Top 10: Reading Apps for Kids

October 04, 2024 | Author: Maria Lin
These app help children to start reading and engage with this useful activity. Some of the most popular reading apps for kids are listed below.

See also: Top 10 eBook Readers

2024. AI reading coach startup Ello now lets kids create their own stories



Ello, the AI reading companion that aims to assist kids struggling to read, launched a new product that enables kids to participate in the story-creation process. Called “Storytime,” the new AI-powered feature helps kids generate personalized tales by choosing from a selection of settings, characters and plots. For example, a story about a hamster named Greg who performed in a talent show in outer space. Kids can pick from dozens of prompts, resulting in thousands of combinations. Like Ello’s usual reading offering, the AI companion — a bright blue, friendly elephant — listens to the child read aloud and evaluates their speech to correct mispronunciations and missed words. If kids are uncertain how to pronounce a specific word, they can tap on the question mark icon for additional help. Storytime offers two reading options: one mode where Ello and the reader take turns and another, simpler mode for younger readers where Ello does most of the reading.


2024. Google Play Books offers hundreds of free eBooks for children



In the grand tradition of mildly chaotic yet charming announcements, Google Play Books has unveiled a mind-bogglingly generous expansion of its kids’ collection—over 300 free non-fiction titles with a snazzy "Read & Listen" feature that lets children read and listen simultaneously, presumably leaving no excuse for confusing “their” with “there” ever again. But wait, there's more! To sprinkle a bit of intergalactic joy on the whole reading affair, Google has rolled out digital Reading Rewards stickers, guaranteed to thrill kids into reaching reading milestones faster than a Vogon could butcher poetry, available on Google Kids Space or the Play Books Android app. As if that wasn’t enough to make you raise your towel in approval, Google has also decided to toss thousands of audiobook previews onto its YouTube channel—because why shouldn’t books get their moment in the spotlight among cat videos and conspiracy theories? And just when you thought the galaxy couldn’t get any more bookish, they’ve added an "Upcoming" section to the app's "Library" tab, offering book pre-orders and recommendations to keep your reading queue as endless as Zaphod Beeblebrox’s ego.


2023. Ello - AI reading coach that bolsters child literacy


In the vast and occasionally bewildering galaxy of apps, Ello has arrived like a well-meaning Vogon poetry recital, but with a far more delightful mission: to eradicate childhood illiteracy using a heady mix of artificial intelligence and child speech recognition wizardry. This subscription-based marvel caters to budding bookworms from kindergarten through Grade 3, delivering five carefully curated books each month for the intergalactically reasonable price of $24.99. Parents kick off this literary odyssey by installing the Ello app, which greets their child with a series of probing questions to gauge their reading level and interests—be it creatures furry and fantastical, creative pursuits, sports, or the peculiarities of science. A crack team of reading boffins then assembles a bespoke library tailored to the young reader’s tastes and skills. Sibling stowaways can join the adventure for $12.49 per month each. Currently marooned on tablets, Ello’s clever crew is feverishly charting a course to bring the experience to smartphones—because, naturally, a good story belongs everywhere.


2023. Google Reading Insights allows to track your kid’s reading habits



In a move that feels suspiciously like something out of a bureaucratic galactic empire's guidebook, Google has unveiled a shiny new feature in Google Play Books called Reading Insights. Think of it as a mildly omniscient tool for parents keen on peering into the literary whims of their offspring. Nestled snugly within the Family Link app—a digital Swiss army knife of parental controls—this feature lets parents snoop on what books their kids are diving into, how often they're thumbing through the pages, and whether they've actually made it past chapter two of that “classic” they swore they’d read. Reading Insights doesn’t stop there; it also tracks audiobook escapades, so parents can marvel at their children’s newfound love for having someone else do the reading. It’s like having a Babel fish, but instead of translating alien languages, it deciphers the enigma of juvenile reading habits.


2023. Google Play Books now offering new Reading Practice tool for kids



In a move that suggests someone at Google Play Books may have been struck by the sudden realization that young readers are, in fact, small humans with infinite potential, they’ve unveiled a shiny new feature called Reading Practice in the United States. This clever addition, available through the Google Play Books Android app and Google Kids Space, is designed to coax budding bookworms into mastering the fine art of comprehension via children’s e-books. Armed with the mystical ability to tap words for instant pronunciation and a child-friendly definition, young readers can expand their vocabularies while marveling at technology that feels borderline magical. A text tracker thoughtfully highlights words as they read aloud, keeping early readers on course and offering them the chance to revisit any rogue mispronunciations or skipped words at the end of the page. Naturally, most books on Google Play Books come armed with this feature, ensuring no child is left in the digital dust. In their mission to foster tech-savvy, book-loving kids, Google Play continues its noble quest to equip parents with tools that encourage reading, exploration, and digital habits that are less about chaos and more about harmony.


2022. Google launches a website version of its Read Along education app for children



In a maneuver that would make even the most hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings nod in approval, Google has unveiled a website version of its Read Along app—a delightfully clever contraption designed to coax young humans into the fine art of reading. The premise, much like the app, involves wee earthlings exploring a universe of stories while casually picking up languages like English, Portuguese, Spanish, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, and Urdu. All this linguistic wizardry is powered by Google’s speech recognition and text-to-speech magic. Enter Diya, a virtual assistant so brilliantly helpful it could rival Marvin’s sarcasm chip—except Diya is genuinely nice, guiding kids through tricky pronunciations and whispering secrets about unknown words. Crucially, all this happens right there on the browser, with no data beamed off to shadowy server realms, ensuring privacy is upheld in a manner even Zaphod might begrudgingly admire. Add to that a lack of ads (a rare species indeed) and an option for low-storage devices or desktop-equipped schools, and it’s safe to say this website is the kind of thing Ford Prefect would categorize under “Mostly Harmless” but in the best possible way.


2021. Amazon launches Kindle Paperwhite for kids



Amazon, in its infinite digital wisdom, has unfurled the Kindle Paperwhite Kids, a clever little gadget that’s essentially the base Kindle Paperwhite, but with a dollop of kid-friendly wizardry splashed on top. Among its more dazzling features is the IPx8 rating—a marvelous piece of jargon meaning it can survive the occasional dunking courtesy of a wayward juice box or an impromptu bathtub voyage. Packed within its slim, waterproof shell are Vocabulary Builder and Word Wise, two tools so educationally earnest they might even tempt kids into learning English without noticing. It also features the Open Dyslexic font, beloved by those for whom words have a maddening habit of rearranging themselves. And because no childhood would be complete without a sprawling library to dive into, the Paperwhite Kids comes with a year-long subscription to Amazon Kids+, unlocking an unfathomable treasure trove of eBooks and Audible audiobooks—ideal for the budding bookworm or a parent desperately seeking five minutes of peace.


2021. Microsoft’s Reading Progress makes assessing reading levels easier for kids and teachers



Microsoft’s new Reading Progress app alleviates some of the burden from teachers, allowing students to complete their reading at home while utilizing natural language processing to pinpoint challenges and advancements. Reading Progress is an extension for Microsoft Teams that enables educators to conduct reading assessments more flexibly, reducing stress for students who might falter during a timed evaluation and identifying and monitoring key reading occurrences like omitted words and self-corrections. Teachers assign reading tasks for each student (or the entire class) to complete at their own pace, more akin to homework than a formal test. Students record a video directly in the app, with the audio analyzed by algorithms detecting common errors.


2021. Google Play Books now has new tools to make reading easier for kids



Google Play Books has unveiled a suite of new tools designed to make it easier for even young readers to start enjoying books. The Read & Listen feature will narrate a book to your children. You can either turn the pages manually or allow them to turn automatically. The Tap to Read feature will read aloud any word that you tap on. This helps kids learn the correct pronunciation of the word and provides a description, often accompanied by an illustration, to ensure a complete understanding of the term. Additionally, the Kid-Friendly Dictionary offers simple explanations of words, further supporting the learning process.


2021. Google Play Books will help kids to learn to read



In a move that would probably make Marvin the Paranoid Android raise an eyebrow—if he had one—Google Play Books has introduced a set of whimsical features designed to make the tricky business of learning to read a bit more palatable for the galaxy's youngest inhabitants. Now, little Earthlings can enjoy having books read aloud to them by a soothingly disembodied voice, or even tap on individual words to hear them pronounced with a diligence that would make even Vogon poetry tolerable. Adding to the fun, they can explore thousands of child-friendly definitions, often paired with delightful illustrations that practically shout, "Look at me, I'm educational!" Google assures us that these marvels of modern ingenuity are enabled in the majority of their children's book collection, and parents (those industrious curators of young minds) can even snag a free sample of any book to ensure the reading tools are in working order—because nothing derails bedtime quite like a digital hiccup.


2020. Google launches ‘Read Along,’ a free app that helps young children practice reading



In a moment of inspired techno-benevolence that would make even the most indifferent Vogon pause mid-poem, Google has introduced a new Android app, Read Along, designed to assist elementary school students in mastering the perilous art of reading while trapped indoors due to the antics of a microscopic cosmic nuisance known as the coronavirus. Powered by Google’s prodigious speech recognition and text-to-speech wizardry, this app features Diya, a built-in reading assistant whose job it is to detect when a young reader has wandered into the lexical equivalent of a Vogon constructor fleet. Diya will cheerfully leap in with encouraging words or a helping hand. Should the intrepid reader find themselves perplexed by a tricky sentence or an obstinate word, they need only call on Diya, who, unlike most galactic entities, is always eager to assist without requiring tea, towels, or advanced degrees in xenolinguistics.


2020. Audible is giving away hundreds of stories for kids



"For as long as schools are closed, we're open." That's Audible's new slogan, promising a significant impact in households around the globe. Audible has recently announced that hundreds of their child-friendly titles are available completely free of charge with no strings attached. There's no need to register or log in—just click the link and start listening. So, if your little ones are feeling restless and you don’t have time to read to them yourself, let Audible take over. There are stories suitable for all ages, from *Winnie-the-Pooh* for your young toddler to *The Mystery of Alice* for your tween. Additionally, there are numerous options in Spanish, French, German, Italian and Japanese. You can stream all these titles on your desktop, laptop, phone, or tablet.


2019. Google launched free e-library for kids learning English



In a galaxy not so far away, where bedtime stories often collide with reluctant readers, Google has unveiled the magnificently nifty Rivet — a splendidly clever reading app for kids. Packed to the brim with over 3,500 free books, each meticulously calibrated to the perfect reading level, Rivet makes the once-arduous task of quality reading practice feel as effortless as slipping into a comfy chair made of words. With helpful reading support lurking cheerfully on every page (like an affable hitchhiker of literacy), kids can stride boldly toward their daily reading goals without fear of getting hopelessly marooned on the Isle of Confusing Words. Real-time feedback and word assistance ensure even the smallest of adventurers can practice independently, exploring books they’ll adore on Androids, Chromebooks, iPhones, iPads, and even Kindle Fires. One might almost say, it’s a bookworm’s guide to the galaxy.


2016. Amazon launched Rapids - chat-style reading app for kids



Amazon has introduced a new app for kids called Rapids, which features “entertaining, engaging short stories presented in a unique chat format.” The app is available for iOS, Android and Amazon Fire devices, with a subscription priced at $2.99 per month. The Rapids stories are illustrated and what sets Rapids apart from other children’s reading apps is its method of storytelling through characters conversing with each other one line at a time. Rapids offers hundreds of stories, with Amazon adding dozens more each month. The stories cover a wide range of genres, including adventure, fantasy, humor, mystery, science fiction and sports.


2016. Kindle for PC allows to read children’s books and comic books



Amazon Kindle users can now access comic books and children's books on Kindle for PC. This is the first time you can do this without needing any Amazon hardware or their various smartphone apps. In 2014, Amazon acquired ComiXology, the largest digital distributor of comic books. Amazon has been gradually incorporating all their content into the Kindle store, including comics from major publishers like DC and Marvel. In addition to ComiXology, Amazon also collaborates directly with thousands of publishers around the world. If you have purchased any children's or comic books directly from Amazon, you can now read them on Kindle for PC or Kindle for Mac. If you already have these apps installed, you'll need to download the update.


2016. Kobo released reading app for kids



Kobo has just introduced a standalone app for Android called Kobo Kids. It is an e-reading app as well as an online shopping platform offering a variety of e-books and graphic novels. In 2013, Kobo created a children’s portal to highlight their comics, graphic novels and e-books. This system was only accessible via the web version of their store, making this the first time the company has developed a dedicated app to promote it. The Kobo Kids app features a vibrant and engaging interface with a range of icons representing genres such as space, dinosaurs, animals, classics, superheroes and more. When you select a specific genre, it shows several titles and offers previews. Children cannot purchase content independently; instead, a parent must make the purchases, but it is much easier once a sample is downloaded.


2015. Amazon introduced Kindle Bundle for Kids



In a bold move likely inspired by a desire to prevent kids from turning into app-obsessed zombies, Amazon has unveiled the discounted Kindle for Kids Bundle, cleverly designed to convince parents that e-readers are the gateway to educational enlightenment. This irresistible package includes a mercifully ad-free Kindle e-reader, a practically indestructible cover (because kids), and an extended warranty that laughs in the face of spills and drops. At a tantalizing $99—a full $39.98 cheaper than buying these marvels of modern engineering separately—Amazon promises a device that steadfastly refuses to support games or apps, stubbornly focusing on books alone. With 4 GB of storage capable of housing entire libraries and a battery life that stretches to a month (as long as Junior isn’t devouring books with Wi-Fi on), it’s practically begging to be stocked with one of the 250,000 titles Amazon sells—or better yet, some freebie e-books from your local library. Parents, take note: this is either the beginning of a literary revolution or a cunning ploy to get you hooked on Amazon’s ecosystem forever.


2014. Sproutkin ditches its “Netflix For Kids’ Books” service, moves into digital subscriptions



Sproutkin, the company that aimed to create a Netflix for Children’s Books by offering monthly shipments of nearly a dozen books for a subscription fee, has recently shifted its focus and now emphasizes a digital approach. It is launching a digital children’s book subscription library for mobile devices. Its app is currently available in beta on the App Store, where it is somewhat misleadingly using media quotes (including ours) to promote the service. Users will be able to trial the new Sproutkin service for free and then subscribe via in-app purchase for $4.99/month. This pricing is comparable to other services like Farfaria, MeeGenius and PlayKids (which offers books, games and shows), though it is higher than buying individual books through apps like Read Me Stories or iStoryTime.


2014. Kobo adds books for kids from Reading Eggs



In a move that would make even the most erudite intergalactic hitchhiker pause to marvel, Kobo, in its infinite wisdom, has teamed up with Reading Eggs to unleash over 120 of their cherished children’s eBooks upon an unsuspecting universe of Kobo Readers. For the very first time, the delightfully eggy brilliance of Reading Eggs eBooks is hatching in digital splendor, outside the cozy confines of the Reading Eggs program, and—hold onto your towel—exclusively on Kobo. Crafted by a brainy alliance of educational teachers, writers, and developers who probably know where their towels are, the Reading Eggs program is a dazzling concoction of phonics, word memorization, and other clever things that make kids better at this strange Earth pastime called "reading." It’s like a Babel fish for young minds, syncing perfectly with school lessons and sneakily helping kids ace their classes.

Author: Maria Lin
Maria Lin, is a seasoned content writer who has contributed to numerous tech portals, including Mashable and bookrunch, as a guest author. She holds a Master's degree in Journalism from the University of California, where her research predominantly concentrated on mobile apps, software, AI and cloud services. With a deep passion for reading, Maria is particularly drawn to the intersection of technology and books, making book tech a subject of great interest to her. During her leisure time, she indulges in her love for cooking and finds solace in a good night's sleep. You can contact Maria Lin via email maria@bookrunch.com