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Do Audiobooks Count as Reading? What Families Should Know

By Lauren Ullman

If your child loves listening to stories, you may have wondered: Do audiobooks actually count as reading? 

The short answer? Yes! Audiobooks absolutely count as reading. 

Listening to an audiobook may look different from sitting down with a printed book, but children are still engaging with stories, learning new words, strengthening comprehension, and experiencing rich language. Audiobooks can be another valuable way to help children access and enjoy books. 

How Audiobooks Support Literacy Skills 

When children listen to audiobooks, they’re doing more than simply hearing a story. They’re following characters and events, making connections, learning new vocabulary, and thinking about what they hear. 

Audiobooks also give children the chance to hear fluent reading modeled for them. Listening to a narrator use expression, pacing, and tone can help children hear how language flows and how a story comes to life. 

For children who may find some books challenging to read independently, audiobooks can also open the door to stories and ideas they’re ready to understand, even if they’re not quite ready to decode every word on the page themselves. 

Audiobooks and Print Can Work Together 

Audiobooks should not replace print reading. Instead, think of them as another way for children to experience books. 

Children still need opportunities to practice reading printed words, especially as they develop foundational skills like decoding and learn to read independently. Those skills require children to look at words, connect letters with sounds, and practice working through unfamiliar text. 

By giving children opportunities to both listen and read, families can support different literacy skills while offering more ways to enjoy stories. 

Try Listening and Following Along 

Want to bring audiobooks and print together? Try having your child follow along in a physical or digital copy of the book while listening to the audiobook. 

Seeing the words while hearing them read aloud can help children connect spoken and written language. It can also support fluency and confidence, particularly when children are tackling a book that feels a little challenging on their own. 

You can even pause occasionally to talk about a new word, make a prediction, or discuss something interesting that happened, just as you would when reading aloud together. 

Looking for a place to start? In celebration of RIF’s 60th anniversary, explore our 60th Anniversary Collection on Literacy Central. The collection highlights books from across RIF’s six decades and includes an embedded Spotify player where families can listen to audiobooks together. 

Make Room for Different Ways to Read 

There’s no single right way for children to experience books. Reading independently, listening to an audiobook, following along with the text, and sharing a read-aloud with an adult can all have a place in a child’s reading life. 

The goal isn’t to choose between audiobooks and print. It’s to give children plenty of opportunities to build their skills, explore new stories, and discover the kinds of reading experiences that keep them coming back for more. 

So, do audiobooks count as reading? Absolutely. They’re one more way to help children engage with books, build literacy skills, and develop a lasting love of reading. 

Have a reading question? Ask Karly!