Making the most of your time in the car

Once everyone is back in school, it's that season again--car season.  Not only are we taking kids back and forth to school, but there's those added activities like sports, dance, sleepovers, or music lessons.  Some days it feels like you spend your day in the car, just driving kids back and forth.

Why not make most of that time in the car, and read a book!  Of course you won't be able to read a book in the traditional sense, since you have to keep your eyes on the road, but there's many great books on tape, CD and Playaway (MP3 format) that you can listen to in the car.

Listening to books in the car makes that drive time seem so much faster.  Better yet, if you're listening to a book series, it's even more fun!  Here's some popular book series you can check out of the library to listen to:  (Click on the title to reserve a copy via InfoSoup.)

• The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis
• The Magic Treehouse, by Mary Pope Osborne
• A Series of Unfortunate Events, by Lemony Snicket
• Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling
• Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney
• The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Percy Jackson and the Olympians, by Rick Riordan
• Junie B. Jones, by Barbara Park
• Great Classic Family Favorites (Includes Moni the goat boy, by Johanna Spyri -- An adventure on Island Rock, by L.M. Montgomery-- Torm Thumb, by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm -- The Tinman and the Scarecrow, by L. Frank Baum -- The emperor's new clothes, by Hans Christian Andersen -- How the rhinosceros got his skin, by Rudyard Kipling -- The mouse, by Saki -- Accidental magic, or, Don't tell all you know, by E. Nesbit -- Mermaids, by Louisa May Alcott -- Little Nell, by Charles Dickens-- The little mermaid, by Hans Christian Andersen -- The sun-dog trail, by Jack London.)

Start one of these series, and your next car ride will be the beginning of a wonderful adventure.  You'll find yourself actually looking forward to being in the car with your kids!