There are few sounds in our house as reliable as an audiobook playing in the background. Someone washing dishes. Someone doing a puzzle. Someone (let’s be honest — me) folding laundry for the third time this week while half-convinced I’m actually in Narnia or trailing behind the Wingfeather children through Glipwood Forest. Audiobooks are not a screen-time loophole in this house. They are a lifestyle.
I went back through our Audible library recently to pull together this list, and genuinely — it was a trip. The little-kid books. The ones we started when my oldest was tiny and then just… kept listening to together as everyone grew. There is something almost sacred about a story that spans years of a child’s life.
So here is our actual, honest, listened-to-many-times list, organized by genre so you can find what you need. These aren’t hand-picked from a sponsored list or chosen because they sounded good in theory. Every single one has been listened to in this house — some until we could practically recite them. I hope they find their way into your home too.
“You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.”
— Madeleine L’Engle
🐉
Fantasy & Adventure
Epic worlds, brave heroes, and stories that last a lifetime
The Chronicles of Narnia Complete Audio Collection
C.S. Lewis · Kenneth Branagh, Patrick Stewart & more
Full Series
The Hobbit
J.R.R. Tolkien · Narrated by Rob Inglis
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
J.R.R. Tolkien · Narrated by Rob Inglis
Whole Series (Obviously!)
The Wingfeather Saga
Andrew Peterson · Narrated by the author
All 4 Books
How to Train Your Dragon (Books 1–3)
Cressida Cowell · Narrated by David Tennant
Gets Intense
The Mysterious Benedict Society
Trenton Lee Stewart · Narrated by Del Roy
Full Series
The Enchanted Castle
E. Nesbit · Narrated by Johanna Ward
✦ ✦ ✦
📚
Classic Literature
Timeless stories that grow with you
A Wrinkle in Time (Archival Edition)
Madeleine L’Engle · Read by the author
The Anne of Green Gables Collection
L.M. Montgomery · Narrated by Susie Berneis & Tara Ward
Books 1–6
The Jane Austen Collection: An Audible Original Drama
Jane Austen · Claire Foy, Florence Pugh, Emma Thompson & more
All 6 Novels
The Secret Garden
Frances Hodgson Burnett · Narrated by Johanna Ward
Pollyanna
Eleanor H. Porter · Narrated by S. Patricia Bailey
Little House on the Prairie
Laura Ingalls Wilder · Narrated by Cherry Jones
Peter Pan
J.M. Barrie · Narrated by Lily Collins
The Blue Fairy Book
Andrew Lang · Narrated by Angele Masters
The Children’s Homer
Padraic Colum · Narrated by Robert Whitfield
✦ ✦ ✦
✝
Faith, Apologetics & the Good Stuff
Books that feed the mind and the soul
C.S. Lewis Essential Audio Library
C.S. Lewis · Narrated by Julian Rhind-Tutt and others
9 Works
Is Atheism Dead?
Eric Metaxas · Narrated by the author
Tactics, 10th Anniversary Edition
Gregory Koukl · Narrated by the author
The Case for Christ
Lee Strobel · Narrated by the author
Unoffendable
Brant Hansen · Narrated by the author
The Jesus Storybook Bible
Sally Lloyd-Jones · Narrated by David Suchet
✦ ✦ ✦
🔍
Mystery & Detective Stories
For the little Sherlocks in your house
The Complete Sherlock Holmes: The Heirloom Collection
Arthur Conan Doyle · Narrated by Simon Vance
Full Collection
Encyclopedia Brown
Donald J. Sobol · Narrated by Jason Harris / Greg Steinbruner
Series
Nancy Drew (Original Series)
Carolyn Keene · Narrated by Laura Linney
The Hardy Boys (Early Original Books)
Franklin Dixon · Narrated by Bill Irwin
✦ ✦ ✦
🐸
Little Kid Favorites
Going through these was a full trip down memory lane
Frog and Toad Audio Collection
Arnold Lobel · Narrated by Arnold Lobel
All 4 Books
A Bear Called Paddington & More About Paddington
Michael Bond · Narrated by Stephen Fry
The Ramona Quimby Audio Collection
Beverly Cleary · Narrated by Stockard Channing
All 8 Books
Mr. Popper’s Penguins
Richard & Florence Atwater · Narrated by Nick Sullivan
American Girl Series (Molly, Samantha, Kirsten)
Various Authors · Various Narrators
Series
Homer Price
Robert McCloskey · Narrated by John McDonough
The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street
Karina Glaser · Narrated by Robin Miles
When We Were Very Young & Now We Are Six
A.A. Milne · Narrated by Peter Dennis
The Ralph S. Mouse Audio Collection
Beverly Cleary · Narrated by B.D. Wong
That’s our list — every book genuinely loved, many listened to more than once, and in a few cases so many times I could probably narrate them myself. Audiobooks have been one of the quiet joys of our homeschool — filling the kitchen during math, the car during long drives, the bedroom during rest time.
If your family finds a new favorite here, come tell me. That is genuinely one of my favorite things.
It’s here! The complete book list for Journeying Through the Classics – our free 700+ page Charlotte Mason high school literature curriculum.
700+ pages(?!?!) you might be asking?
Is that a typo? Nope.
Are you actually nuts, you might venture? No, I don’t think so…
And, this is a free, no-credit-card needed, 100% free? Yes, absolutely!
Why in the world is this free? I’m passionate about helping your homeschool be joy-filled and this is a giant project I’ve been doing to help make that possible, using my educational and professional background to serve the homeschool community the best way I know how.
If you downloaded the Scope & Sequence last week, you’ve already seen the learning outcomes for each unit. Now you get to see exactly which books your student will read over four years.
Spoiler alert: Every single one of these books is available FREE at your local library. (Or should be if your library is worth its salt. Interlibrary Loan is also your friend!)
When I set out to create this curriculum, I had three non-negotiables:
They had to be living books.
Charlotte Mason believed in feeding students’ minds with ideas, not dry facts. These aren’t textbooks. They’re stories that have captivated readers for generations – some for thousands of years.
They had to build actual skills.
Each book is paired with specific writing instruction. Your student will learn research papers, literary analysis, creative writing, comparative essays, and persuasive writing – all using MLA format. By the time they finish, they’ll have been given the full toolbox to write at a college level.
They had to be freely available.
I’m a homeschool mom. I know what curriculum costs! Every book on this list can be borrowed from your library, downloaded free on Project Gutenberg, or purchased used for a few dollars.
No $1,500 literature program required.
Comparable 4-year high school literature programs can be over $1,000:
Sonlight Literature 100-400, ($425 per year): $1,600
Memoria Press Literature & Humanities ($165 per year): $1,000
It was also important to me to choose books that students would love reading and not be forced into trudging through. These books and essays all have a spark of joy about them that make them worthwhile reading.
I wanted each selection to be compatible with my mission of creating an environment of joy and optimism in the home.
Thus, Lord of the Flies is out! No Scarlet Letter, either. Sorry, Hawthorne and Golding! (Actually, not sorry! I read them. Didn’t want to. Never want to again. Wouldn’t wish them on anybody.)
Plus, when you buy a boxed set type of curriculum, you have to purchase all the books in that whole set – you generally cannot pick and choose. Inevitably, you end up with books you don’t want and aren’t going to read.
With Journeying Through the Classics, you are presented with a feast of options and you can decide what you want your children to enjoy reading and what you don’t want to cover.
Ancient Adventures. Your journey begins with Homer. Two epic poems that have shaped Western literature for thousands of years. Think gods, heroes, war, and homecoming.
Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits. Three of the Bard’s most powerful plays – tragedy, comedy, and his masterpiece that asks “To be or not to be?”
The Heroines Who Changed Literature. Elizabeth Bennet. Jane Eyre. Anne Shirley. Jo March. Scout Finch. Your daughter will meet the literary women who shaped how we think about courage, independence, and standing up for what’s right.
Adventure & Mystery Pirates. Detectives. Deserted islands. Revenge plots spanning decades. Your student won’t be able to put these down.
The Fantasy Epics Tolkien. C.S. Lewis. Madeleine L’Engle. T.H. White. The books that created entire genres and still inspire movies today.
The Books That Make You Think. Thoreau on reading. C.S. Lewis on education. Mark Helprin on art. E.B. White on time and place. Essays that will shape how your student sees the world.
And that’s just scratching the surface.
What’s Included in Each Unit?
Every single unit (all 34 of them) includes:
Author Biography – Who wrote this and why does it matter?
Historical & Cultural Context – When and where does this fit in history?
Weekly Reading Schedule – Manageable readings with no overwhelm
Vocabulary Lists – 45 words per unit with phonetic pronunciations
Spelling Practice – Extended lines for writing practice
10 Sentence Examples – See vocabulary in context
Reading Comprehension Questions – Check understanding as you read
Discussion Questions – Go deeper, think critically
Art Integration – Links to suggested supplemental watercolor & chalk pastel lessons
Grammar & Editing Focus – Different skills in each unit
Essay Assignment – Detailed instructions with MLA formatting
Parents Answer Key – Complete answers for comprehension AND discussion questions
The full 700+ page curriculum with all 34 complete units was released in Feb. 2026!
Not a subscriber yet? Subscribe here to get instant access to your Resource Library with the Scope & Sequence, the gorgeous book list PDF, and the full curriculum when it releases on February 20.
All 100% free. Forever.
Your high schooler is about to fall in love with reading again.
See you February 20 for the full curriculum release!
There is a pervasive myth that for a high school curriculum to be “rigorous,” it has to come in a box that costs as much as a vintage upright piano.
I’ve spent years in the professional world of editing and writing, and if there’s one thing I know, it’s that the stars don’t charge for their light, and neither should the classics.
When you look at big-name classical programs, you’re often paying for the brand name, the heavy binders, and a lot of administrative overhead. It is exciting to open the box when it comes in the mail and get that shiny New Curriculum Feeling but not all of the books are approachable, and sometimes kids end up stalling out on one. Then you feel guilty having spent so much money…
While those programs are lovely, they can be financially draining for a family trying to live a creative, joyful life.
Enter my new curriculum that will come out February 20th!
What do you think of my cover design? Please let me know in the comments! I was going for watercolor aesthetics, reminiscent of those gorgeous seasonal checklist kinds of art we have all probably seen floating around Pinterest. The notebook cover will have an option labeled with character names and one without.
My Journeying Through the Classics curriculum covers the same heavy hitters – Homer, Shakespeare, Austen, Lewis, and many more greats – but with a focus on the Soul of the student, not the depth of the parent’s wallet.
As a person who has worked in the literary world, I know what skills are important and which are filler. I also know what books alight the imagination and which ones we read because we are forced to!
Why I Created This Curriculum As homeschool parents, we want our children to fall in love with great literature—not just analyze it to bits and take the beauty out of it.
We want them to know Elizabeth Bennet’s wit, Anne Shirley’s imagination, and Jane Eyre’s strength. We want them to understand how these stories connect across centuries and cultures.
But we also know that high school needs to be rigorous. Students need to learn to write compelling literary analysis, know grammar rules, be able to spell well, craft persuasive arguments, and conduct serious research. They need vocabulary that stretches them and art that helps them remember what they’ve read.
So, I created a curriculum that does both: nurtures a love of reading while building serious academic skills.
Unlike many paid programs that focus strictly on “read and repeat,” this curriculum integrates art lessons, deep-dive literary criticism, and twelve different types of essays. I wanted my kids to be college-ready, so I made this with them in mind and am sharing it with you for free!
It’s as thorough as any “Name Brand” program, but it leaves you with enough in the budget for a few extra almond milk lattes and that plushy chair you’ve been eyeing for your book nook.
I’ve built in vocabulary development, MLA citation instruction, and character analysis that rivals the most expensive sets on the market. Because education should be a light that guides your child, not a burden that weighs down your family budget.
Honestly, I want to grow my blog (yes!) and I want to help you homeschool with joy (yes!) so this option checks all my boxes.
I don’t feel that I’m devaluing my work by giving this away for free, even though I have worked countless hours on it. I want to add joy to the world and help homeschoolers, so this fulfills my mission.
