My husband and I relaxed in the front seat while E.B. White read Charlotte's Web to the kids in back.
Some parents cope with long car trips by hooking up a TV in the rear seat.
Listen often enough and you'll find yourself cribbing a favorite reader's storytelling style. It's also helpful when the story has an unusual cadence or a tuneless song to be sung. Not until I heard Bread and Jam for Frances performed by Glynis Johns did I have a clue how to sing Frances's ditties. But the combination of a great book and a great performer doesn't always guarantee success. Three minutes into Carol Channing's lisping Madeline and my kids were begging me to turn off the tape.