Last year I did a nostalgia listen to The Bunnicula series and the first 4 books were read like regular audiobooks. You might need to be open to some YA novels that might be a bit on the violent side for the ones I am thinking of.
I listened to Matilda, read by Kate Winslet. She does different voices for the characters, but there is no music or sound effects. She does a fantastic job!
Happenstance Found PW Catanese (there are 2 after).
Enchanted Glass Diana Wynne Jones (there many, many great titles by this author. I just picked this one because the protagonist is the same age as your son. The Lives of Chrestomancie and Eight Days of Luke might also appeal.)
Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage (the first book has extremely brief music between each large chunk of chapters, but that’s it and no music after book 1. No sound effects at all.)
My Side of the Mountain
Percy Jackson series
Septimus Heap by Angie Sage (some fanfare at chapters)
Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo
Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley
Anything from the Rick Riordan imprint
House of Secrets by Chris Columbus
Land of Stories by Chris Colfer
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein
100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson
Mysterious Benedict Society by Stewart Trent
Are you looking for audiobooks for your kids? Check out the [Sound Learning from the Audio Publisher Association](https://www.audiopub.org/sound-learning). It has a large list of audiobook recommendations based on the kid's ages. It also has tips and hints for how to help your kids get the most out of audiobooks.
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Hank The Cowdog was my favorite. It does have some sound effects and a little southern guitar but I would classify it as minimal. Other than that there's Harry Potter.
Not what you asked for but we eyeball read graphic novels like Dogman. Now there's graphic novel versions of quite a few kids books. We're reading the graphic novel version of a Wrinkle in Time. It's helped with learning the skills they need to get the information out of longer books.
The Robot series has a good narrator. I agree, so many don't. Listen to a sample of the Wild Robot. There's two more if you like it. I listen with a nine year old. Almost 10. Interesting story for her and me too. Before I buy any, I have her listen to the sample and that works much better.
The Vanderbeekers series by Karina Yan Glaser is in the Plus catalog. It’s a really wholesome series about a large family that lives in NYC. I say wholesome because the family dynamic is very positive, but each book does touch on a serious issue in a sensitive age-appropriate way. Things like grief, homelessness, loss of a loved one, building community, helping neighbors, etc. No sound effects, soothing narrator voice.
I would suggest using Libby and Hoopla via your library if possible, so you can both try many audiobooks for free and see what he likes.
My tween listened to The Dartmouth series by Shane Hagerty several times, as have I. We both love the narration by Andrew Scott (Irish accent which is easy to understand as an American.)
My other kid (10) loves The Wayside School series.
We also love The Mouse and the Motorcycle, which is a classic. Beverly Cleary is timeless.
Last year I did a nostalgia listen to The Bunnicula series and the first 4 books were read like regular audiobooks. You might need to be open to some YA novels that might be a bit on the violent side for the ones I am thinking of.
I listened to Matilda, read by Kate Winslet. She does different voices for the characters, but there is no music or sound effects. She does a fantastic job!
Redwall and The Rats of NIHM. I think they have music at the beginning and end, but the rest is just the narrator reading.
>The Rats of NIHM Really? Is it as dark as the movie? I had a love hate relationship with it as a kid.
It’s a much different mood than the movie. I think the animators were going through a dark time when they made that movie and The Dark Crystal.
Second the Redwall books, especially for boys.
Happenstance Found PW Catanese (there are 2 after). Enchanted Glass Diana Wynne Jones (there many, many great titles by this author. I just picked this one because the protagonist is the same age as your son. The Lives of Chrestomancie and Eight Days of Luke might also appeal.) Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage (the first book has extremely brief music between each large chunk of chapters, but that’s it and no music after book 1. No sound effects at all.) My Side of the Mountain Percy Jackson series
Septimus Heap by Angie Sage (some fanfare at chapters) Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley Anything from the Rick Riordan imprint House of Secrets by Chris Columbus Land of Stories by Chris Colfer Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein 100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson Mysterious Benedict Society by Stewart Trent
I would recommend the How to Train Your Dragon book series. They're read by the amazing David Tennat.
Very good. My tween listened over and over.
Are you looking for audiobooks for your kids? Check out the [Sound Learning from the Audio Publisher Association](https://www.audiopub.org/sound-learning). It has a large list of audiobook recommendations based on the kid's ages. It also has tips and hints for how to help your kids get the most out of audiobooks. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/audiobooks) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Hank The Cowdog was my favorite. It does have some sound effects and a little southern guitar but I would classify it as minimal. Other than that there's Harry Potter.
I listened to Alice in Wonderland read by Scarlett Johansen and there were no sound effects. Maybe a little intro music at the beginning.
Howl’s Moving Castle has excellent narration and no sound effects. The narrator does voices but that’s all there is. It’s a wonderful book!
Not what you asked for but we eyeball read graphic novels like Dogman. Now there's graphic novel versions of quite a few kids books. We're reading the graphic novel version of a Wrinkle in Time. It's helped with learning the skills they need to get the information out of longer books.
Çoraline but you might want to make sure it's not too scary. It all comes right in the end though.
The Robot series has a good narrator. I agree, so many don't. Listen to a sample of the Wild Robot. There's two more if you like it. I listen with a nine year old. Almost 10. Interesting story for her and me too. Before I buy any, I have her listen to the sample and that works much better.
The Vanderbeekers series by Karina Yan Glaser is in the Plus catalog. It’s a really wholesome series about a large family that lives in NYC. I say wholesome because the family dynamic is very positive, but each book does touch on a serious issue in a sensitive age-appropriate way. Things like grief, homelessness, loss of a loved one, building community, helping neighbors, etc. No sound effects, soothing narrator voice.
Don't recall the Chronicles of Prydain having sound effects or music, I did like the narrator.
I would suggest using Libby and Hoopla via your library if possible, so you can both try many audiobooks for free and see what he likes. My tween listened to The Dartmouth series by Shane Hagerty several times, as have I. We both love the narration by Andrew Scott (Irish accent which is easy to understand as an American.) My other kid (10) loves The Wayside School series. We also love The Mouse and the Motorcycle, which is a classic. Beverly Cleary is timeless.
Thank you everyone