Books have been one of the biggest joys in our home — not just for quiet time, but as a way to spark curiosity, imagination, and a love of learning. We mix things up with audio, physical, and visual books so the kids can experience stories in different ways. Here’s how we make it fun (and tasty) with “book recipes” your family can try too.
Audio: Stories You Can Hear Anywhere
My kids could spend hours listening to audiobooks if they could. Some of our favorite ways to listen include:
- Audible – great for series and classics
- Yoto Players – we have two minis and plan to get a third for Christmas. They usually live in the kids’ bedroom but travel on road trips too.
- Library Audiobooks – free and easy to check out!
- Libro.fm – perfect for supporting indie bookstores
We’ll often take purchased audiobooks from Libro.fm and add them to “make your own” Yoto cards so the kids can play them anytime.
Book Recipes: Audio Fun
1. Snacks & Stories
- Ingredients: Carrots, cucumbers, hummus, apples, peanut butter, audiobook (Yoto recommended!)
- Instructions: Lay out the snacks and press play. While munching, the kids dive into their story.
- Shop Yoto Cards for Kids
2. Color & Listen
- Ingredients: Watercolors, paper, paintbrushes, audiobook of James and the Giant Peach (Audible or Yoto card), optional coloring page of Peaches
- Instructions: Play the audiobook while the kids paint. Once the book is finished (usually within a week), watch the movie together. My son has listened to this book five times — and we’ve watched the movie twice!
- Download a Peach Coloring Page from MondayMondala our favorite coloring page site!
3. Book-to-Movie Magic
- Ingredients: Audiobook + its matching movie
- Ideas: James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Harry Potter series, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, The BFG, The Witches
- Instructions: Listen first in the car, at home, or during bedtime. Watch the movie after finishing the audiobook for a full story experience.
Long Drive Tip: Movies are reserved for car trips longer than an hour. Audiobooks fill in the in-between. Check out these kid headphones around $10.
Some Favorite Yoto Audiobooks:
- 7-year-old: Geronimo Stilton, The Witches, Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, The Gruffalo, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Enormous Crocodile, Dragons Love Tacos 1 & 2, I Eat Poop, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
- 4-year-old: Princess Collection, Daniel Tiger, Frozen Songs, The Hungry Caterpillar
Some of our Favorite Libro.fm Finds ($0.99 deals): Pretty Perfect Kitty-Corn, How Does Soap Clean Your Hands?, How Do Kids Make Money?, Mindful Mr. Sloth, Party Hearty Kitty-Corn, The Golden Acorn, Waiting on Mr. Sloth, Gustavo, The Shy Ghost, One Million Trees
Physical: Hands-On Reading Fun
There are so many ways to help kids fall in love with books:
- Library Visits – Let kids pick their own stacks to bring home.
- Interactive Books – MinaLima’s Harry Potter series is a big hit. I first saw them at Costco and bought them. The kids wanted to read them every night! I even use a fun English accent when reading. We finished the first book quickly because we read consistently. The illustrations are beautiful and we can’t wait for the fourth one illustrated by Karl James Mountford.
- Harry Potter Book Parties – After finishing a book, we decorate the living room, sip “butterbeer” (Olipop cream soda), eat chocolate snitches ($6 for 50 wings on Amazon), and watch the movie. A fun family tradition that brings the story to life.
- Graphic Novels as Reading Buddies – My 8-year-old is LOVING Wings of Fire. He’s on the verge of reading fluently, so we check out both the regular novel and the graphic novel from the library. We read side-by-side — I read aloud while he follows along in the graphic novel. Thanks Grandma Dowdle for buying us both sets for his birthday!
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Visual: Books You Watch & Listen To
Some days I don’t want to read aloud but still want the kids to be read to. While they love audiobooks, seeing the pages while hearing the story adds a different layer.
Storyline Online is a free, Emmy® Award-winning program where celebrated actors read children’s books alongside animated illustrations.
Favorites:
- Arnie the Doughnut — Chris O’Dowd
- I Need My Monster — Rita Moreno
- Maddi’s Fridge — Jennifer Garner
- The Sound of Silence — Simu Liu
- When a Dragon Moves In — Mark Duplass
- Library Lion — Mindy Sterling
- Snappsy the Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book) — David Harbour
It’s a perfect mix of audio + visuals to keep kids engaged even when attention is wiggly.
Explore More: Watch Storyline Online Videos
Closing Thoughts
Mixing audio, physical, and visual books has made reading a joy in our home — not just something we “do” for school. With snacks, crafts, themed parties, road trip listening, and movie tie-ins, books have become part of everyday life, sparking creativity, curiosity, and a lifelong love of learning.
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