Do Audiobooks Count as Reading for Kids? What the Research Says
Listening builds the understanding side of reading, not the decoding side. How to use audiobooks so they help your child's reading instead of replacing it.
By Jaswanth Nalluri, Co-founder of Bookstaken31 October 20267 min read
Your child has listened to the whole of a fantasy series in the car, can tell you every twist, and wants the next one. But they haven't turned a page. Does that count?
The honest answer is yes and no. It depends on which part of reading you mean.
In short
For understanding stories, mostly yes. Listening and reading draw on the same language comprehension, and children learn words from stories they hear.
For reading words on a page, no. Audiobooks don't practise decoding, spelling or reading speed. Only reading does.
Together is best. Listening while following the print, or listening to books just above their reading level, gets the benefits of both.
Keep some eyes-on-page reading every day, even if it's short.
Talk about what they heard. The talking is what turns a story into thinking.
Reading is two skills, not one
Researchers often describe reading as two skills multiplied together: recognising the words on the page, and understanding the language once the words are known. This is known as the Simple View of Reading (Gough & Tunmer, 1986). A child needs both. If either is zero, comprehension is zero.
Audiobooks work on the second skill only. That's why they help some parts of reading a great deal and others not at all.
What listening does build
Understanding. In a study of adults, comprehension was about the same whether people read a book, listened to it, or did both (Rogowsky, Calhoun & Tallal, 2016). Brain scans tell a similar story: the meaning of words is represented in much the same way whether people hear a story or read it (Deniz et al., 2019). Both studies were with adults, so treat them as a guide for older children rather than proof for young ones.
Vocabulary. Children pick up new words from stories they hear. In a classic study, 7- and 8-year-olds learned new words from stories read aloud to them, and learned more when the reader briefly explained them (Elley, 1989).
Books above their reading level. Through the primary years, most children can understand more by listening than they can read on their own. A classic review put the point where reading catches up at around the middle-school years (Sticht & James, 1984), though later studies vary. Audiobooks let a 9-year-old enjoy a story their reading can't reach yet, and that keeps them interested in books.
Enjoyment. A National Literacy Trust evidence review found that audiobooks can help children enjoy stories and build reading confidence, especially children who find reading hard (Best, 2020).
What listening doesn't build
Word reading. Decoding long or unfamiliar words only improves by reading them.
Reading speed and fluency. Fluency grows with practice reading text, including re-reading the same passage (National Reading Panel, 2000).
Spelling. Children learn how words look by seeing them, again and again.
Reading stamina. Sitting with a page for twenty minutes is its own skill. Our guide to building reading stamina covers it.
So if your child is still building those skills, audiobooks are a supplement, not a substitute.
How to use audiobooks well
1. Listen with the book open. Following the print while the narrator reads links the sound of each word to how it looks. It works especially well for children who read slowly, or who read English as a second language.
2. Use them for stretch books. Let audiobooks carry the books that are just above your child's reading level, and let their own reading carry the books they can manage. Our guide to telling if a book is too easy or too hard can help you sort them.
3. Fill the dead time. Car journeys, long flights, tidying up and wind-down time before bed are good moments for audio. They add story time rather than replacing reading time.
4. Swap formats within a series. Listen to the first book together, then let your child read the second. Knowing the characters already makes the print version much easier to get into.
5. Keep a daily page habit. Ten minutes of eyes-on-page reading a day, alongside any listening, keeps the word-reading skills growing. Our guide to how much a child should read every day has minutes by age.
6. Talk about it. Ask what they'd have done in the character's place, who they trusted, and whether the ending was fair. A story they've talked about stays with them, whether they heard it or read it.
Audiobooks, apps and screen-free players
Audiobooks come through library apps, paid services and screen-free audio players for children such as Yoto and Toniebox. Screen-free players suit younger children, because there's no video or autoplay waiting on the same device. On a phone or tablet, use a kids' profile and turn off autoplay, so one story doesn't slide into an hour of videos.
Where talking about books comes in
The research above points to one thing: understanding grows when a child thinks about a story, whatever the format. That thinking grows fastest out loud, with someone who asks good questions.
This is what our 1:1 online reading classes are built around. Your child reads a real book picked for their interests, their own physical copy, and talks it through with a trained college mentor. They give their own verdict and write their own story. For ages 6–14 who can already read; the first 60-minute session is free.
Frequently asked questions
Do audiobooks count as reading for kids?
For understanding stories and learning new words, largely yes: listening and reading share the same language comprehension. For learning to read words, build fluency and spell, no. Use audiobooks alongside daily reading, not instead of it.
Are audiobooks good for reluctant readers?
Often, yes. They let a child enjoy stories without the effort of decoding, which can rebuild their interest in books. Pair them with the print book and a short daily reading time, so their own reading keeps growing too.
Is listening to audiobooks cheating at school?
Check what the teacher wants. If the goal is understanding the story, listening while following the text is usually welcome. If the task is reading practice, your child needs to read the words themselves.
Should my child follow along in the book while listening?
When they can, yes. Following the print connects spoken words to written ones, which helps word reading and fluency. For pure enjoyment, such as in the car, listening alone is fine.
At what age are audiobooks useful?
Sources
Gough, P. B., & Tunmer, W. E. (1986). Decoding, reading, and reading disability. Remedial and Special Education.
Rogowsky, B. A., Calhoun, B. M., & Tallal, P. (2016). Does modality matter? The effects of reading, listening, and dual modality on comprehension. SAGE Open.
Deniz, F., Nunez-Elizalde, A. O., Huth, A. G., & Gallant, J. L. (2019). The representation of semantic information across human cerebral cortex during listening versus reading is invariant to stimulus modality. Journal of Neuroscience.
Elley, W. B. (1989). Vocabulary acquisition from listening to stories. Reading Research Quarterly.
Sticht, T. G., & James, J. H. (1984). Listening and reading. In Handbook of Reading Research.
Best, E. (2020). Audiobooks and literacy: A rapid review of the literature. National Literacy Trust.
National Reading Panel (2000). Teaching Children to Read.
At any age. Younger children get the same benefits as being read aloud to. Older children can use them for books above their reading level, and for long journeys and tired evenings.
Do audiobooks help with vocabulary?
Yes. Children learn new words from stories they hear, especially when someone explains the odd tricky word. Audiobooks also let children hear words they might not meet in books at their own reading level yet.
