Treats for the ears

Audiobooks, as any parent knows, are an absolute lifesaver on long journeys, when a good story told by a skilled actor can keep a car-full of children from screaming blue murder at each other all the way there and back.

They're useful at home, too, for children playing alone, or stuck in bed with minor ailments. What's surprising is that there are not more CD recordings of children's stories, since so many cars now come with CD players instead of radio cassettes. CD books are coming on stream slowly - but the demand is sure to gather pace in the coming years.

The market for audiobooks is growing, and like the children's books market in general it has been given a real boost by sales of the first two Harry Potter books read by Stephen Fry. The third book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is due out shortly on eight cassettes (Cover to Cover, £26.99 in UK); it's also read by the superbly versatile Mr Fry.

Another series of stories that might appeal to Harry Potter fans is the Worlds of Chrestomanci by Diana Wynne Jones. Charmed Life, the first in the series, won the 1978 Guardian Children's Fiction Award and introduces the listener to the Chrestomanci characters - Gwendolen, a talented witch, and her brother Eric who, after their parents' death are taken to live with the msysterious Chrestomanci, the guardian of witch orphans. There are four audiobooks in the series, all priced £8.99 in the UK (Collins).

Older listeners will also enjoy the strange world of Sam Vines, a former fat cat duke now on the run in Terry Pratchett's The Fifth Elephant (Corgi, £9.99 in UK) Narrated by Tony Robinson, (Baldrick from Blackadder) the three-hour abridged story follows Sam through freezing forests on his way to civilisation, with snapping werewolves on his heels.

In Lord Brocktree, a Tale of Redwell narrated by author Brian Jacques (Tellastory, £9.99 in UK) there are battles a-plenty for seven-plus readers as Ungatt Trunn, the evil wildcat is determined to conquer the mountain of Salamandstron - but first has to face up to the formidable badger, Lord Brocktree.

The Borrowers, those little people who live under the floorboards, move to a new home in a model village, but the neighbours aren't too impressed in The Borrowers Aloft, (Chivers Cavalcade, £9.99 in UK). Due on the market next month, the three-cassette story read by Rowena Cooper will please fans since most of the classic Borrowers tales are now out of print.

Terry Jones's Fairy Tales, read by the author with Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren, Tim Rice and Joan Greenwood, has 15 stories of mystery, magic and pure ridiculousness, that listeners from four upwards can have a good giggle over. A member of the Monty Python team, Terry Jones is best known to young readers for his Saga of Eric the Viking. These stories were recorded back in 1982, but were put away in the recording studio cupboard and forgotten about until now. (Orion Audio, £8.99 in UK).

Farm Boy read by Derek Jacobi and author Michael Morpurgo is a moving story about a boy and his grandad who remembers his own childhood. It emerges that the grandfather cannot write and wants his grandson to teach him. The story is already available as a tape and book combination, with the cassette alone due out next month (Collins, £5.99 in UK).

Finally, for really small people, Kipper's A to Z by Mike Inkpen read by Dawn French, (Hodder Children's Audio, £3.99 in UK) is more than just the reading of an alphabet, thanks to Inkpen's terrific text and French's funny interpretation. Music and sound effects make this a jolly good listen for the under fours.

The Good Little Christmas Tree wants to make a poor family happy by covering himself with glittering ornaments and toys for Christmas Day, but to do it, he has to meet St Nicholas himself. A charming short story, the Christmas Story is on Side B with carols sung by Marlborough Children's Choir. A good little stocking filler if you're planning some early Christmas shopping. By Ursula Moray Williams it's read by Bernard Cribbins (Cover to Cover, £3.99 in UK).

Teacher's Pet and Big Ben are two book-and-tape combinations in the Macmillan Children's Audio series, Puppy Patrol. (£5.99 each in UK). Big Ben, a rough and tumble English sheepdog at King Street Kennels, gets the blame when Sheeba, the pampered poodle next door gets lost. It's up to Ben to find her, but meanwhile there's a terrible snowstorm . . . In Teacher's Pet, Dotty the Dalmatian is the most disobedient dog that Neil has ever had to deal with at his parents' King Street Kennels. The trouble is, the dog belongs to Neil's new teacher . . .

Finally, two other CD releases to look out for in November but already available in cassette: The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson, read by the marvellous Maureen Lipman, (Cover to Cover, £8.99 in UK) and Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr Fox, read by Lionel Jeffries, also from Cover to Cover (£8.99 in UK).

Orna Mulcahy is an Irish Times journalist