During the COVID pandemic, a wealth of apps popped up to augment learning in a traditional classroom space. While these apps have now become secondary to in-school learning, many do a great job of bringing reading to the next level with interactive components that make learning fun.
Here are our favorite reading apps:
Caribu
This video-calling app lets family and friends read, draw and play games with children virtually. Choose from thousands of books with accompanying activities, such as coloring pages, memory games and hidden object games.
- Best for ages: 3-8
- Cost: 5 free books or activities per month or unlimited access for $10 per month, or $100 per year.
Epic
With a library of more than 40,000 books, kids can select ebooks, audiobooks, read-to-me-books or animated story books that cater to their age, interest and reading level.
- Best for ages: 12 and under
- Cost: 1 free book a day, unlimited access for $10 per month, or $80 per year. Tip: Ask your child’s teacher if their school has a free subscription to this app and get the class code to begin using free of charge.
Novel Effect
This app brings stories to life with interactive music and sound effects, creating magical moments when you read with a child. Choose from a collection of audiobooks on the app or enrich your regular story time routine with voice recognition software that complements the story when you read aloud from real books.
- Best for ages: 12 and under
- Cost: $4.99 per month
Storyline Online
Let your child hear their favorite story or discover new books read by celebrated actors, including Oprah, Kristen Bell, Wanda Sykes and dozens more.
- Best for ages: 3-8
- Cost: Free
Don’t Let the Pigeon Run This App!
This silly app brings to life Mo Willems’s famous character, Pigeon, by letting kids be imaginative and fun by creating their own stories. This app also animates the story and teaches little ones how to draw Pigeon.
- Best for ages: 3-5
- Cost: $5.99
Dr. Seuss Treasury
With this app, kids can enjoy more than 55 popular Dr. Seuss titles. Each book is professionally narrated and includes interactive features and sound effects. During the narration, words are highlighted, which helps budding readers. Parents can also record themselves reading Dr. Seuss books so kids can go back and listen to them later.
- Best for ages: 3-plus
- Cost: $2.99 per month or one-year subscription for $19.99
Homer
Homer is an early learning app for kids that focuses on literacy with drawing, voice recording, stories and songs, along with more traditional phonics lessons. In this app, children follow a personalized, adaptive learning path as they tap and listen to a lesson, play activities and review before moving on to the next lesson.
- Best for ages: 2-8
- Cost: $9.99 per month or one-year subscription for $59.99
Readability
Readability is a smart reading and comprehension app with an interactive tutor that helps children improve their reading as the child reads aloud. They receive immediate feedback and one-on-one attention, which allows their skills to develop quickly.
- Best for ages: 5-9
- Cost: Packages ranging from $19.99-$200 per month
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