• Tips for taking along audio library

• Where to get audiobooks

(ENLARGE)
A book on Lewis and Clark's quest offers insights into a re-created Mandan village.
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Abigail Adams' story in 'Founding Mothers' enhanced a New England trip.
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Mark Twain's 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer' is set in Hannibal, Mo.
Lisa Lowe Stauffer. (ENLARGE)
The Becky Thatcher House in Hannibal, Mo., was the home of Laura Hawkins, a friend of author Samuel Clemens and the model for Becky in 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.'
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Mark Twain guided us along the Mississippi River a few years ago as we listened to "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" on tape. One afternoon, our kids didn't even want to stop for ice cream because the book was just getting to an exciting part.

Later in the trip, Western stories accompanied views of the Rockies. And in Nebraska, Willa Cather showed us prairie immigrant life through "My Ántonia."

It all began in the summer of 2002, when we had more time than money and decided to drive to western Montana — three days in the car each way. To forestall the "aren't we there yet?" questions from our children, then ages 9 and 12, we borrowed books on tape from the public library, matching them to our itinerary.

What began as cheap entertainment has since become the backbone of every trip we take. Audiobooks — books on tape or CD — make a vacation out of the whole journey. Instead of feeling harried until we get "there," books start the fun the minute we leave our driveway.

With a little research, books can be found to match any itinerary.

Sometimes a book will lead to an interesting side trip, too. For instance, "Tom Sawyer" prompted us to leave the highway for an afternoon in Hannibal, Mo., Samuel Clemens' (aka Twain) boyhood town and the book's setting. Another time we listened to Stephen Ambrose telling the story of the Lewis and Clark expedition in "Undaunted Courage." When we stopped at a re-created Mandan village, the words of Meriwether Lewis' journal echoed around us.

Audiobooks can be bought at bookstores and online. On an entertainment-cost-per-hour basis, they're reasonably priced. But the ultimate bargain is to borrow them from the public library. If you return them undamaged within the loan period, they're free of charge — always my favorite price!

To match books to your trip, family and even the school curriculum takes a little research. Begin with a map. Pick out likely routes there and back. Note the states you'll cross and any major or famous cities. Look for national and state parks, monuments, historical sites and other attractions. List these locations to use as keywords in your research.

Next, go to the library or bookstore and browse through some travel guides. Are there any authors from these states? Authors who wrote about these areas? Do any of the cities, parks, monuments, etc., from your list have books about or books set in them? What events were important in these states' histories?

For instance, if we were planning a trip through Oklahoma, I'd find that the Dust Bowl years were important. So, I'd add "Dust Bowl" to my list of keywords.

Armed with your list, have a chat with your children's teachers and/or a children's librarian. They keep up with children's fiction and can recommend books and authors. Ask also about the social studies curriculum — what parts of American history are they studying this year? What's the curriculum for next year? Our Lewis and Clark trip dovetailed nicely with our children's school curriculum.

Take your list of states, sites, authors, books and topics to the Internet. Most sites have an advanced or power search tab that will allow a search by media type (tape or CD instead of printed books).

For example, a search with "Oklahoma" as keyword and "juvenile spoken cassette set" as media type reveals "Out of the Dust" by Karen Hesse on the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library's Web site. The catalog record tab shows it's about the Dust Bowl years. A bonus with the public library is that it'll often send the audiobook to the branch nearest to you.

If the public library's Web search engine isn't helpful, take your list of keywords and topics and have a long chat with the children's librarian. He or she can probably search for the audiobooks for you.

For about the same price as taking your family to a movie, you can purchase audiobooks. The selection at local bookstores is usually limited, but online bookstores such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble have a wider selection. Again, using your keywords list, search by subject and format.

Online bookstores also offer the advantage of editorial reviews. If you're not familiar with the book, reviews by Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus and others will tell you more than the book's cover blurb. Other Web sites offer book downloading, and if you're computer-savvy, downloading may be an option.

As you work through this process, you'll find books written for adults, too. Sometimes adult books — especially nonfiction — suit the trip and the family. On a trip to New England, a visit to the John Adams house meant more than dry history because we'd listened to Abigail Adams' story in "Founding Mothers" by Cokie Roberts. When you're not sure about a book's suitability, ask a librarian.

Although I tell my kids the audiobooks are for entertainment, they're really more of a sneaky education. According to many researchers, listening to books on tape or CD builds language skills and vocabulary and encourages further learning — just like reading the books for yourself.

And unlike school, the only test is deciding where to stop for ice cream.

Tips for taking along audio library

• Children can understand and enjoy audiobooks well above their own reading level. Even preschoolers will understand novels written for ages 8-12.

• Newbery Medal and Honor books are the equivalent of an Oscar for children's novels. The medallion printed on the winning books guarantees a good read, or good listen.

• Adult nonfiction will often work for the whole family. The grown-ups will learn a lot. The children will get something out of it, even if they don't understand it all.

• Adult fiction is tricky. There may be scenes where you wish you had a mute button. Mysteries or detective stories may contain violence that somehow is more graphic when you shape words into images in your own head. Be wary unless you know the author's works thoroughly.

• Take along a range of books. Alternating "heavy" books like adult nonfiction with lighter ones, like humorous children's novels, keeps everyone happy, at least in turn.

• If you borrow tapes or CDs from the library, take care of them. Even one damaged tape/CD in a set means you have to pay the library to replace the entire set. In all our thousands of travel miles, we've never had to pay the library for damaged audiobooks. Here's how to keep them safe:

With CDs, take each CD out of its jewel case, then slide them all into one notebook-style CD case. Store this case in a large zip-top plastic bag.

With tapes, take them out of the large "book" they come in and put each tape into its own plastic case. Use rubber bands to keep the sets together or put each set into a zip-top bag. Pack the tape sets in a sturdy storage box that will fit under one of the seats in your car.

Resources

Here are Web sites for the "big four" metro public libraries. To find others, use an online search engine such as Google and plug in the name of your county and "library."

• Atlanta-Fulton County: www.afplweb.com

• Cobb County: www.cobbcat.org

• DeKalb County: www.dekalb.public.lib.ga.us

• Gwinnett County: www.gwinnettpl.org

Online bookstores

• Amazon: www.amazon.com

• Barnes & Noble: www.barnesandnoble.com

Audiobooks online

• Audiobooks.com, www.audiobooks.com

• KidsReads.com, www.kidsreads.com/index.asp

• SimplyAudiobooks.com www.simplyaudiobooks.com