Running time: 23 hours, 26 minutes
To hear this book, click play in the box below or click on the chapter links.
The Story of Mankind by Hendrik van Loon
Read this book yourself online or on a Kindle, or read it here with accompanying illustrations.
Summary: Relates the story of western civilization from earliest times through the beginning of the twentieth century, with special emphasis on the people and events that changed the course of history. Portrays in vivid prose the achievements of mankind in the areas of art and discovery, as well as the political forces leading to the modern nation-states. Richly illustrated with drawings by the author. Winner of the first Newbery Award in 1922, The Story of Mankind has introduced generations of children to the pageant of world history. (Summary from mainlesson.com)
Running time: 13 hours
Note to parent: I am including this book on My Audio School, as it is used by Ambleside Online curriculum. They recommend it for older children (middle school through high school).
My Audio School is being used by so many children whose families hold varying perspectives on creation and evolution. I have not provided links for the first 3 chapters of this book, (30 minutes of material), which are full of evolutionary content. Should you need to refer to these chapters, you can use the links provided above for reading or downloading this book at its Internet Archive page in its entirety. I have not pre-read the majority of this book, but found evolutionary references in the two additional chapters that I listened to (The Age of Science and The New World). Please be aware there may be evolutionary content in other chapters, as well. Should you have further questions about the suitability of this book please read this review from Cathy Duffy.
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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Running time: 12 hours, 25 minutes
Note to parent: This book appears on many high school reading lists, but it contains mature themes. Please rely on your trusted curriculum provider for guidance as to which Canto’s to assign to your student.
01 Inferno: Canto I – Canto V 00:43:10
02 Inferno: Canto VI- Canto X 00:36:40
03 Inferno: Canto XI – Canto XV 00:47:04
04 Inferno: Canto XVI- Canto XX 00:30:36
05 Inferno: Canto XXI – Canto XXV 00:35:24
06 Inferno: Canto XXVI – Canto XXX 00:36:44
07 Inferno: Canto XXXI – Canto XXXIV 00:36:18
08 Purgatory: Canto I – Canto V 00:42:33
09 Purgatory: Canto VI – Canto XI 00:37:19
10 Purgatory: Canto XII – Canto XVI 00:33:15
11 Purgatory: Canto XVII – Canto XXI 00:35:31
12 Purgatory: Canto XXII -Canto XXVII 00:47:07
13 Purgatory: Canto XXVIII -Canto XXXIII 00:43:32
14 Paradise: Canto I- Canto V 00:41:08
15 Paradise: Canto VI – Canto XI 00:38:33
16 Paradise: Canto XII – Canto XVI 00:32:15
17 Paradise: Canto XVII – Canto XXI 00:39:50
18 Paradise: Canto XXII – Canto XXVII00:42:17
19 Paradise: Canto XXVIII- Canto XXXIII 00:44:09
English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs
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Running time: 5 hours, 36 minutes.
5. How Jack went to Seek his Fortune
14. The Story of the Three Little Pigs
16. Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse
17. Jack and His Golden Snuff-box
18. The Story of the Three Bears
33. The Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh
39. The Ass, the Table and the Stick
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
Summary: The Prince and the Pauper (1882) represents Mark Twain’s first attempt at historical fiction. The book, set in 1547, tells the story of two young boys who are identical in appearance: Tom Canty, a pauper who lives with his abusive father in Offal Court, London, and Prince Edward son of Henry VIII of England. Due to a series of circumstances, the boys accidentally replace each other, and much of the humor in the book originates in the two boys’ inability to function in the world that is so familiar to the other (although Tom soon displays considerable wisdom in his decisions). In many ways, the book is a social satire, particularly compelling in its condemnation of the inequality that existed between the classes in Tudor England. In that sense, Twain abandoned the wry Midwestern style for which he was best known and adopts a style reminiscent of Charles Dickens. (Summary from Wikipedia.org)
Total running time: 6 hours, 56 minutes
To hear this book, click play in the box below or click on the chapter titles.
04 – The Prince / 05 – Tom as a Patrician
06 – Tom receives instructions
07 – Tom’s first royal dinner / 08 – The question of the Seal
09 – The river pageant / 10 – The Prince in the toils
12 – The Prince and his deliverer
13 – The disappearance of the Prince
14 – ‘Le Roi est mort—vive le Roi’
16 – The state dinner / 17 – Foo-foo the First
18 – The Prince with the tramps / 19 – The Prince with the peasants
20 – The Prince and the hermit / 21 – Hendon to the rescue
22 – A victim of treachery / 23 – The Prince a prisoner
24 – The escape / 25 – Hendon Hall
26 – Disowned / 27 – In prison
28 – The sacrifice / 29 – To London / 30 – Tom’s progress
31 – The Recognition procession
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Read this book yourself online
Total running time: 11 hours, 34 minutes
Click here for a selection of downloadable curriculum resources from CurrClick which could be used with this book. This link will take you away from My Audio School.
To hear this book, click play in the box below or click on the chapter titles.
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Summary: War and Peace is an epic novel by Leo Tolstoy, first published from 1865 to 1869 in Russki Vestnik, which tells the story of Russian society during the Napoleonic Era. It is usually described as one of Tolstoy’s two major masterpieces (the other being Anna Karenina) as well as one of the world’s greatest novels.
War and Peace offered a new kind of fiction, with a great many characters caught up in a plot that covered nothing less than the grand subjects indicated by the title, combined with the equally large topics of youth, age and marriage. While today it is considered a novel, it broke so many novelistic conventions of its day that many critics of Tolstoy’s time did not consider it as such. Tolstoy himself considered Anna Karenina (1878) to be his first attempt at a novel in the European sense. (Summary by Wikipedia)
This novel is presented in 15 volumes. If you prefer to stream individual chapters within each volume from the computer (rather than downloading to Mp3) click on the Librivox page for the volume you are listening to, and you will find the chapter links there.
Book 1
Running time: 5 hours, 32 minutes
Download Book 1 as a zipped file.
Subscribe to Book 1 in iTunes.
Internet archive file for Book 1 (stream individual chapters in a player box from your computer)
Book 2
Running time: 4 hours, 32 minutes
Internet archive file for book 2 (stream individual chapters in a player box from your computer)
Book 3
Running time: 5 hours, 3 minutes
Internet archive file for book 2 (stream individual chapters in a player box from your computer)
Book 4
Running time: 3 hours, 2 minutes
Internet archive file for book 2 (stream individual chapters in a player box from your computer)
Book 5
Running time: 3 hours, 53 minutes
Internet archive file for book 2 (stream individual chapters in a player box from your computer)
Book 6
Running time: 4 hours, 2 minutes
Internet archive file for book 2 (stream individual chapters in a player box from your computer)
Book 7
Running time: 2 hours, 38 minutes
Internet archive file for book 2 (stream individual chapters in a player box from your computer)
Book 8
Running time: 3 hours, 57 minutes
Internet archive file for book 2 (stream individual chapters in a player box from your computer)
Book 9
Running time: 4 hours, 19 minutes
Internet archive file for book 2 (stream individual chapters in a player box from your computer)
Book 10
Running time: 7 hours, 30 minutes
Internet archive file for book 2 (stream individual chapters in a player box from your computer)
Book 11
Running time: 6 hours, 10 minutes
Internet archive file for book 2 (stream individual chapters in a player box from your computer)
Book 12
Running time: 2 hours, 42 minutes
Internet archive file for book 2 (stream individual chapters in a player box from your computer)
Book 13
Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Internet archive file for book 2 (stream individual chapters in a player box from your computer)
Book 14
Running time: 2 hours, 9 minutes
Internet archive file for book 2 (stream individual chapters in a player box from your computer)
Book 15 This book has not been recorded yet, but it is in production. We will post the links here when it is finished. In the meantime, you can listen to the unedited recording of this book here, by clicking on the word Listen beside each chapter.
Running time:
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Internet archive file for book 2 (stream individual chapters in a player box from your computer)
The Sayings of Confucius
Summary: Promoting virtues such as filial devotion, compassion, loyalty, and propriety, these dialogues between the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius and his disciples comprise the crux of Confucianism. (Summary by Andrea L for Librivox)
Total running time: 3 hrs. 12 min.
To hear this book, click play in the box below or click on the chapter links.
Bulfinch’s Mythology: The Age of Fable by Thomas Bulfinch
Running time: 14 hours, 54 minutes
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Summary from Librivox: Bulfinch’s Mythology, first published in 1855, is one of the most popular collections of mythology of all time. It consists of three volumes: The Age of Fable, The Age of Chivalry, and Legends of Charlemagne. This is a recording of the tenth edition of the first volume, The Age of Fable. It contains many Greek and Roman myths, including simplified versions of The Iliad and The Odyssey, as well as a selection of Norse and eastern myths. Thomas Bulfinch’s goal was to make the ancient myths accessible to a wide audience, and so it is suitable for children. (Summary by Kathleen Gatliffe for Librivox)
This book is often used as a high school text. Although the Wikimedia summary says it is appropriate for children, you might consider one of our other mythology titles to be more interesting for younger children.
Stories of Gods and Heroes
The Age of Fable: Publishers and Authors Prefaces
The Age of Fable: Chapter 1, Introduction
Chapter 2, Prometheus and Pandora
Chapter 3, Apollo and Daphne–Pyramus and Thisbe–Cephalus and Procris
Chapter 4, Juno and her Rivals, Io and Callisto–Diana and Actaeon–Latona and the Rustics
Chapter 6, Midas–Baucis and Philemon
Chapter 7, Proserpine–Glaucus and Scylla
Chapter 8, Pygmalion–Dryope–Venus and Adonis–Apollo and Hyacinthus
Chapter 10, Vertumnus and Pomon–Iphis and Anaxarete
Chapter 12, Cadmus–The Mermidons
Chapter 13, Nisus and Scylla–Echo and Narcissus–Clytie–Hero and Leander
Chapter 14, Minerva and Arachne–Niobe
Chapter 15, Graeae and Gorgons–Perseus and Medusa–Atlas–Andromeda
Chapter 16, Monsters and Giants–Sphinx–Pegasus and Chimaera–Centaurs–Griffin–Pygmies
Chapter 17, The Golden Fleece–Medea
Chapter 18, Meleager and Atalanta
Chapter 19, Hercules–Hebe and Ganymede
Chapter 20, Theseus and Daedalus–Castor and Pollux–Festivals and Games
Chapter 21, Bacchus and Ariadne
Chapter 22, The Rural Deities–The Dryads and Erisichthon–Rhoecus–Water Deities–Camenae–Winds
Chapter 23, Achelous and Hercules–Admetus and Alcestis–Antigone–Penelope
Chapter 24, Orpheus and Eurydice–Aristaeus–Amphion–Linus–Thamyris–Marsyas–Melampus–Musaeus
Chapter 25, Arion–Ibycus–Simonides–Sappho
Chapter 26, Endymion–Orion–Aurora and Tithonus–Acis and Galatea
Chapter 28, The Fall of Troy–Return of the Greeks–Orestesa nd Electra
Chapter 30, The Phaeacians–Fate of the Suitors
Chapter 31, Adventures of Aeneas–The Harpies–Dido–Palinurus
Chapter 32, The Infernal Regions–The Sibyl
Chapter 33, Aeneas in Italy–Camilla–Evander–Nisus and Euryalus–Mezentius–Turnus
Chapter 34, Pythagoras–Egyptian Deities–Oracles
Chapter 35, Origin of Mythology–Statues of Gods and Goddesses–Poets of Mythology
Chapter 36, Monsters (modern)–The Phoenix–Basilisk–Unicorn–Salamander
Chapter 37, Eastern Mythology–Zoroaster–Hindu Mythology–Castes–Buddha–The Grand Lama–Prester John
Chapter 38, Northern Mythology–Valhalla–The Valkyrior
The Wind in the Willows
To stream this book, click play in the box below, or click on the chapter titles.
This recording is by Mark Smith, and lasts 6 hours, 48 minutes.
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
The Further Adventures of Toad
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children by Edith Nesbit
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To read this book online, click here.
Read the book and see the pictures on your Kindle or in EPUB format on another e-reader device.
Click here to see downloadable CurrClick materials which could be used in a study of Shakespeare. Clicking this link will take you away from My Audio School.
You may also stream this content by clicking this play box, or chapter by chapter using the links throughout this post.
Preface and a Brief Life of Shakespeare
Chapter 1 A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Chapter 7 Much Ado about Nothing
Chapter 17 The Taming of the Shrew
Chapter 18 Measure for Measure
A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
Click here to see downloadable material from CurrClick which could be used with this book. Clicking these links will take you away from My Audio School.
To listen, click play in the box below or click on the chapter titles in this post.
1984 by George Orwell
This recording of 1984 was made for educational purposes to assist ESL learners.?Downloadable files are NOT available of this material, it is streaming only. Click on the link for the chapter you want to stream and the text will also appear, allowing you to follow along in the text while you listen.
Stories of Beowulf Told to the Children by H. E. Marshall
This version of Beowulf, adapted for children, may be a good introduction for older students before reading the unabridged work.
To read the text yourself, click here.
Click here to see a selection of downloadable curriculum resources from CurrClick which could be used in a study of Beowulf. This link will take you away from My Audio School.
Total running time: 1 hour, 56 minutes
To hear this book, click play in the box below or click on the chapter titles.
Preface: About this book
Chapter 1, How Grendel the Ogre Warred with the Dane Folk
Chapter 2, How Beowulf the Goth came to Daneland
Chapter 3, Beowulf Telleth How He Warred with the Sea Folk
Chapter 4, How Beowulf Overcame Grendel the Ogre
Chapter 5, How the Water Witch Warred with the Dane Folk
Chapter 6, How Beowulf Overcame the Water Witch
Chapter 7, How Beowulf Returned to his Own Land
Chapter 8, How the Fire Dragon warred with the Goth Folk
Chapter 9, How Beowulf Overcame the Dragon
A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
Click here to see downloadable CurrClick materials which could be used in a study of Shakespeare. Clicking this link will take you away from My Audio School.
To listen, click play in the box below or click on the scene links.
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
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If you want to read the book yourself, click here.
01 At the Admiral Benbow – 02 Black Dog Appears and Disappears
03 The Black Spot – 04 The Sea Chest
05 The Last of the Blind Man – 06 The Captain’s Papers
07 I go to Bristol – 08 At the Sign of the Spy-Glass
09 Powder and Arms – 10 The Voyage
11 What I Heard in the Apple Barrel – 12 Council of War
13 How my Shore Adventure happend – 14 The First Blow
15 The Man of the Island – 16 Narrative continued by the Doctor
17 Narrative continued by the Doctor – 18 Narrative continued by the Doctor
19 Narrative resumed by Jim Hawkins – 20 Silver’s Embassy
21 The Attack – 22 How my Sea Adventure Began
23 The Ebb-Tide Runs – 24 The Voyage of the Coracle
25 I Strike the Jolly Roger – 26 Israel Hands
27 Pieces of Eight – 28 In the Enemy’s Camp
29 The Black Spot Again – 30 On Parole
31 The Treaure Hunt, Flint’s Pointer – 32 The Treasure Hunt, the Voice Among the Trees
The Discovery of New Worlds by M. B. Synge
To read this book online, click here.
Click here to view downloadable curriculum from CurrClick which could be used for a study of the Middle Ages. This link will take you away from My Audio School.
To listen, click play in the box below or click on the chapter titles.
Total running time: 5 hours, 22 minutes
06 – The Destruction of Pompeii
08 – Decline of the Roman Empire
13 – King Arthur and His Knights
16 – How the Northmen Conquered England
29 – The Invention of Printing
31 – Vasco Da Gama’s Great Voyage
37 – Discovery of the New World
Edgar Allen Poe, selected short works
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton’s 1911 novel Ethan Frome tells the story of a tragic love triangle. Set in the highly symbolic wintry landscape of Starkfield, Massachusetts, the narrative centers on the title character’s fraught relationships with his “sickly, cantankerous” wife Zeena and his young, beautiful cousin Mattie Silver. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett for Librivox)
OR
You can stream individual chapters of this book using the player widget located on its Librivox Internet archive page
Total running time: 3 hours, 13 minutes
Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
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Running time: 8 hours, 17 mminutes
Click here to see a selection of downloadable curriculum resources from CurrClick which could be used in a study of this book. This link will take you away from My Audio School.
To hear this book, click play in the box below or click on the chapter titles.
00 Preface, Dedication, Disclaimer
01 I Journey to the House of Shaws
03 I Make Acquaintance of My Uncle
04 I Run a Great Danger in the House of Shaws
06 What Befell at the Queen’s Ferry
09 The Man With the Belt of Gold
15 The Lad With the Silver Button: Through the Isle of Mull
16 The Lad With the Silver Button: Across Morven
18 I Talk With Alan in the Wood of Lettermore
20 The Flight in the Heather: The Rocks
26 End of the Flight: We Pass the Forth