the level of their quicker reading peers.
Listen in on some of these ear reads!
The One and Only Ivan
Published in 2013
"Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all. Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he's seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line. Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home - and his own art - through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it's up to Ivan to make it a change for the better. Katherine Applegate blends humor and poignancy to create Ivan's unforgettable first-person narration in a story of friendship, art, and hope."--container
The Story of the World. Volume 2
Middle Ages
Published in 2007
Now more than ever, other countries and customs affect our everyday lives-and our children need to learn about the people who live all around the globe. Susan Wise Bauer has provided a captivating guide to the history of the ancient world. Written in an engaging, straightforward manner, weaving world history into a storybook format. This volume covers the major historical events from the years 400 to1600; from the fall of Rome through the rise of the Renaissance.
The War That Saved My Life
Published in 2015
A young disabled girl and her brother are evacuated from London to the English countryside during World War II, where they find life to be much sweeter away from their abusive mother.
See You in the Cosmos
Published in 2017
11-year-old Alex Petroski loves space and rockets, his mom, his brother, and his dog Carl Sagan, named for his hero, the real-life astronomer. All he wants is to launch his golden iPod into space the way Carl Sagan (the man, not the dog) launched his Golden Record on the Voyager spacecraft in 1977. From Colorado to New Mexico, Las Vegas to L.A., Alex records a journey on his iPod to show other lifeforms what life on earth, his earth, is like. But his destination keeps changing. And the funny, lost, remarkable people he meets along the way can only partially prepare him for the secrets he'll uncover ... from the truth about his long-dead dad to the fact that, for a kid with a troubled mom and a mostly not-around brother, he has way more family than he ever knew.
Bud, Not Buddy
Published in 2006
Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father--the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids.
Redwall
Published in 1995
When the peaceful life of ancient Redwall Abbey is shattered by the arrival of the evil rat Cluny and his villainous hordes, Matthias, a young mouse, determines to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior which, he is convinced, will help Redwall's inhabitants destroy the enemy.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Published in 2005
Adventures of some English children as they journey to the land of Narnia and find fantastic creatures and epic battles between good and evil.
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
Published in 2010
Living in her parents' dilapidated mountain hut, young Minli enjoys listening to her father's tales of the Jade Dragon and the Old Man on the Moon. Delighted by the tales, Minli sets off to find the wise Old Man. Along the way, she meets a variety of colorful characters, including a friend's dragon.
The Lightning Thief
Published in 2005
In the first installment of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, twelve-year-old Percy can't seem to get his act together. Unable to stay out of trouble at school, Percy finds himself outcast from his peers. However, he soon learns that he is actually the son of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea. Soon, he makes friends when he enters a school for demigods. However, his troubles have just begun as he is charged with the task of recovering Zeus' stolen lightning bolts.
The Sword of Summer
Published in 2015
Magnus Chase has always been a troubled kid. Since his mother's mysterious death, he's lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, keeping one step ahead of the police and the truant officers. One day, he's tracked down by a man he's never met-a man his mother claimed was dangerous. The man tells him an impossible secret: Magnus is the son of a Norse god. The Viking myths are true. The gods of Asgard are preparing for war. Trolls, giants and worse monsters are stirring for doomsday. To prevent Ragnarok, Magnus must search the Nine Worlds for a weapon that has been lost for thousands of years. When an attack by fire giants forces him to choose between his own safety and the lives of hundreds of innocents, Magnus makes a fatal decision. Sometimes, the only way to start a new life is to die...
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Published in 1999
In the first book of J.K. Rowling's critically-acclaimed Harry Potter series, Harry doesn't think he's anything special, so he's stunned when a giant shows up explaining that Harry is a wizard with a mysterious past. Suddenly, Harry is thrown into a wonderful new world at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he soon learns that the school is not without a dark side.
Esperanza Rising
Published in 2001
Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave their life of wealth and privilege in Mexico to go work in the labor camps of Southern California, where they must adapt to the harsh circumstances facing Mexican farm workers on the eve of the Great Depression.
Holes
Published in 1999
As further evidence of his family's bad fortune which they attribute to a curse on a distant relative, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a sense of himself.
The Hobbit
Published in 1991
Bilbo Baggins, a respectable, well-to-do hobbit, lives comfortably in his hobbit-hole until the day the wandering wizard Gandalf chooses him to take part in an adventure from which he may never return.
Save Me a Seat
Published in 2016
Ravi has just moved to the United States from India and has always been at the top of his class; Joe has lived in the same town his whole life and has learning problems--but when their lives intersect in the first week of fifth grade they are brought together by a common enemy (the biggest bully in their class) and the need to take control of their lives.
Charlotte's Web
Published in 1970
Wilbur the pig befriends Charlotte, a spider who spins her web above his pen. When the farmer decides to send Wilbur to his fate, Charlotte must act fast to save her friend.
One Crazy Summer
Published in 2010
Eleven-year-old Delphine and her younger sisters Vonetta and Fern travel to Oakland to meet their mother, Cecil, who abandoned their family years earlier. But even when Cecil gets them to her house, she shows no interest and seems to view them as nothing but a nuisance. Cecil's cold, unloving attitude leaves the girls wishing for the mother-daughter connection they've never had. But Cecil acts remarkably different after she sees her daughters at the Black Panther rally, where they recite a poem Cecil herself had written. At that point, Cecil's attitude toward her daughters begins a remarkable change. Rita Williams-Garcia has been a finalist for the National Book Award, and her novel One Crazy Summer was recognized as a New York Times Editor's Choice. Narrator Sisi Aisha Johnson relates the story with the refreshing honesty of a tale told through young Delphine's innocent eyes.
Brown Girl Dreaming
Published in 2014
Stories of the author's childhood from the '60s and '70s told in prose.