So, I’ve seen lots of posts about how great audiobooks are, and I agree with all of them. I love listening to audiobooks while I drive or while I’m doing boring housework. They make those things much more interesting!
My husband isn’t much of a reader. He never has been. But he does enjoy listening to audiobooks from time to time. This is the one way that he consumes books. So for that reason alone, I think audiobooks are wonderful–they bring books to people who might not choose to read otherwise.
But it occurred to me just this weekend that audiobooks are truly important to my family for an altogether different reason—one that most people don’t even consider.
My fourteen-year-old son is a struggling reader. He has a cognitive disability (because he had encephalitis as an infant in Haiti), and there’s a good chance he won’t ever be able to read a full-length novel. But his lack of reading skills doesn’t mean he doesn’t crave story. Unfortunately, a lot of the books that are at his reading level are short and don’t allow for great plot or character development. They don’t truly spark his imagination.
That’s where audiobooks come in.
Noah LOVES audiobooks!! Loves them with a deep passion—he has listened to 8 CD audiobooks in a couple of days before. Just this weekend, I posted this on Twitter:
My son is a struggling reader, but he LOVES audiobooks.
He is literally upstairs *cheering* because I told him he can listen to the #PeasproutChen audiobook we checked out at the library. I hear him up there yelling “WOO HOO!” as he puts the CD in.
My heart is happy. ???
— Nicole Hewitt (@NicoleMHewitt) February 23, 2019
That’s when it hit me how important audiobooks are for him. While I might consider audiobooks to be an interesting alternate way to consume books, for him they’re essential. He misses out on a lot by not being able to read, and this is the way that he can connect to stories that can feed his imagination. He may be a struggling reader, but that doesn’t mean he has to miss out on the plethora of wonderful books in this world.
So, today I am truly thankful for audiobooks!
I highly encourage you to introduce audiobooks to children (or anyone) who might otherwise miss out on the benefits of reading!
Do you love audiobooks? Do you know any struggling readers who might benefit from them? I want to know!
This post has been linked up to the 2019 Book Blog Discussion Challenge.
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