2026 DCL Kids Reading Challenge: Audiobook for a Road TripLike this list

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• 2026 DCL Kids Reading Challenge

  View on dcl.org

  Win a Denver Zoo Annual Family Pass in this year's random prize drawing of the kids challenge finishers! Read any of the titles on this list, or choose your own, for your chance to win.

• The Willoughbys

  Lowry, Lois

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  The hilarious and old-fashioned Willoughby children hatch a scheme to become “deserving orphans” after their parents leave them at home while they travel the world. The audiobook is great, but it is also an excellent one to read aloud.

• The Hobbit

  Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel), 1892-1973

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  Maybe the quintessential road trip story? Bilbo Baggins is conscripted by a wizard and a band of dwarves for an adventure across Middle Earth.

• The Secret Library

  Magoon, Kekla

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  A letter from her grandfather leads a young girl to a library where each book is a portal to a different point in time.

• The Swifts

  a Dictionary of Scoundrels

  Lincoln, Beth

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  Little sister and troublemaker Shenanigan Swift is preparing for a family reunion, searching for a long-lost treasure, and trying to solve a mysterious murder.

• The Last Mapmaker

  Soontornvat, Christina

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  In this high-seas adventure, a young mapmaker's apprentice jumps at the chance to join a mission to explore the southern seas, but she learns there may be an even more mysterious destination: a land of dragons, dangers, and riches beyond imagining.…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Phantom Tollbooth

  Juster, Norton

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  Milo is bored and when a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his bedroom, he goes through because he has nothing better to do. Parents may recognize that the audio version of this classic tale is narrated by Rainn Wilson.

• Max in the House of Spies

  Gidwitz, Adam

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  A young Jewish boy is determined to become a British spy so he can return home to his parents in this fast-paced and hilarious World War II adventure with a dash of magic.

• The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle

  Uss, Christina

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  Bicycle’s guardian announces that she is going to be sent to a camp where she will learn to make friends. The 12-year-old girl says “no way” and sets off on her bike to San Francisco to meet her famous cyclist idol, to see if he will be her true…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

  Blume, Judy

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  Grown-ups think that Peter’s little brother, Fudge, is adorable, but Peter knows better. Fudge’s hilarious antics will have young listeners breaking down into giggles, and there are four more books of Fudge Hatcher silliness to fill even the longest…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Penderwicks

  Birdsall, Jeanne

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  A modern classic and a National Book Award winner, kids will fall in love with this boisterous family of sisters, and grown-ups will love the nostalgic feel and quaint wit.

• Unplugged

  Korman, Gordon

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  A rich-kid troublemaker is sent to a screen-free retreat in Arkansas by his tech mogul father. There, he befriends a lizard, wreaks some havoc, and uncovers some mysterious happenings at camp.

• Impossible Creatures

  Rundell, Katherine

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  A boy discovers that his grandfather guards a way into a world of magical creatures and the barrier is wearing thin, so he embarks on a journey to explore the Archipelago.

• A Royal Conundrum

  Yee, Lisa

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  Olive is sent to a mysterious island to attend “reforming arts school” where she soon discovers her class of misfits are more than they seem. Will this group of covert crime fighting operatives be able to solve a series of jewelry heists? Your car…Read moreRead more of this annotation