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Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Best Free eBook Sources for Kids

Kids growing up in today's increasing tech dependent world will be lucky enough to know books in many formats. Unfortunately for libraries and parents, kids eBooks are not free. The Library of Michigan provides Michiganders some great resources (for instance Scholastic BookFlix and World Book's Early World of Learning's Welcome to Reading page). Some libraries are also able to offer their patrons additional sources for kids to read books digitally. Because this is not the case everywhere or all the time, I wanted to compile other additional free sources for digital kids' books.


Here are some of my favorites:
  • Unite for Literacy: The vision of this site is "picture book abundance". The original digital books on this site can be narrated in many languages. The books are mostly simple nonfiction with leveled text.
  • International Children's Digital Library: A project originally started by IMLS and the National Science Foundation. It is geared towards ages 3-13 and includes 4642 books in 61 languages. I like that you can search for books by country, and will definitely be keeping this site in mind as a source for books in non-English languages.
  • We Give Books: eBooks read on this site help provide book donations for needy children. To read books you must create a free account.
  • Free Kids Books: Kids can read books online at this site or download them as a pdf. I really like that you can limit your search by age.
  • Between the Lions: Animated books are broken down into categories, such as "Folktales and Fables". The text in each story highlights the words being read, which is important for developing word recognition skills and concepts of print.
  • Eduplace Leveled Books: A small selection of leveled online books. For each book it lists the reading level and skills covered. It also provides a few support resources for teachers.
What other great online resources do you know of for kids eBooks?

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