Your favorite read-aloud book for driving trips
 

We have a long driving trip coming up and I'm curious if you have a favorite, entertaining book that would be appropriate for adults and a 10 year old girl. Recently just my husband and I were in Savannah and I read aloud "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" while we were driving and it was so enjoyable. Now we need a good "family" book. Thanks for your thoughts.

If you haven't already read them, the Harry Potter series on tape might be a good choice for your family. It's a series that appeals to children as well as adults and should keep you entertained on the long drive.

I'll second the tip about Harry Potter series. We get them from the library. Start with the first one, of course. They are especially good if you've already read the books because you notice a lot of nice little touches in the audio tapes.

Have you ever checked out <BR>www.recordedbooks.com? They have hundreds of titles, for all ages, that you can rent and keep for two weeks. The price includes return postage and a mailing box or envelope. They have books on tape and CDs.

Fifteen years ago we drove coast to coast with boys 10 and 14 and a girl 10. I ordered "The Secret Garden," which my boys only tolerated grudgingly, and "Around the World in 80 Days" which was enjoyable at first but went on too long. To my surprise, the book that all of us really got into was Jack London's "Call of the Wild." But what my kids loved the most was when their dad read some book about a mouse on a motorcycle (or was it a sportscar?) and made wonderful motor noises with puffed cheeks. Your daughter would probably love "Anne of Green Gables," and the Harry Potter books sound great too, for everyone, not just kids.

I remember fondly listening to the entire OZ series -- there's so much more than just the Wizard of Oz. <BR> <BR>Don't overlook Books on Tape (www.booksontape.com), but first try your local public library -- mine has a large collection of books on cassette and will let you borrow them for long enough to take a trip.

I believe the book Diane is referring to is a Beverly Cleary book. THey are a lot of fun to listen to, even for adults.

You don't mention where you're driving to - try to find books (as you did for Savannah) about the area you're visiting. Amazon.com, whether you buy from them or not, is a great source of books on specific areas/topics. We went to Maine this June, and read "Calico Bush" (good for adults and kids) For a trip to Boston, we read a book (can't remember the name) about a boy living in Boston immediately prior to the American Revolution, written in the form of a journal. <BR> <BR>In the car (we travel a lot on the weekends) we've read the entire Laura Ingalls Wilder series (I found them very interesting, rereading them as an adult), and are now on the Narnia books (not so interesting for adults). We took out from the library a 4-tape set of Greek myths, which we all enjoyed.

Harry Potter books are great. I haven't met an adult or child yet that haven't enjoyed them. <BR> <BR>One of my kids' favorite read-alouds has been the Gone-Away Lake series by Elizabeth Enright. They are Gone-Away Lake and Return to Gone-Away. Her children's books are wonderful and timeless (well, they appeal to kids now as much as they did when they were first written - but I guess some facets of the books are dated, such as train travel as a means to get to the country...fascinates kids who read about it now, though!).

Our family enjoys the old radio taped stories. My son especially appreciated the scary ones.We would play those to make the trips driving time seem shorter.Nighttime is especially fun for those old favorites.