Free Children Stories Websites, Reviews and Links

Is it really possible to find kids stories to read for online for free?

The answer is yes.

Free Audio Books and E-Books

There are several digital kids collection! Massive amounts of children’s books out in cyberspace and they are growing. Some of these ebooks or audio books include online reading or free downloads of short stories, Classical children stories, some sites even include scholastic books. Most are public domain books. This means you can download the audio book for free or download a free ebooks which is usually in a Pdf format – no strings attached.

“Tumble books” http://www.nypl.org/digital/ Free online reading audio books.

Usually you need a password and user name to access Tumble Books unless your go through a subribers site, such as, NYPL (New York Public Library). You don’t need a library card to access the “Tumble Books collection.” The following link will allow you to gain access to all the “Tumble Books” for free. These audio reading books are more modern scholastic type stories. I love the format. They are read aloud and you follow along with the highlighted text when a sentence is being read. You can also turn the sound off and read them manually. Remember you can only link to Tumble Books through a thrid party or you won’t be able to access the books for free.

“Rosetta Stone Project:” http://www.childrensbooksonline.org/library.htm Free readable Childrens books.

Colorful classical children’s picture books in ebook and audio formats. Not necessarily associate with the foreign language program. This is a much nicer layout than Gutenberg project. However, the audio download of these books must be purchased. There were some in the past that played the audio free, so double check as many as you can before moving on.

“The Baldwin Project:” For the display by stories go through this link: http://www.mainlesson.com/displaystoriesbytitle.php

A pleasant easy to read html format. These are E-books not audio books. A large number of history books are included in the Baldwin Project Collection, childrens books too and this site has more ebooks on saints than I have seen anywhere else. I am not sure however that the Saints books or books about saints are necessarily all Catholic. You can also purchase the book in print format if you prefer. To access through the Main Page use this link: http://www.mainlesson.com/main/displayarticle.php?article=feature

Gutenberg project: Most have heard about this project but it is worth including. You can find ebooks in pdf format, html, text and even some great audio file formats. Some audio file are not so good so check it if you can before downloading. All are available for free to download. http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

Vibrivox.org: Are all audio books and the best part they are all free.

The easiest way to search through this sight is through their genres. However, it not so easy to find that option. If you go through this link and bookmark it, otherwise it can be hard to locate on the site by genre. http://librivox.org/newcatalog/genres.php

Here is a link to one of the stories: City of God by Saint Augustine – remember it’s an audio book. So you can download it on to your ipod or mp3 player and listen to it while driving or working out. http://librivox.org/the-city-of-god-by-st-augustine-of-hippo/

You will find the link to the free download at the bottom of the books summary page. It’s usually in an mp3 file, sometimes in multiple parts. They have a very good selection of children audio books and religious audio books on Saints.

ICDL, International Childrens Digital Library: http://en.childrenslibrary.org/

This site has loads of children books from all kinds of countries and languages. It has several in English. Most are good, some are so – so. Some are well known and some books are by unknown authors yet, good stories. The ICDL site uses an ebook format to read these books. Pages are easily located and it gives a good information page about the book before reading it.

Story Nory A fun audio storytelling book reading website. http://storynory.com/

One of our favorite read aloud stories websites. Natasha who has a British accent reads classical stories which we download or subcribe to itunes podcast (all for free) then download them onto an mp3 player. Some stories are a little strange but all old classics, most should be recognizable and familiar. Natasha is an extremely good storyteller; she changes character voices and is very enjoyable to listen to.

Remember to:

Visit your local libraries online! In the state of Georgia they have something called: “Georgia Download Destination” Other libraries from each state have similar programs. Call or do a google search for your local library system.

Here is how it works: They offer free audio books for downloading. If you have a library card in the state of Georgia you can use this site for FREE. The audio books are available for you to listen to for 1 week. And can download up to 5 at a time. As I mentioned, check with your local library. Many of them now offer these types of services for free when you enter your library card information.