One of the most difficult tasks parents perform is trying to keep their children quiet and still during church, meetings, airports, or other occasions. Books are a great way to keep children occupied, but toddlers and very young children with short attention spans may have a difficult time sitting still for very long no matter how attractive the pictures. Quiet books have a variety of textures, removable velcro parts, and other interactive features that can keep even the most wiggly toddlers interested. For parents trying to keep their children reverent during church, quiet books with religious themes are quite appealing. Children learn scripture stories or other gospel principles and are entertained at the same time.

Parents can create their own quiet books using laminated file folders with velcro, or creating a felt book with matching felt pieces. Having an envelope or zip lock bag with them helps keep track of the pieces. Quiet books are nice because they not only help keep the children quiet, they are quiet to use. The pages and accompanying pieces are usually soft, so no matter how much they are played with, there is little disturbing sound. Another type of interactive book involves a story and a movable character. Each page has the character follow a pattern on the page or move in and out of holes in the page according to the story. Again, you could create your own. Children love tracing patterns, and weaving the character in and out of the pages. Whether you purchase one or make your own, quiet books are a great resource for parents and great fun for children.

Our world has become digitized mainly due to our dependence on computers and also the availability of everything in a digitized format be it songs or books. This has lead to people losing interest in paper based reading material. Hence if you are looking at gifting literary material to someone, think of audio CD books as an option.

In terms of the contents, the audio CD books are exact replicas of the printed version. Be it a self-help book or an epic, the audio version does not lose anything. Normally, a person who has a likeable voice recites these books. It could be a singer or a performer or a familiar voice from radio or television.

There are many other advantages of the audio CD books. If you feel peeved at the constant interruptions by commercials on your car radio, choose your favorite audio CD book title to give you company. If you like philosophy, an audio rendition of Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco can be mesmerizing.

Audio CD books have something extra as compared to their printed counterparts. They can be effectively used as ancillary tools for learning for people with visual, mental or other learning difficulties. For example, people who are blind or people who have difficulty in reading like the elderly population can use them. Nowadays, many states and volunteer organizations have undertaken the efforts to get the printed books digitized into audio for the benefits of such people. In fact some schools and teaching centers have a facility under which such students can order a course book that a Professor is using to be converted into an audio CD book.

Having said that, you should not be surprised if you do not find an audio CD book that you so badly wanted to gift to a perfect friend. Be it an audio copy of Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ or an audio version of the posthumous work of genius Jonathan Kennedy O’Toole, ‘A Confederacy of Dunces’. This is still a new phenomenon and will take some time before you can order any title of your choice as an audio CD. Till that time, you can take heart from the fact that you would still be able to find some classic that you cherish and would like to ‘play’ it when you take your sweetheart for a long sunset drive the next time.