Reading books to kids soon after birth may translate into higher language and vocabulary skills and when you can get free kids books by mail, there’s no reason not to read to them.
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Plenty of research has been done to prove this. You probably know it in your heart to be fact, too.
But sometimes, buying books for kids can be costly. Especially for book-loving children who eat up one book after another.
To support your child’s brain development, while still keeping loyal to your monthly budget, you can get free kids books by mail (yup, snail mail AND email).
Here’s how:
20 Ways to Get Free Kids Books by Mail
Nothing beats the smell of books, as you turn the book one page at a time.
If you’re a fan of old-school reading and want to read to your child with hardcopy books, here are several websites to join:
1. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
This is probably the most popular resource out of all in the list.
Of course, it is!
It was built by legendary country singer-songwriter Dolly Parton herself and has since mailed over 120 million books across the United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.
Like the 1.5 million users on the site, you have to register your kids to participate in the book gifting program. Children (ages 0 to five years old) can receive books from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
The cool thing about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is that once your child is registered, the organization will automatically deliver a book to your home, giving your kid a mail to look forward to.
The only downside to this site is that it’s only available in select areas. To find out if your area can be accommodated, check the website. Plus, kids given books are those only age 5 and below (particularly kids who aren’t in school yet).
2. Read Comingo
If you’re training bilingual kids to love reading, Read Comingo could be a great resource for you and your child. You can access English-Spanish books aimed at preschool through 5th grade kids.
The printed books are only available for delivery if you live in certain areas of California, Florida, and Texas. Kids books by mail are only sent every four months.
However, the Read Conmigo Bookshelf is accessible to anyone after sign-up. So far, there are 43 bilingual books for kids on the web-based “bookshelf.” You can download free book samples once you join, and read it straight from Conmigo’s mobile app.
3. Barnes and Noble Summer Reading Program
This is a bit different.
Technically, you’ll need to buy several books first (8 to be exact) that your kid chose from a list pre-grouped titles for specific age groups.
The idea behind this is for kids to read books all throughout summer and maintain a “Summer Reading Journal” detailing what parts you loved about each book. Once your kid’s journal is completed, you and your kid should visit the nearest Barnes and Noble branch (sometime between May and September) to receive a free book.
Swap Books with other Book-lovers
If your kids have already graduated from nursery rhymes, and want to move on to fairy tales, one way to get free kids books is by swapping them to other booklovers.
In most cases, you need to register to the book-swapping website.
From there, you either list the books you’re ready to let go of, or wait for other people to look for those titles. Either way, once you find a match, you have to shoulder shipping cost. You’ll then receive points or credits as good karma, and you’ll get your chance to request a book.
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Note that each site would have its own swapping system in place, so check first for rules before swapping books.
4. BookMooch
This site works on a points system.
You first list down book titles you want to give away.
Every time you receive a request from interested parties, you have to mail the books. You’ll receive points for each “swap,” which you can then use to request books from others.
5. Books Free Swap
Available only in the US.
Unlike other swap sites wherein you’d have to shoulder shipping fees to send it out, the recipient pays an average of $3.28 to ship out a book.
The wish list feature is searchable, which means you have a better chance of finding a match for your book titles.
6. PaperBackSwap.com
This is the largest book club around with over 1.5 million books ready for swapping at any given time.
PaperBackSwap works similarly to other book-swap sites, except you’d have more title options of free books for kids.
You do have to pay to ship the books you send to other people, but the ones you request will be sent free of charge.
Free Books in Exchange for Reviews
7. Fresh Fiction
If you have a knack for writing, Fresh Fiction can be an amazing pastime for booklovers.
This is because the website gives you free books, if you’re willing to write a review.
Not everyone can become a reviewer though (there’s a quick test run for those interested).
Once you’re accepted as a book reviewer, you’ll have access to a ton of online books. You can get physical copies of books delivered to your home by mail.
The site never runs out of titles and they’re home to hundreds of children’s books too! Most of the titles here come from authors directly and Fresh Fiction sells the best-of-the-best books as part of a book box subscription via its sister site freshfictionbox.com.
8. NetGalley
Book authors send their pre-release copies of their books to NetGalley.
From there, users like you and me can read books for free, but write a review in return.
The categories aren’t easy to find, but NetGalley has a Children’s Fiction and Children’s Non-Fiction sections.
9. OnlineBookClub.org
This web-based book club has been around for over 10 years.
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Boasting 300k+ members, the club gives away a free book in exchange for a review.
If you eat up books quickly, you can even turn this into a money-making gig after your first review. The Online Book Club also pays experienced book reviewers anywhere between $5 and $60.
10. Enchanted Book Promotions
This company serves promotion services to authors and publishers.
One effective way Enchanted Book Promotions spread word about a particular book is through book reviews, which they pass on to regular folk like you and I.
Unlike other websites on this list, this company lets users post reviews on their own blogs, Amazon, or Goodreads. In exchange for the book review, users get books for free.
The company updates the list of books available for review. Check it out here, and simply fill out the form if you’re interested.
11. Lola’s Book Tours
Lola’s Book Tours is similar to Enchanted Book Promotions.
Both companies provide promotional services to up-and-coming authors to get a wider audience.
Book reviewers can get a copy of books free. You just have to post the review on your blog, or personal account from Goodreads or Amazon.
Check out the “Open Review Opportunities” section for a list of books available. Aside from adult fiction books, Lola’s regularly has free children’s books and young adult categories.
Free Online Books: How to get Free Books Sent to Your Kid’s Tablet
Unlike paperbacks and hard copies of books, digital versions are more easier to find.
With eBooks, you can:
- Download free PDFs of books online and have them printed (with real pages)
- Download free PDFs of books online and access the PDF via a phone or tablet reading app
- Buy an electronic reading tablet or an “e-reader” (like Kindle or Kobo), then find free books for your kids directly from their respective libraries
12. Amazon’s Kindle
If you’re looking for free Kindle books for kids, there’s no better resource than directly at Amazon (creator of Kindle).
The children’s ebooks section is divided into two – top 100 Paid and top 100 Free, both of which are updated hourly.
You need to have an Amazon account, so you can simply “buy” the ebook with 1-click. From there, all you have to do is check your Kindle device if the book you chose was sent successfully.
It’s hard to run out of free books for kids on Amazon’s Kindle library, so take advantage of this amazing resource. Or better yet, check out this awesome list of 200+ free Kindle books for children, compiled by Goodreads users from around the world, to get you started…
13. FreeKidsBooks.org
This website may look outdated, but it holds millions of free books that you can download without paying a cent.
Titles are categorized only by age group, but you can find clickable tags on each listing (such as Public Domain, Non-fiction, Cars, Counting, author’s name, and so on).
You have the option of reading the book online, or downloading its free PDF version.
14. Project Gutenberg
If you’re trying to find classic children’s books like “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” and “Peter Pan,” it is highly likely that Project Gutenberg has it.
In fact, Project Gutenberg boasts more sub-categories of kid’s books, including School Stories, Children’s Myths and Fairy Tales, and Children’s Fiction (among others).
The site features a whopping 56,000 free books in PDF version, which you can download for free and enjoy for as long as you want.
Just type in “children” or “kids” in the search field, and enjoy!
15. OpenLibrary.org
Like Project Gutenberg, the OpenLibrary is a site with a massive catalog.
You can borrow one copy at a time (from its 3 million eBooks at the Lending Library) and finish reading for up to two weeks.
OpenLibrary has book dating back to 1450 to this year, with favorite children’s books like “Gulliver’s Travels,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” and so on. Browse through the Juvenile Fiction and Juvenile Literature sections to explore hundreds of children’s book titles.
16. FreeChildrenStories.com
The free children’s books here will definitely be new to you.
It’s because this website features original kid’s stories perfect for children ages 3 to 5, 5 to 8, and 8 to 10, as well as “middle graders.”
You’ll love the illustrations, which seem to be crafted for this generation’s “eye.”
Some books here are not free, but they’re available super-cheap at 99cents via BarnesAndNoble.com.
17. KidsWorldFun.com
There is no shortage of free books for kids at Kids World Fun.
All ebooks listed here are free to read, download and enjoy anytime, anywhere.
There are also poems, short stories, and quotes for kids to give your child some introduction to other forms of literature.
18. Read.gov
Sponsored by the US Library of Congress, Read.gov helps in promoting literature to young kids.
There are plenty of classic children’s book titles available here from Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” to “Cinderella.”
Free books can be read straight off the site, too! You don’t need to download it as PDF and read it on a separate ebook reader.
19. Bibliomania
It’s not the most user-friendly website out there, but it is definitely another must-bookmark website simply for having 800 classic literature.
If you can’t find the children’s book you need at Project Gutenberg and OpenLibrary.org, you can try your luck here.
“The Jungle Book,” “Huckleberry Finn,” “Oliver Twist” and other fiction children’s books are available for reading any time you want.
20. BookBub
BookBub organizes ebooks for you.
The titles are available for any platform or device, including Kobo, Google, Apple, Kindle, Barnes&Noble, and more.
Many of the books here are not free, but they do feature free books every now and then. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to read adorable free books for children and middle-graders without costing you a penny.
Free Kids Books by Mail is a Win for All
You can also get free books for kids from your own neighborhood, or donate books you no longer need (and are willing to let go).
Make sure to visit Little Free Libraries and OverDrive to find the nearest free library in your area.
Want to receive more stuff by mail aside from books?
Check out this massive list of free samples you can get mailed directly to your door. Here’s a different list of free samples, but only exclusive to baby products.
