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Free Audiobooks for Kids – Classic Children's Stories to Listen To
These are complete, free recordings of children's classics that are in the public domain. There are no ads inside the audio, nothing to buy and no account to create, which makes them easy to put on for a car trip, quiet time or bedtime.
The books are ordered roughly by age, from short fables for preschoolers to full-length adventure novels for confident 10-year-olds. Ages are only a guide. Many of the "older" books, like Peter Pan and Alice, work well read together with younger children.
1. The Aesop for ChildrenAges 3+: very short fables, each with a clear lesson. Good for bedtime or the car.
2. Mother Goose in ProseAges 4+: the Wizard of Oz author turns nursery rhymes into short stories.
3. Winnie-the-Pooh (Version 2)Ages 4+: the original 1926 stories of Pooh, Piglet and Christopher Robin in the Hundred Acre Wood.
4. The House at Pooh CornerAges 4+: the second Pooh book, where Tigger arrives and Poohsticks is invented.
5. Just So Stories (version 3)Ages 5+: playful tales of how the elephant got its trunk and the leopard its spots. Written to be read aloud.
6. Fairy TalesAges 5+: The Ugly Duckling, The Little Mermaid and other Andersen tales. Some endings are sad.
7. The Blue Fairy BookAges 6+: Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk and dozens of tales from many countries.
8. The Story of Doctor DolittleAges 6+: a doctor who learns to talk to animals sails to Africa to cure sick monkeys. Some passages reflect 1920s attitudes.
9. Adventures of PinocchioAges 6+: the original Italian story, stranger and funnier than the film.
10. Alice in WonderlandAges 7+: Alice follows the White Rabbit into a world of riddles and nonsense.
11. Through the Looking-GlassAges 7+: the sequel, built around a game of chess, with Tweedledum and Tweedledee and the Jabberwock.
12. Peter PanAges 7+: the boy who won't grow up takes Wendy and her brothers to Neverland.
13. The Jungle BookAges 8+: Mowgli raised by wolves, plus Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and other animal stories.
14. Black Beauty (The Autobiography of a Horse)Ages 8+: a horse tells his own life story. Gentle, but with some sad moments.
15. The Secret GardenAges 9+: a lonely girl finds a locked garden on a Yorkshire estate and brings it, and her cousin, back to life.
16. Treasure IslandAges 10+: pirates, a map and Long John Silver. The adventure story most others borrow from.
17. Adventures of Tom SawyerAges 10+: Tom's schemes, scrapes and a midnight murder in a Mississippi river town.
18. Little WomenAges 10+: the four March sisters growing up during the American Civil War.
Good to know before you press play
- These are old books. Most were published between the 1860s and the 1920s. A few, like The Story of Doctor Dolittle, contain language or attitudes that parents may want to talk about.
- Volunteer narrators. Most recordings are read by volunteers. If one voice doesn't suit your child, check the book page for another version.
- Short is better for little ones. Fable and fairy-tale collections are split into short chapters that make natural stopping points.
Learning English? See English audiobooks for learners, or browse all children's fiction.