Free Audiobooks For Kids

Read-Along With Stories to Grow By

Stories to Grow By, the best children’s story collection! Our stories for kids are perfect for bedtime or anytime. Our collection of bedtime stories for kids features classic tales, fairy tales and folktales for kids all with positive messages. Our stories have been kid-tested to ensure children love our stories. Read along with us and subscribe to our YouTube channel – exclusively for kids, families, and educators.

Top Websites Offering Free Audiobooks

PBS Kids hosts “Read-Along with PBS Kids!” The playlist features children’s books narrated by notable figures, including former first lady Michelle Obama. Each narration is engaging and features animated elements that keep little ones entertained while they follow along.

Spotify has a treasure trove of free public domain audiobooks. You can find classics like The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. Spotify also offers a whole “Spoken Word” section where you can explore more audiobooks, poems, and other non-musical content. Remember to create a free Spotify account to access these resources.

LibriVox boasts a vast collection of free classic audiobooks read by volunteers. This includes works by Beatrix Potter, Louisa May Alcott, and Lewis Carroll. You might find the odd amateur recording, but for the price of free, it’s a goldmine of public domain works.

OverDrive’s Libby app allows access to audiobooks through your local library. Just input your library card details to unlock a world of new and popular children’s books. If you don’t have a library card, visit your local library to get set up.

Story Seeds is a podcast that pairs kids with authors to create original stories. Episodes like “A Worm’s Worth” co-written by Jayson Reynolds and “A Girl Who Looks Like Me” co-written by Susan Muaddi Darraj are fantastic for inspiring young writers.

Benefits of Audiobooks for Kids

Audiobooks offer a wealth of benefits for children’s reading and comprehension skills. They provide an engaging way to introduce kids to literature and foster various essential skills that contribute to a child’s academic growth and personal development.

Listening to audiobooks can significantly improve listening skills. According to research by the UK National Literacy Trust, audiobooks help children develop better listening comprehension and concentration. These skills help in following instructions and absorbing new information more effectively.

Audiobooks also introduce new vocabulary. As children listen to stories, they are exposed to words and expressions that they might not encounter in their everyday conversations. This exposure to diverse and rich language can enhance their vocabulary. Emily Best, from the UK National Literacy Trust, also notes that audiobooks can act as “a way into reading print books” by making these new words familiar and less intimidating when encountered in text form.

For children with reading difficulties, audiobooks can be a game-changer. Kids who struggle with traditional reading methods, whether due to dyslexia, ADHD, or other learning differences, often find audiobooks to be a more accessible way to enjoy and learn from books. Platforms like Bookshare provide digital text-to-speech books that help bridge the gap for these learners. The combination of listening and following along in a physical or digital book can reinforce reading skills and boost confidence.

Audiobooks also offer a practical solution for busy families or during activities such as traveling or doing household chores. They can keep children entertained and engaged, turning mundane tasks into opportunities for learning. Audiobooks can serve as a shared family activity, allowing everyone to discuss and enjoy stories together.

Studies have shown that audiobooks provide comparable benefits to traditional reading, such as improving comprehension, fostering imagination, and developing critical thinking skills. They allow kids to experience books they might find too challenging to read on their own. This inclusion broadens their exposure to different genres and complex narratives, enhancing their overall understanding and appreciation of literature.

Audiobooks vs. Text-to-Speech Books

Audiobooks and text-to-speech books both provide unique ways to support children’s reading and comprehension development, but they do so in different manners. Understanding the differences between these two formats can help parents and educators choose the right resources for their children’s needs.

Audiobooks are narrated versions of books produced by professional actors or authors. They offer a polished and engaging listening experience, complete with varied intonations and character voices that bring stories to life. This format, with its dynamic and expressive readings, can help kids grasp the nuances of language, like tone and emotion, which are essential for improving comprehension and fluency.

Text-to-speech (TTS) books, on the other hand, use synthetic voices generated by software to read digital text aloud. These can be used with e-books or digital documents. While TTS voices have improved significantly in recent years, they still lack the human touch of professional narrations. The advantage of TTS is its versatility and accessibility. Kids can use TTS to read any digital text available, from textbooks and PDFs to web pages.

So what are the pros and cons of each?

Audiobooks:

Advantages:

• Professional narration enhances engagement and understanding.
• Often dramatized with character voices, making stories more vivid.
• Provides a break from screen time.

Disadvantages:

• Limited to books that have been professionally recorded.
• High-quality audiobooks might come with a cost, though many free options are available.

Text-to-Speech Books:

Advantages:

• Automatically available for any digital text, making them highly versatile.
• Can be adjusted for speed and some offer word-by-word highlighting, which can foster word recognition and retention.

Disadvantages:

• Robotic voices might be less engaging and more monotonous.
• The syntactical and emotional delivery might lack the warmth and nuance found in human narration.

Both formats can be highly effective when combined. For example, kids can follow along with a printed book while listening to an audiobook or a TTS version. This dual-input method can reinforce learning by giving children both auditory and visual cues, helping to improve reading fluency and comprehension.

There are numerous sources for free TTS books. Bookshare, for instance, is a leading provider of accessible digital books for individuals with print disabilities. Libraries and schools often provide access to apps like Sora and OverDrive, which include TTS functionality for their digital book collections.

How to Use Audiobooks and TTS Books Together:

1. Enhance Engagement: Kids who might find traditional reading daunting can start with audiobooks to spark interest, then gradually introduce TTS books as they become more comfortable.
2. Skill Building: Listening to an audiobook while following along with text can improve decoding skills, punctuation recognition, and reading pace.
3. Accessibility: Use TTS for everyday homework or research tasks, while keeping audiobooks for more immersive, leisure reading to maintain balance and interest.
4. Personalizing Learning: Adjust TTS settings to match the child’s pace and preferred listening style, providing a customized reading experience that can grow with the student’s abilities.

Recommended Audiobooks for Different Age Groups

For our tiniest listeners, it’s all about keeping things short, sweet, and engaging. Preschoolers thrive on repetitive and rhythmic tales that they can follow easily. Here are some recommendations for audiobooks that will captivate the littlest ears:

First is Stick Man by Julia Donaldson, a heartwarming tale of adventure and identity. You can find this audiobook on Spotify, beautifully narrated to keep young minds glued to the story. Following closely is the classic The Gruffalo, also by Julia Donaldson. This rhyming story about a mouse and an imaginary monster will surely become a bedtime favorite. Available on Spotify, it’s a must-listen.

The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt is another gem, portraying a box of crayons with grievances. The audiobook version on Spotify is just the right mix of funny and educational, teaching kids about colors and creativity. For a touch of magic and whimsy, Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne is perfect. When narrated by actors like Stephen Fry and Judi Dench, as it is in some versions on Spotify, this classic tale becomes even more enchanting.

Let’s zoom into the elementary age group. These bookworms are ready for slightly more complex plots and characters:

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll offers a fantastical journey down the rabbit hole. This much-loved book, with its myriad of eccentric characters, is available on LibriVox for free. Another splendid option is Matilda by Roald Dahl, the story of a precocious girl with a love for reading and a knack for telekinesis. Available on Spotify, this audiobook version is narrated by Kate Winslet, adding an extra layer of magic to the tale.

For a more American-flavored classic, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett explores themes of healing and friendship in a mysterious, locked garden. You can find this audiobook on both Spotify and LibriVox. Elementary kids might also enjoy Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White. This tender story of friendship and life lessons between a pig named Wilbur and a spider named Charlotte is a great pick. It’s readily available on Spotify.

Let’s cater to our secondary school crowd. These older kids can handle intricate stories with deeper themes and complex character arcs:

Dive into The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, a thrilling dystopian series about survival and rebellion. The audiobooks are easily accessible on Spotify. For fantasy enthusiasts, there’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling. This second book in the Harry Potter series can be found on multiple platforms, including Spotify.

For something a bit different, try The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan (part of “The 39 Clues” series), which offers a mix of history, mystery, and high-paced adventure. This one’s available on Spotify and will keep older kids hooked. Classics hold their own nostalgia and value, so 1984 by George Orwell or Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, both available on LibriVox and Spotify, can be profound reads that prompt critical thinking and reflection.

In essence, whatever your child’s interest or age group, there’s a wealth of audiobooks out there ready to turn any time into story time. From the playful musings of preschool tales to the thought-provoking adventures for older kids, audiobooks are a gateway to endless storytelling and learning.