Stories for the road

Last week we looked at books that describe fun activities for families to do during those long car trips for summer vacation.

This week, Perii Hauschild-Owen, a librarian in the Ashland Public Library's children's department, offers picks for good audio books as well as kid-oriented travel guide books.

"The best books for families to take on trips are ones the entire family would enjoy. That often means humorous books," she said.

Hauschild-Owen recommends checking the length of audio tapes and matching them up to the travel time.

John Erickson's "Hank the Cowdog" on audio tape will keep kids and parents entertained with the imaginative adventures of a dog on a ranch. Beverly Cleary's little heroine Ramona will appeal to youngsters while bringing back fond memories for adults.

Wherever the car is headed, families can travel mentally to New York City by listening to George Selden's "The Cricket in Times Square." Chester the cricket is carried from his home in Connecticut to Times Square via a picnic basket. There he befriends a boy, a mouse and a cat.

Like many of the books in the Ashland Public Library's audio book collection, "The Cricket in Times Square" is a Newbery Medal winner. Hauschild-Owen said looking for the round Newbery seal on a book is a good way to ensure a worthwhile pick.

Roald Dahl's books like "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "James and the Giant Peach" have a sinister side as children face hardship and abuse. That might be confusing for the youngest of listeners.

"Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien also can be a little frightening, but the mystery of how rats have achieved the ability to read and build an elaborate underground city — and how they will escape extermination — will keep the entire family listening intently.

Lucy M. Montgomery's classic "Anne of Green Gables" will take kids back to the 1800s and life on beautiful Prince Edward Island as an orphaned girl finds a home with a quiet, unmarried man and his stern spinster sister. Patricia MacLachlan's "Sarah, Plain and Tall" carries listeners to the midwestern American prairie in the 19th century as a mail-order bride tries to make a new life with a farmer and his motherless children.

Kate Dicamillo's "Because of Winn-Dixie," Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's "Shiloh" and Wilson Rawls' "Where the Red Fern Grows" will appeal to dog lovers. The latter two books are for older listeners since a boy struggles with how to rescue an abused dog in "Shiloh," and the dogs in "Where the Red Fern Grows" meet with a tragic end.

Older kids and teens will enjoy Louis Sachar's "Holes," the story of a boy wrongly accused of theft who is sent to a juvenile detention camp where the kids are forced to dig hole after hole in a dry lake bed. Will he ever be vindicated of the crime? And what is the warden searching for who makes the kids dig until blisters form and break on their hands?

Middle-schoolers and teens who have an interest in environmental issues will find Carl Hiaasen's "Hoot" funny and intriguing. A boy and his friends try to save land that is home to tiny burrowing owls from being turned into the site of a chain restaurant.

Before hitting the road or to do some planning while traveling in the car in Oregon, check out Cheryl McLean's "Fun with the Family, Oregon: Hundreds of Ideas for Day Trips with the Kids" and Nelle Nix's "Out and About with Kids, Portland: The Ultimate Family Guide for Fun and Learning."

For trips further afield, including those that require air travel, try Charles Wohlforth's "Frommer's Family Vacations in the National Parks," Colleen Dunn Bates' "Storybook Travels: From Eloise's New York to Harry Potter's London, Visits to 30 of the Best-Loved Landmarks in Children's Literature" and Cynthia Harriman's "Take Your Kids to Europe: How to Travel Safely (and Sanely) in Europe with Your Children."

Brenda Elwell's "The Single Parent Travel Handbook" offers tips for getting the most out of a vacation while still filling the exhausting role of single mom or dad.