A friend of mine is spending a few days with his 3-year-old granddaughter in another state. He has a new iPad and asked me to put together a list of recommended iPad eBooks and eBook apps for kids for her. I have several on my iPad my niece (20 months) and nephew (almost 4!) absolutely love to read when I’m with them (although my niece loves to push the home button; child proof button lock needed!).
Unfortunately, I haven’t had a lot of luck finding free eBooks for kids (young kids, that is). I’ve found a few here and there when there are specials, but to get the full audio + read to me/read myself part that the kids are fascinated by, I’ve discovered you have to pay for them.
If you know of any good free apps for the iPad, please leave comments for sure! I haven’t explored the B&N eReader or Kindle or Stanza or other eReader platform stores for kids books yet. I’m sure there are lots more out there, including books in the Project Gutenberg archive (many of which can be accessed through iBooks.
A couple of technical notes.
- For the iPad, make sure you download the iPad only app version or apps that say they’ll work on both iPads and iPhones (known as universal apps). Otherwise, you’ll be disappointed in the experience.
- All the app links below will either take you to an website that prompts you to access the iTunes store to look at the app or will immediately launch iTunes
Here’s the list I’m sending him:
Standalone Book Apps I Own
- Cat in the Hat
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas
- Dr. Seuss’ ABC
- Shrek Forever After
- The Tale of Peter Rabbit Special Easter Edition (although both were quickly bored with this one; sad because this is one of my favorite kids’ stories!)
- Toy Story Readalong — Free (this one has my nephew’s stamp of approval; we’ve read it many many times!)
*Universal=works on both iPhone and iPad; only have to buy once.
iBooks Kids Books I Own
- Winnie the Pooh (comes with the iBooks app when you download it) — Free
- Sleeping Beauty and…something (can’t remember the title at the moment)
“The iPad meets the Children’s Book” article mentions a lot of other recommendations.
Other Recommendations (but I haven’t tried out yet)
- Green Eggs and Ham app and others from Oceanhouse Media
- MeeGenius
- Lots of kids books from the iStorytime Company
- Alice for the iPad (Lite) — Free
- Books from AppleTree Apps
- Timmy TipToes — Free
- “Kids Books for iPad” search results on the iTunes Store
- The International Children’s Library — Free (I haven’t found any good books on here yet, but I’ve heard good things about it; has anyone else found any good ones?)
- Disney Publishing Worldwide (Note: they produced the free ToyStory 1 eBook listed above but not many others listed yet)
- Once Upon an App company eBooks
- KiwiTech eBooks for iPad (includes a cute Three Little Pigs story)
I may add more to this list, especially as I discover more books for my niece and nephew to explore.
Photo Credit: “iPad day” by Flickr user travis_warren123 under a Creative Commons License.
Try “The Wrong Side of the Bed” in 3D. One of the Top rated e-books for the iPad. This is definitely a good one for younger kids, as it will read the book to you, and kids really love wearing the 3D glasses. Red/blue 3D glasses are mailed to you when you order. This company is working on more 3D e-books for children, and they have a free book club you can join from their website.
Thanks Colleen!
Thanks for this list! We struggle to find books for our son who reads at an older level then what he is (5). We just got “Violet” which is a new interactive book that came out with a charming story and a planned series to follow. We’ll be sharing a review of this tomorrow at our apps4ikids site.
Happy to compile the list. It dawned on me my friend wasn’t going to be the only one interested in this list.