addicted to books on tape?

[loraxc]

While we are no longer TV-free, we are still very low TV. DS has the complete Curious George collection on audio CD and I often offer that when he asks for TV. Well--he actually loves it, so much so that he will sit and listen to an hour-long CD (there are two) at a time most days. I certainly wouldn't think it was bad if I was reading this book to him for an hour, but for some reason I feel kind of guilty about the CD. It's different listening to a story than watching it, right? Not as good as having ME read it, but...

He does sit/lie on the couch when he listens. He hasn't been sleeping well lately, though, and in some ways it's good for him to sit and rest.

He absolutely is understanding the stories and talks about them all the time ("This is like in Curious George, when...")

???? Should I relax and embrace using books on tape to replace TV?

[Nazsmum]

I say yes. I'm a BIG FAN of audio books! SO relaxing with a book on tape/CD is fine. We do watch some TV but I always will suggest a book or some other activity first! I want to be as TV free as possible. 

I would even say turning on the radio is great too. We have started doing that this summer.

[boatrat]

I agree that audio books are not in the same category as tv. My four year old will listen to audio books and follow along with the actual books. He will do this for 30 mnutes or so. He would sit and watch movies all day if we let him (we don't).

[tiqa]

I think audio tapes are a lot like regular reading in that they encourage one to picture what's going on oneself.  As an added bonus, if you listen to fairy tales, legends from around the world, nursery rhymes, poems, nature stories, if you're religious then stories from whatever tradition you belong to, etc, he can get a good grip on those tales as well.

[fustian]

We are a TV free household, but we listen to a lot of audio books.  I started using them with my daughter just before she turned two.  Mostly, I put them on in the car - but as we live rurally that can easily equal an hour a day of audio book content.  Quite often when we get home from an excursion my daughter wants to stay in the car for another ten or fifteen minutes to hear more of the story!

It used to worry me a bit, but I've come to see the audiobooks as a huge benefit to my daughter.  I think that it's really helped with her ability to listen and appreciate longer stories.  She turned five just last week and we've been spending this summer listening to a lot of E.B. White and Roald Dahl.  It's amazing to see how the vocabulary from what is currently on high rotation gets absorbed into her speech.

I see that your son is about six months younger than my daughter.  Have you tried the "Nate the Great" series?  "Pippi Longstocking", Bill Harley's collections of stories, and the "Geronimo Stilton" books - although not great literature by any stretch - were also huge with my daughter at around your son's age.