Finding free children’s books online is easier today than ever, thanks to inventions like Kindle and Nook. the hard part? find great free books online that our middle graders really want to read. I did the work for you and came up with a list of places that offer really great free books for kids of all ages, including our high school students. check it out!
You are reading: Free reading books for 6th graders
Some of these free book sites are obvious (at least to me). Even if you’ve already thought of them, I’m still including them for those who don’t know they have gifts. others are not so obvious!
one other thing: this list may not be as long as others, but that’s because I’ve removed as much garbage as possible. I’ve seen sites with lists like “50 places to get free children’s books online,” and 47 of those places have the exact same public domain books. I’d rather give you a short list of good free books than stuff it with a bunch of crap just to make it look good.
places with free children’s books online
*some of the links below are affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, I earn a small commission at no additional charge to you. I only recommend services and products that I use myself. 😀
free online book resources with a large selection
These resources offer a robust library of free books for all ages, including tweens and teens.
1. amazon
Let’s start with the most obvious source of all: amazon. As you may know, Amazon has a veritable cornucopia of free books for all ages. Some of these books are “permafree”, meaning they will always cost you nothing. others have special days off, so you have to be very attentive. Finding the free list is not as easy as it used to be. they’ve buried the initiative a bit with their latest design, but you can find the free children’s books by clicking here.
If you’re a Prime member, you can also find some free books in the Kindle Unlimited program. Please note that Prime Members only have access to a small percentage of the ku library. if you’re willing to pay for membership, you can find plenty of “free” books, of course, but they’re not technically free since you’re paying for a membership, right? same goes for amazon free time (although the rate is much lower than ku and they have some big name books).
2. corner
barnes & Noble has a pretty decent selection of free teen and young adult books for your corner and makes them very easy to find. you can narrow down the list to show only books appropriate for the middle grade by selecting 9-12 from the side menu. The 7″ Nook Tablet retails for just under $50 and comes with the Google Play Store. If you already have a tablet or iPad, you can also download the Nook mobile app and use it to read your books for free.
3. overdrive
You’ll need a library card to access overdrive, but it’s free almost everywhere. once you sign up, you’ll be able to borrow ebooks for all ages. While they do have a good selection, keep in mind that each library has a limited number of copies available for each title. So basically, if your library has two copies and ten people want to read it, you’ll have to put yourself on the waiting list. Overdrive gives you a few options on how to read the books once you check them out, including a Kindle option. you can only keep the book for 2-3 weeks, then it is returned automatically. I love this because I’ve been known to forget to return library books on time!
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FYI, for the people of pennsylvania, anyone in the state can get a free philadelphia library card. I have both that and a local library card, which opens up more options in overdrive for me. for those in other states, check the larger city libraries and see if they offer the same service.
4. freekidsbooks.org
freekidsbooks.org offers books for ages ranging from toddlers to teens. the selection is not very wide, but they make it very easy to get your free book. once you find something you love, just one click takes you to the story. kids can read the books online or download the pdf.
5. Riveted By Teen Simon
simon teen publishers offers a small selection of his books for free on riveted. Be sure to take a close look at each book, as some are just extended previews. you want to search for “whole book” and make a note of the “available until” date.
6. free instagram
While instafreebie is primarily for adult reading, you may find some teen-appropriate reading mixed in throughout the content. Freelance authors often offer free books in exchange for subscribing to a newsletter or following them on social media. once you find one you like, follow the claim process instructions. You will receive a verification email, then you can choose the device you want to read on. I suggest getting the app. if you connect it to your account, the books appear automatically. It’s so much easier than keeping track of emails!
7. read.gov
There are probably a million sites offering free public domain works for all ages. while many of them are legitimate, many are full of malware, redirects, and other junk. read.gov is a government-run site, so you’re less likely to run into major problems. The books they offer are all classics, but you can find some great novels for teens and young adults, like Anne of Green Gables, Alice in Wonderland, and The Jungle Book.
8. internet archive
Okay, so archive.org definitely has a solid library, but it’s a bit of a hassle to navigate. With over 15,000,000 free books and texts, including 550,000 modern works that you can borrow with a free account, you can almost always find something free to read. use the filters to narrow down the selections (but be prepared to spend a bit of time trying to find something your kids really want to read).
9. loyal books
While, like read.gov, proudbooks only offers classic and public domain books, their site is a bit more kid-friendly. They also offer more of a selection than read.gov. Another reason I’m including them: They offer free audiobook versions of the classics. For kids who don’t really like to read, audiobooks can be a great way to introduce them to the classics.
10. wattpad
wattpad is not the typical place to get free books online. it is more of a community of authors who share their works with each other. readers can vote for books (which helps them get further down the page, I guess), comment on each other’s works, and even save them for offline reading (with an account). While you won’t find many big names here, your tweens and teens just might discover the next big thing hidden among the thousands of stories. If you have younger teens, you may want to preview books before saving them to your library.
11. smash words
smashwords was the place to get free books when I started publishing books in 2011. They’re not as popular as they used to be, but I still love using them to explore my favorite genres. you’ll need to sign up for a free account. when you find a book you like, just add it to your library. then you can download it as an epub, mobi (kindle) or pdf file, or read it right there online.
12. epic!
epic! it’s only free to educators, and I’m not sure where you stand on homeschooling parents. you must enter your school name to get the free account. If you study at home, I suggest you contact them to see if you can get a free account. for the rest of us, epic! It costs $7.99 a month (you can get a free month to try it out), but you get access to a library of 25,000 fantastic books, quizzes, and more. i’m talking about the books kids really want to read, like big nate. while epic! Designed for grades K-5, you’ll find a selection of books for children ages 12 and under.
13. electronic iq reader
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Ever since Amazon started penalizing affiliates for sending too much traffic to free books (rather than paid products), it’s getting harder and harder to find sites dedicated entirely to free eBooks. many sites were completely shut down, while places like bookbub started sharing cheap vs. free readings. ereader iq seems to be the exception, one of the few sites that is still regularly updated with completely free books. most of the books are written by independent authors, but don’t let that stop you from reading them! some of my favorite authors are self-published.
Like I said, this is a significantly shorter list than most of the results you’ll find on the first page of your favorite search engine. There’s a reason for that. most of those lists are outdated or repetitive, and I didn’t want to regurgitate the same information. These are all the sites I have used in the past and can recommend them.
Do you have any other favorite resources for finding free children’s books online? share below!
See Also: 9 Best Children&x27s Books for Teaching Character Traits in the Classroom | Teach Starter
See Also: 9 Best Children&x27s Books for Teaching Character Traits in the Classroom | Teach Starter
See Also: 9 Best Children&x27s Books for Teaching Character Traits in the Classroom | Teach Starter
See Also: 9 Best Children&x27s Books for Teaching Character Traits in the Classroom | Teach Starter
See Also: 9 Best Children&x27s Books for Teaching Character Traits in the Classroom | Teach Starter
See Also: 9 Best Children&x27s Books for Teaching Character Traits in the Classroom | Teach Starter
See Also: 9 Best Children&x27s Books for Teaching Character Traits in the Classroom | Teach Starter