15 free or cheap kids' book tricks
Including free e-books with your library, free must-read Kindle titles, 10 books for £10 & more
To mark this year's World Book Day on Thursday 7 March, we've rounded up 15 free and cheap ways to turn your little ones into bookworms.
Whether your child reads more than Matilda, or needs a little nudge, they don't need to be a Billionaire Boy to get access to hundreds of books, including free must-read Kindle titles, thousands of free e-books with your library membership, and 10 picture books for £10.
If you have any more bargain book tricks, we'd love to see them. Please pop them in the MSE Forum.
Most libraries allow access to a vast catalogue of kids' (as well as adults') e-books and digital audiobooks for free via an online service using your library membership info.
As an example, our local library in Essex uses a brilliant app called Borrow Box. I especially love the audiobook service, as you can often borrow the same book with the same narrator as you'd find on Amazon's Audible.
My little ones have listened to tons of these, especially on car journeys. Top kids' titles on ours include The Last Bear by Hannah Gold, The World's Worst Pets by David Walliams and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K. Rowling.
It's worth seeing if your library offers this – every one we checked did, so it's widespread. All you need is a login, then you can borrow several audiobooks and e-books at a time from a selection of hundreds – exact borrowing limits differ per library. You may need to wait a month or so to 'borrow' popular books if there's a queue, but often there's not.
How it generally works
- You'll need to first be a member of your local library. If you haven't already registered, you usually just need to give them a call or pop in with some ID.
- Check if your library's signed up to an online service – find your library's website on Gov.uk and it should tell you. Each library's online service differs by local authority – some of the most popular services are Borrow Box and Overdrive/Libby.
- Next download the free app for the service your library uses. Open it, search for your library and register – you'll need your library membership info for this.
- You can then search for titles or browse, and start borrowing.
It's worth noting you can't usually read library e-books on a Kindle (except for the Kindle Fire tablet, as you can download apps on to it). You'll need a compatible device such as an iPhone, iPad or Android phone/tablet.
The number of e-books and audiobooks you can check out at one time, and for how long, is determined by your library. For example, mine lets you borrow up to seven titles at a time. It's best to check your local service's site to see what's on offer.
Discover FREE must-read kids' Kindle books you'd normally pay for, such as Kay's Brilliant Brains and Beast Quest
If you know where to look, there's a treasure trove of amazing free Kindle kids' books to be found. It's worth noting you don't actually need a Kindle to read these – you can get them to read on your phone or tablet with the free Kindle Reading app*.
You probably already know Amazon is bursting with classic Kindle books that are permanently free, from Black Beauty to The Jungle Book. Most are out of copyright – see Amazon's list of free classics.
Yet if those don't quite match your child's virtual to-read pile, normally paid-for Kindle books are often free for short periods.
Top current freebies include Kay's Brilliant Brains, Batman: Gotham Adventures and Beast Quest and Sea Quest: An Unexpected Adventure.
The easiest way to locate the freebies is to go to Amazon's kids' Kindle books section, filter by age or genre, then sort by 'Price: low to high'. For example, see free books in Animals, Comics or for Ages six to eight.
Grab one of 15 FREE kids' books with a token, including Loki, Onyeka and Greg the Sausage Roll
Each year, the World Book Day charity dishes out free book tokens, which your child can swap for one of 12 selected books, including Loki: Tales of a Bad God, Onyeka and the Secret Superhero and Greg the Sausage Roll: Lunchbox Superhero (see this year's full list). Or, if there's nothing on the list they fancy, you can use the token to get £1 off any full-price book instead. You can only use one token per book though.
All you need to do is take the token to a participating bookseller, which includes Asda, Blackwells, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waterstones, WHSmith and hundreds of independent booksellers. You need to spend the coupon by Sunday 31 March 2024. World Book Day itself is on Thursday 7 March.
The majority of schools are registered to get the tokens for a free book or £1 off, so have a rummage in your little one's school bag if you haven't seen one.
Sift through charity shops for second-hand bargains
Charity shops are an Aladdin's cave of cheap children's books. We've bought armfuls of books from our local Save the Children at 50p each.
Your money goes to a good cause, plus it's green and teaches kids to recycle and reuse. Some charities even have specialist book shops in some areas, including the Oxfam, British Red Cross and National Trust.
To take home the best tomes, establish a rapport with your local charity shop volunteers. If you're looking for a specific author, it's worth asking if they've any new donations out back. See our Charity shop bargain-hunting tips for more ideas.
Other top sources of used books include eBay, Facebook Marketplace and Freecycle.
Read and listen to hidden free kids' books on your iPhone/iPad, such as Kids vs Planets and The Twits
Know where to look and it's possible to nab selected kids' e-books and audiobooks for free by downloading the Apple Books app to your iPhone, iPad or Mac. To see what's up for grabs, go to the Book Store and scroll down to 'Free Books' or search for 'free kids books'.
At the time of writing, free books for young readers included The Twits, Diary of a 7th Grade Drama Queen and Kids vs Planets. Free listens included Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Treasure Island and Anne of Green Gables.
It's worth checking back regularly because freebies change, and once downloaded they're yours to keep.
Virtually flick through 150 free Oxford Owl e-books, including Winnie the Witch
Recommended for kids aged three to 11, the Oxford Owl online library has a collection of 150 free e-books which are designed to help develop reading skills at home. Books include kid-favourite characters such as Biff, Chip and Kipper as well as Winnie the Witch.
To get stuck in, you'll need to register at Oxford Owl. It says its e-books are best viewed on a computer, laptop or tablet, as they're not optimised for phones.
Children with vision impairment can access 1,600 titles online thanks to RNIB's online library
The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has an online library featuring thousands of children's braille books and audiobooks. Kids can choose from authors such as Roald Dahl, Chris Riddell and Angie Thomas. Depending on the item, books are delivered free by post or can be accessed online.
To join, call its helpline on 0303 123 9999 or you can print and post a registration form.
Snuggle up with a storytelling session from the likes of David Tennant or Meghan Markle
For a bit of calm, why not let a celeb read your kids a bedtime story? Just head to the Storyline Online YouTube channel, where you can listen to a host of famous faces reading storybooks, from Rami Malek to Oprah Winfrey, but most importantly, "ANNA FROM FROZEN!!!"
Pick up cut-price collections, such as 10 books for £10
Online booksellers The Works and Scholastic do cheap bundles where the price is much less than if you bought copies individually. These can make a fab alternative to plastic-filled party bags, or even sweets at Halloween.
For example, The Works is currently letting you mix and match 10 kids' picture books for £10. You can choose from everything from Hairy Maclary to Kipper the Dog. Delivery is £3.99 or free if you spend over £25.
If you're lucky enough to live in an area where this generous scheme runs, it's well worth signing up to the Imagination Library.
Dolly Parton's Dollywood Foundation charity sends all children who live in those regions a free book by post every month until they turn five, including The Tale of Peter Rabbit.
The scheme runs in 200 districts across the UK, including Birkenhead, Southwark and North Lincolnshire. Enter your postcode online and if eligible, you'll be asked to give your details to sign up. If your child's already a member, we'd love to hear what you think.
Buy bundles of second-hand comics, such as 50 Beanos for £7.50
Magazine subscriptions are brilliant, but the cost can add up if your kid whizzes through them. So head over to eBay, where you can often pick up huge bundles of pre-loved comics for a few quid.
I bought 50 copies of the previous year's Beano for £7.50 (15p each, see photo). We've also seen 28 issues of Horrible Science magazine sell for 1p (yes, 1p) and 39 issues of Jacqueline Wilson Magazine for 99p (3p an issue).
Make use of free 'bookish activities', including free personalised storybooks
If you've got a printer, the internet is a treasure trove of free literary activity pages to print off online. For tons of fun options, check out Usborne Books, National Literacy Trust and Nosy Crow. Many authors have their own pages with activities, including Harriet Muncaster, Sarah McIntyre and Nick Sharratt.
For little artists, illustrator Rob Biddulph posts draw-along videos on YouTube. BookTrust has more tutorials from illustrators, including Lydia Monks and Ed Vere.
If you've got an Alexa-enabled device, such as an Echo smart speaker or Fire TV stick, you can listen to selected audiobooks each month completely free – just say 'Alexa, what's free from Audible?' to hear what's available. You don't need to have an Audible subscription or give it any payment details.
Past free titles have included Aladdin, Harry Potter, Oliver Twist, Pinocchio, Treasure Island, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Borrow from a 'Little Free Library'
The Little Free Library project is run by volunteers across the globe. It's a community book exchange where anyone can leave a book or borrow a book – and children's titles often pop up.
There are now 50 of the tiny hutch-sized libraries in front gardens, playgrounds, phone boxes and bus shelters across the UK. For more details, see MSE Rhiannon's Little Free Library blog from 2020.
My friend Krystyna runs a tiny cheery yellow library from her front garden:
We love our Little Free Library. As well as doing our bit to promote literacy, it's a great conversation starter with neighbours! My kids love to excitedly tell me when they spot someone having a rummage or donating a book. It's such a lovely community initiative.
Take the library Summer Reading Challenge
The charity The Reading Agency's Summer Reading Challenge hopes to inspire children aged four to 11 to read six books over the summer holidays – its site should be updated for 2024 closer to the summer.
Take part by signing up for free at your local library. Each time they finish a book, they'll get a sticker to pop on their special collector map. The challenge usually runs until mid-September, but it does depend on your library, so check when you sign up.
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