Best Reading Apps for K-12 Students

"A child who reads will be an adult who thinks."

Instilling a love of reading in students has multiple benefits beyond improving their vocabulary and language skills. Reading exercises their brain, sparks their imagination, stimulates their curiosity, teaches them about the world around them, and sets them on a path to become critical thinkers.

Teachers and parents play a vital role in ensuring that reading is a part of children's everyday life. Given that we live in a digital age and students are spending more and more time on their devices, reading apps are a very efficient way to encourage and motivate them to read. There are great reading apps that are engaging for students. Here are some of our favorites.

Epic!

Grades: K-6
With its great digital library of high-quality children's books and excellent features, it's no wonder this app stands out from the other reading apps. It offers access to an enormous collection of 40,000+ titles, including old classics, new releases, audiobooks, read-to-me books, graphic novels, bilingual books, and even thousands of original stories! There are also reading quizzes and learning videos to keep kids engaged. Other notable features are progress tracking, personalized recommendations, motivational badges, offline access, and teachers' tools, including in-class integration to promote classroom reading.

Cost: Free for educators and their students with Epic School. For others: Epic Basic is free, but you can read one book per day from a limited selection; Epic Unlimited is $9.99/month or $79.99/year.
Available on:    Google Play Store    Apple App Store

Hoopla

Grades: K-12
Although not just for kids, this app is excellent for them. It allows students to borrow eBooks and audiobooks from their public library and enjoy them on their computer, tablet, or phone. All they need is a library card and a compatible device. It has a Kids Mode where all content is age-appropriate. There are hundreds of thousands of titles to choose from, with more added every month. Besides eBooks and audiobooks, the collection includes music albums, movies, and TV shows. But, what makes this app especially popular is its incredible selection of comics and graphic novels!

Cost: Free with a library card from a participating library.
Available on:    Apple App Store    Google Play Store    Amazon Appstore

Libby

Grades: K-12
Libby is another fantastic app that provides free access to thousands of eBooks, audiobooks, and magazines by partnering with local libraries. It is a very intuitive and easy-to-use app designed by OverDrive to make finding and borrowing digital titles more effortless than ever, so it's a perfect option for those new to borrowing eBooks and audiobooks. All digital titles are hand-selected by your public library. Also, users can download titles and read them offline or stream them to save space, and for those who prefer reading on Kindle, Libby can send their library books there too!

Cost: Free with a library card from a participating library.
Available on:    Google Play Store    Apple App Store

Sora

Grades: K-12
Sora is another app created by OverDrive, but this one is designed specifically for K-12 schools and students. It allows teachers to assign titles and track individual student reading progress, while students can borrow eBooks and audiobooks from their school's library and their local public library! Available on Chromebooks, tablets, desktops, and smartphones and offering the same state-of-the-art reading experience on all devices, students can read both for class and for fun. On top, it includes some great features: exportable notes and highlights, book recommendations, badges, and learning tools for struggling readers like dyslexic font and enlarged text.

Cost: Free for students and teachers from participating schools.
Available on:    Apple App Store    Google Play Store

FarFaria

Grades: K-4
One of the best things about this app is its creatively designed digital library! Kids can explore FarFaria's colorful and beautiful world of stories through an interactive map, accessing over a thousand age-appropriate titles: classic storybooks, picture books, holiday books, songbooks, educational books. Thanks to its Common Core-aligned reading level system, young readers can find the right books at the right reading level. They can choose to read the books themselves, listen to them read on auto-play, or read along. And by saving a book to My Favorites, they can read it offline.

Cost: Free version: you can select one book per day from their library. Unlimited access is $4.99/month. Special pricing is available for educators.
Available on:    Apple App Store    Google Play Store

Please note: All prices are subject to change.