Building confident readers
Reading is much more than just being able to recognise letters and sounds. Research suggests that listening to audiobooks, songs and rhymes has a powerfully positive effect on children’s early reading skills, even for the littlest of listeners.
Let’s hear from the People Who Know Their Stuff
Our little experts, Josh and Coco, are here to tell you allll about how listening to audiobooks helps kids become braver, stronger and more confident readers.
In partnership with:
“Listening to stories can help reluctant readers overcome barriers to reading enjoyment and deepen comprehension of the story. ”
- National Literacy Trust Report
Audiobooks for 0-3 year olds
Starting them young
The more words a child is exposed to the bigger their vocabulary will be and the easier they’ll find learning to read. Plus, hearing skilled readers read aloud helps them learn how words sound and sentences are formed. Swipe left for a peek at some of our best Tonies for the littlest of listeners.
The Gruffalo
Wander through the deep dark wood with this beloved Julia Donaldson’s children’s tale of a quick-witted mouse, an owl, a snake, a fox… and a hungry Gruffalo!
Jimmy Bear
Jimmy Bear is always the first to dive into an adventure with his friends in tow. Listen to these stories and find out how he solves problems and rescues his pals. Little listeners will love how soft and cuddly he is.
Songs and rhymes are important too!
For preschoolers, songs and rhymes are a wonderful way of embedding new words into their memories. They also build phonemic awareness – helping children learn which sounds are similar. No one does this better than everyone’s favourite CoComelon character, JJ.
We're Going on a Bear Hunt
Wiggle into your wellies and head off on an adorable adventure of discovery with Stan, Katie, Rosie, Max, the baby and their pet dog Rufus.
Want more tales and tunes?
Step this way friends, we’ve got loooaddss more stories and songs to help your littlest listeners flex their pre-reading muscles.
Audiobooks for 3-5 year olds
Flex their early reading muscles
As babies grow into toddlers their love of storytime grows too, and when they love stories they’ll love reading. Familiar characters are crucial in increasing their enjoyment of a story, that’s just one of the reasons we’ve got so many well-known story characters in our Tonie crew.
Swipe left to meet them.
Peter Rabbit
Enjoy the mischievous antics of Peter Rabbit and his sisters, Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail. Aaannndd follow along with the classic tales of Benjamin Bunny, Mr Tod and The Flopsy Bunnies.
The importance of listening skills
Being able to listen to information and hold it in their minds long enough to act on it is an essential skill they’ll use every day in the classroom. Listening to audiobooks flexes these pre-reading listening skills. And what better place to start than with the loveable Mr Tickle.
Jemima Puddleduck
Enjoy the story of Jemima Puddle-Duck, Tom Kitten, Samuel Whiskers and Mrs. Tittlemouse, read aloud by a whole host of British talent.
There’s more this way
A bear from Peru, a dragon called Zog and a Highway Rat are just some of the storybook Tonies you’ll find in our 3-5 year age group.
Audiobooks for 6+ year olds
Super-charge their reading skills
By age six most children will have a solid reading foundation. By reading along with their audiobooks they’re able to become faster readers and develop their reading fluency. It’s just one of the great ways audiobooks can compliment building confident readers.
Swipe left for some of our very favourite storybook Tonies for this age group.
Magic Faraway Tree - The Enchanted Wood
Join Joe, Beth and Frannie and their friends Silky the fairy and Moon-Face on their adventures as they discover the magical new lands that await them at the top of the Faraway Tree.
A good kind of challenge
When we give children challenges we know they’ll succeed at, their confidence grows. Listening to an audiobook that is slightly beyond their reading ability gives them the confidence to tackle words they might have found tricky on their own. Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a great choice for this!
Learning gets creative
With the mytonies app and Creative-Tonies there are so (so, so, SO) many ways to help little listeners become super-charged readers. Creative-Tonies have up to 90 minutes of space for you to upload your own content, or you can choose from one of our many freebies. Hop, skip and jump this way for more about the app and step-by-step instructions on how to add your own songs, stories and games to your Creative-Tonies.
“Hearing stories read by professional readers demonstrates the rhythm, tone and pronunciation of a narrative, which can help children develop their own understanding of reading behaviours.”
- National Literacy Trust Report
Hands up who loves a fancy dress competition?
Here at tonies ® HQ we are big fans of dressing up. This year we’re inviting YOU to dress up as your favourite Tonie storybook characters. The best dressed kid will win 10 x Tonies and 1 x Toniebox, Shelf, Headphones and Listen & Play Bag.
![[EN-GB]WBD competition step1.png (1)](https://res.cloudinary.com/tonies/image/fetch/f_auto,q_30,w_40,pg_1/https://images.ctfassets.net/l6vo76cztcax/3VGa5IpcI1zHx2zeEcvVPb/6c15a5f4495c467e028dc338d9039d99/WBD_competition_step1.png__1_.png_1)
Step 1
Pick your Tonie storybook character (will it be Paddington? Gerald the Giraffe?)
![[EN-GB]WBD competition step2.png (1)](https://res.cloudinary.com/tonies/image/fetch/f_auto,q_30,w_40,pg_1/https://images.ctfassets.net/l6vo76cztcax/3QJUE2iE6ohw7OpVCalPVX/3fd066ac507f77ce57f9c8cf82651491/WBD_competition_step2.png__1_.png_1)
Step 2
Get the costume together and don’t forget to have FUN doing it.
![[EN-GB]WBD competition step3.png (1)](https://res.cloudinary.com/tonies/image/fetch/f_auto,q_30,w_40,pg_1/https://images.ctfassets.net/l6vo76cztcax/4Asd2Lz3t5MHaCf5IvvJUP/1cd73bfd49c4bd58659b14d14c113c68/WBD_competition_step3.png__1_.png_1)
Step 3
Snap a pic of your little people all dressed up, bonus points if their Toniebox, matching Tonie and the storybook are in the snap too. Share it on Instagram and don’t forget to tag us! Good luck!
Fancy 10% off? Want to be the first to hear about super deals, competitions and brand new launches? Sign up right here.
Bundle and save up to 20%
Each bundle contains a Toniebox, Creative-Tonie and three Tonies. It’s just the thing to get you started AND you can save up to £34.95 when you get them all at once. Hoorah.