Here's what parents should know.

The rise of audiobooks in recent years has transformed “reading” into something that can be done while commuting, cooking dinner, or drifting off to sleep. The best audiobooks can, at least, keep kids happy during long car rides, and, at best, promote an advanced vocabulary and nurture a love of reading. But is it cheating? Do audiobooks help children learn how to read? Will introducing kids to audiobooks make reading actual books less intruiging?

When it comes to helping children learn to read, experts say the role of audiobooks is twofold: to help children with the process of identifying words by modeling fluent reading and expanding their vocabulary, and to help motivate new or struggling readers by giving them a taste of how fun reading can be.

“If you think about the process of learning to read, what we are actually learning to do is to decode patterns on a page into words into spoken words, but also into worlds, you know, environments, characters, and, and ultimately stories,” says Dr. Michael Rich, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the Director of the Center on Media and Child Health at Boston Children’s Hospital.

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When children are first learning to read, they have to decode, or sound out, each word, translating it from a symbol to something with meaning. Because they’re working so hard just to read each word, they can have a hard time retaining the information and following along. This can be a really frustrating experience. Listening to an audiobook does that work for them, allowing them to retain the narrative.

Decoding, by contrast, is specific to reading, Willingham said; this is indeed one more step your mind has to take when reading a print book as compared to listening to the audiobook version. But by about late elementary school, decoding becomes so second-nature that it isn’t any additional “work” for your brain. It happens automatically.

“If you eliminate some of the barriers to having your reading experience flow it’s helpful to get kids to experience the pleasure of reading,” says Regan McMahon, deputy books editor at Common Sense Media.

Some kids may be ready to learn at a level above what they can read, and audiobooks enable them to consume more complex information than they could feasibly read on their own. “That is a way for kids to not be limited to their reading level on the page,” says McMahon. “Audiobooks can introduce kids to the classics. A lot of times they have old-fashioned language, and that kind of stops kids on the page. Whereas if you’re listening to some great actor or author or any kind of a talented narrator, the sophisticated language is not a barrier.”

Motivation is one thing, but when it comes to actually learning to read, there’s also evidence that audio books do help. Of course how they’re used matters.

For audiobooks to be truly useful in helping a child learn to read, Rich feels that they need to be paired with a printed book.

“How the child follows along is really critical,” he says. “If they are leaning on the audiobook to sort of make sense out of the narrative, their eyes leave the page, they’re not actually still trying to decode. It has to be integrated into the process of decoding the words rather than something that will kind of carry them over that difficulty of decoding.”

One of the problems, he says, is that audiobooks are going to move faster than the decoding process. “The audiobook is the easier option,” he says, “And so they’ll go with that.”

One small study of 20 students with reading disabilities found that students who were given audiobooks to listen to while following along with the text saw a greater increase in reading skills after eight weeks compared to those who were just given the text. Researchers measured progress by comparing how many correct words students could read per minute before and after the eight week treatment. While the students who were given only print books could read about four more words per minute than before, students who were given audiobooks in addition to print books saw an increase of 17 words per minute.

For parents interested in using audiobooks as a teaching tool, Rich recommends that parents sit with children while an audio-book plays, and scan their finger across the words as they’re read aloud. When teaching younger kids, Rich recommends that parents give children puppets and have them act out the story, so that they’re more actively engaged and involved.

Because, while audiobooks are a great addition to parents reading aloud to their children, they can’t replace that social-emotional aspect of learning.

“If the parent is modeling enjoying reading and sharing this experience with the child,” he says. “It makes reading something that is thought of and felt positively.”

Parents, Rich adds, shouldn’t worry about limiting audiobooks like other forms of screen time. Children still need time without entertainment to be bored and daydream. But unlike other forms of screen time or even print picture books, audiobooks force children to imagine scenes they’re hearing about, which is a useful skill too. Overall, “never miss an opportunity to read with your child,” Rich says.

To find age appropriate audio books, parents can consult the American Library Association’s list of notable children’s recordings of 2020, all of which “demonstrate respect for young people’s intelligence and imagination; exhibit venturesome creativity; and reflect and encourage the interests of children and young adolescents in exemplary ways.”

Kindle Unlimited subscription is primarily for reading Kindle ebooks. But actually, there still comes with 20,000 audiobooks in the Kindle Unlimited library. Also as an audiobook service launched by Amazon, Audible claims to be the largest audiobook seller in the world. So what is the difference between Kindle Unlimited and Audible? Which one is the best for audiobook lovers?

In this post, I will compare the audiobook services provided by these two Amazon platforms. After reading this post, you will definitely find the best one that suits your needs. Don't want to read the whole thing? That's fine. Just have a quick look at this chart for a basic outline.

If this chart does not settle your doubts, just keep reading to get more details about the comprehensive comparison between Kindle Unlimited and Audible.

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1. Audiobook Selection

Kindle Unlimited

• Kindle Unlimited subscription allows you to access nearly 2 million titles that include Kindle ebooks, magazines and audiobooks.

• However, only 20,000 ebooks come with narrated Audible audiobooks, which is also called Audible Narration.

• Most of the titles are self-published by new writers and authors. It is lack of titles from big publishing houses, which means you won't find many bestsellers or popular books among these titles.

Audible

• Compared with Kindle Unlimited, Audible has over 400,000 audiobook titles, including 180,000 bestsellers, new releases, mysteries, sci-fi, romances and more.

• There are also radio programs, newspapers and magazines that come in audio format.

• One thing to be sure is that Audible has the world's largest audiobook selection available.

2. Free Trial Scheme

Kindle Unlimited

• If this is the first time you use this service, you'll get a 30-day free trial

• You'll get access to the entire Kindle Unlimited library and add 10 titles to your account.

Audible

• Just like Kindle Unlimited, the first-time users can get a 30-day free trial to test this service.s

• During the trial period, you can choose 2 audiobooks and 2 Audible originals to add to your library.

3. Subscription Pricing

Kindle Unlimited

• Subscription plan costs $9.99/month.

• Most of the Kindle Unlimited books cost from $0.99 to $4.99. If you read and listen to just one or two titles every month, it's suggested to buy books individually instead of subscribing to this monthly service.

Audible Reading Books

Audible

• The cost for Audible is $14.95/month for the Gold Membership and $22.95/month for the Platinum membership.

• $14.95 Gold Membership: 1 audiobook and 2 Audible Originals / $22.95 Platinum Membership: 2 audiobooks and 2 Audible Originals.

• Members can purchase additional individual audiobooks with 30% off.

4. Credits

Kindle Unlimited

• Kindle Unlimited subscribers don't have credits to buy audiobooks.

Audible

• Gold Monthly members get 1 credit per month and Platinum Monthly members get 2 credit per month.

• 1 credit can be used for buying an Audible audiobook, regardless of the official audiobook price.

• The monthly credits will remain valid for one year.

5. Content Ownership

Kindle Unlimited

• The subscribers don't truly own the contents borrowed from Kindle Unlimited.

• Once you cancel the subscription, you will lose all your titles including the audiobooks.

Audible

• You keep the ownership of all your purchased Audible books even after the cancellation.

6. Borrowing and Purchasing

Kindle Unlimited

• You can borrow 10 titles at a time from Kindle Unlimited, which include ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines. The borrowed titles have no due dates.

• Ebooks that have audiobook versions (also called Audible narrations) are borrowed together and counted as two. Thus, you can borrow 5 ebooks plus 5 audiobooks at most.

Audible

• Compared with Kindle Unlimited, you don't borrow but purchase audiobooks in Audible.

• Every member gets 1 or 2 credits to purchase audiobooks. In addition, users also get another 2 Audible Original titles.

7. Device Compatibility

Kindle Unlimited

• You can access your Kindle Unlimited contents on a Kindle eReader, Kindle Fire tablet or Kindle app for iOS/Android/PC/Mac.

• The devices that support audiobooks from Kindle Unlimited are Android/iOS devices, Amazon Fire Phone, Kindle Fire 2nd Generation, Kindle Fire HD, Fire HD 6 & 7 and Fire HDX with a free Kindle reading app.

• Kindle Unlimited audiobooks are not supported by all the Kindle e-ink devices and the Kindle app for PC/Mac.

Audible

Audible audiobooks are compatible across dozens of different devices, including but not limited to:

• Audible app for iOS/Android/Window 8/Windows 10

• Kindle Fire tablets, Kindle Oasis (8th & 9th Gen), Kindle (8th Gen), Kindle Paperwhite (10th Gen)

• Sandisk MP3 Players, Creative MP3 Players, Garmin & Tom Tom GPS Devices.

• Alexa-enabled devices including Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Dot Kids Edition, Echo Plus, Echo Show, Echo Spot and Echo Input.

8. Geographic Availability

Kindle Unlimited

• Kindle Unlimited is currently available only to US customers on Amazon.com

• Customers in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, India, China, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Canada and Australia can sign up for Kindle Unlimited in their local Amazon marketplace, but the accessible titles and subscription fee may be different from that of the US.

Audible

• Audible.com supports US and all other countries (some titles will be geographically restricted based on your location).

• Audible operates a number of websites, each of which target a different customer population defined by language preference or geographical location, like Audible.ca, Audible.co.uk, Audible.com.au, Audible.fr, Audible.de, Audible.co.jp, Audible.it. Each marketplace features unique differences.

9. Book Returning Policy

Kindle Unlimited

• You can borrow titles with no due dates and can keep up to 10 at a time.

• To get the 11th title, you have to return anyone from the already borrowed books to exchange for it.

Audible

• Members have unlimited book returns as long as the title is within 1 year of the purchase date. And non-members can return 2 book titles once every 6 months.

• You’ll be refunded with the same way you purchased the book. That is to say, if you bought the book with a credit, you'll get a credit back. Whereas if you paid for the book, you'll get your money back.

• There exist risks in returning books on Audible since you may be considered to have abused the return policy if you returned too many books in a few days.

10. Cancellation Policy

Kindle Unlimited

• The borrowed books and audiobook versions will be removed from your account when you cancel the service.

Audible Listening Vs Reading

• Your bookmarks, notes and highlights you made on the books will be saved to your Amazon account via Whispersync.

• You cannot keep free audiobooks, but you will still keep the titles that were paid for.

Detailed guide How to Cancel Kindle Unlimited?

Audible Vs Reading Books

Audible

Audible Vs Reading Books

• You will not lose your Audible books after the cancellation. You still have access to them on Audible compatible devices.

• Credits are a membership benefit, so all the unused credits will be canceled along with your membership. So it's suggested to use up the remaining credits before you cancel the membership.

Conclusion

Prime Reading Vs Audible

Although Kindle Unlimited provides audiobooks, the number of titles are significantly smaller than What Audible offers. Honestly speaking, if you are more into audiobooks and prefer the most popular and newest titles, then Audible is absolutely the best choice. But if you listen to audiobooks sometimes and focus more on reading ebooks, then Kindle Unlimited seems more attractive for you. If you want to convert Audible to mp3 to listen to Audible on multiples devices freely, don't forget to download Epubor Audible Converter to help you.

Michelle loves reading very much. She seeks the methods to enjoy eBooks and audiobooks more freely and wants to share everything new she has got with you.