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Use interactive read-aloud sessions to engage students. Ask questions throughout the reading to ensure comprehension and to encourage discussion.

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INTERACTIVE READ ALOUDS | What is an interactive read aloud?

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Initiate book clubs to discuss popular books. This group activity promotes a love for reading and helps students articulate their thoughts.

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Introduce e-books and audiobooks to students. These can be particularly beneficial for reluctant readers and those with learning disabilities.

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Utilize reading apps like Epic or Raz-Kids which provide interactive reading experiences and track progress.

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Epic is the world's largest digital library for kids! Our fun, kid-safe, interactive reading app fuels curiosity and reading confidence by letting kids freely explore their interests with instant access to 40,000+ books, audiobooks, learning videos and more.

Anytime, anywhere: Access our library from any Apple device. You can even download books to read offline!

Books that read to them: In addition to our library of more traditional ebooks, we have a huge collection of Read-To-Me books and audiobooks. Featuring talented voice actors, fun music and exciting sound effects that bring stories to life!

Multilingual: The majority of books on Epic are in English, but we also have Spanish-, French- and Chinese-language books to engage readers of different backgrounds and interests.

Fun rewards and learning tools: Reading Buddies, badges and quizzes keep them motivated to read and learn. Spotlight Words and audio-enabled Dictionary Lookup teach vocabulary and pronunciation.

FOR FAMILIES: EPIC UNLIMITED
A paid subscription beginning with a 7-day free trial. Cancel anytime.

Up to 4 child profiles, so each kid can enjoy a personalized reading experience.
Parent dashboard lets you see what they're reading and follow along with their progress.
95% of Epic parents say Epic helped improve their child's reading skills.

FOR EDUCATORS: EPIC SCHOOL
Epic School is free for educators and students to use during the school day.

ELA Tools: Filter titles by AR, DRA, F&P, grade level and more.
Quizzes, Dictionary Lookup and Spotlight Words help build skills.
Help with Daily 20: Teachers can easily assign and share books, then track daily and weekly reading.
Multilingual books and fun reading formats make reading accessible for every student.
9 out of 10 Epic Educators would recommend us to colleagues.
Coming soon! Epic School Plus, a district-funded premium offering that gives educators and students 24/7 access to the full Epic library.

PRESS AND EXPERT REVIEWS
Epic has been featured on The TODAY Show, CNET and Refinery 29, as well as in The Wall Street Journal, Parents Magazine, USA Today, Forbes, Parenting.com and more.

"Epic strikes the perfect balance between educational and fun, and should allow parents to feel more confident about introducing the iPad into their children's daily lives as a tool." -TechCrunch

"Get access to thousands of books on all subject matters" -Parenting.com

"Epic is incredibly valuable because it gives students exposure to books that they wouldn't get from a library or our classroom." -Cindy, Epic Educator Ambassador

Privacy Policy
getepic.com/privacy

Terms of Service
getepic.com/tos

This update includes bug fixes and improvements.
Thank you for using Epic! We are always making updates and improvements to make your child's reading experience better. If you have any questions or suggestions, please email feedback@getepic.com

Editors' Choice

Kids will love the vast library of original content in Epic, from its growing list of books for all ages to its high-quality collection of educational videos. With stories from favorites like Sesame Street and Clifford, there's always a reason to drop everything and read.

Basically the new favorite

This app is now central to our bedtime routine. My kiddo waits to get new eggs so she can hatch them. It keeps me engaged as the parent too to help her find the 5 words within the book, because engagement can be hard sometimes at the end of the day. Love it. A couple suggestions though... The search feature needs a bit of work. Not quite sure how the algorithm works for picking the next book, but it often gives my kiddo books that are for vastly older readers. Every search parameter should be able to filter recommended age. Lastly, it's incredibly frustrating to read a book (at the preset pace of "read to me" no less...) and be told at the end "Go Back and Keep Reading!" because its decided that you're reading too quickly even if its a board book with 3 words per page, or a DIY book or reference book. I understand wanting to thwart cheaters but it needs to account for the length of the book and words per page or wpm. We get stuck behind that a lot and have to go back and read the entire book again because my ASD kiddo is a completionist. Also, I looked for a way to recommend the app to friends from within the app and there wasn't one sadly. You should add one! Would love to spread Epic. (Oh, also, there's a bug when a book is being read to you and you try to select one of the 5 words. If you don't pause the game it can switch pages and then it doesn't read the book back to you past the word found.) Cheers

Absolutely Amazing App!

This app has helped to spark my son's love of reading, and that spark has been eluding us for some time now! There are so many well written stories and age appropriate books up to age 14 that I saw. Even on the app you can search for books by their grade, make a collection for your child (under the parent avatar) and assign those books for them to read. They can favorite books, adding them to their library, etc. Many of the books will offer a quiz at the end, giving your child the opportunity to earn points and badges, and every kid loves being rewarded for their work! There are books they can read themselves, books that can be read to them, some that do both, and audio books for when they just want to listen or have a night time story! This app offers a nice bit of customization, you can have words highlighted and defined, search through books, collections others have already made, etc. It's very user friendly and will suggest books based upon what your child has already read. I love that I can assign him a collection of books I've picked out and can separate them in collections however I like. There are also educational videos as well, we just love it. This app has become indispensable for us! ❤️❤️❤️

Thanks for the feedback! We are delighted to hear your son is enjoying Epic!. :)

The developer, Epic Creations, Inc., indicated that the app's privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer's privacy policy.

Data Linked to You

The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:

Data Not Linked to You

The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:

Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

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‎Epic is the world's largest digital library for kids! Our fun, kid-safe, interactive reading app fuels curiosity and reading confidence by letting kids freely explore their interests with instant access to 40,000+ books, audiobooks, learning videos and more. Anytime, anywhere: Access our library fr...

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Incorporate Reader's Theater to make reading a fun and social activity. This method helps improve fluency and confidence in reading.

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Reading lesson idea, Readers' Theater, middle school and high school students, English teacher ideas

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Have students create visual storyboards for books they've read. This helps with understanding narrative structure and recalling details.

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Encourage parents to read with their children at home. Shared reading time can boost children's interest and confidence in reading.

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Advise parents to create a home library. A dedicated reading space with a variety of books can encourage children to read more often.

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There are many reasons to love public libraries and all the free resources they offer. My 9-year-old and I are obsessed with our public library.

We check out dozens of books each month, from adventurous read alouds to reference books about his latest interests. But we also have a big home library, and I've noticed my child has a different relationship to these books. They're often the books he'll read more than once, picking up new things with each reading. Sometimes he'll bring a book up in a conversation when it's been a year or more since he last read it.

Research shows that children who also have their own book collections at home have better outcomes at school and are more likely to develop patterns of lifelong literacy. Fortunately, there are many ways to build a home library for your children with free and low-cost books.

Home libraries are powerful. One study led by sociologist Mariah Evans looked at children in 42 different countries. It found that the size of a family's home library significantly affected how much education a child obtained.

This was especially true for low-income children, even those whose parents had limited formal education themselves. The size of a home library was a better predictor of a child's academic success than their parents' income or education level.

A second study found that the effects of home libraries can even be measured as children become adults. Teens with more extensive home libraries had higher literacy rates and better math and technological skills.

So how can families on tight budgets build a home library that will support children's lifelong learning? Here are 14 resources and ideas for finding free and low-cost children's books to take home.

Sources for Free Children's Books

1. Find out if literacy programs are available in your community in which participating families receive a free book mailed to their homes each month.

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library sends a free book to children each month from ages birth to 5. You can use their zip code locator to see if books are available where you live, or you can learn more about how to start your own affiliated program. PJ Library sends Jewish children's books to kids ages birth to 9 who have Judaism as part of their lives.

2. Look for Little Free Libraries near playgrounds, community centers and even in front of people's houses.

Perhaps you've seen these small wooden boxes and wondered how they work. The idea is simple: take the books you need, and leave the books you want to share with others. Some Little Free Libraries are registered with the national movement, while others aren't, so keeping your eyes open as you're out and about could help you discover one. You can also find a list of Little Free Libraries in Los Angeles County here.

3. Ask at your child's school to see if they partner with groups like First Book, Book Trust, or Reading Is Fundamental. These organizations provide deeply discounted or free books to schools and community groups that primarily serve low-income children. Many times the books are then distributed for children to keep at home. Schools can also point you to any summer literacy camps (which sometimes include free books for participants) available to your child.

4. Ask your child's pediatrician about programs in your community. Some pediatricians are part of the Reach Out and Read program, which provides books to children at well-child visits. Even if they aren't part of this program, pediatricians may know about other programs that give books to children.

5. Look for giveaways of new children's book titles from book bloggers or Instagram accounts. Often when children's book publishers are releasing new titles, they will offer giveaway copies to bloggers. Some of my favorite Instagrammers and bloggers who frequently give away books are KidLit in Color, Pragmatic Mom and Multicultural Children's Book Day.

Goodreads also lists giveaways of new children's books from publishers.

6. Find out if there is a Buy Nothing Facebook group or Freecycle group for your neighborhood. These are mutual aid groups that exchange all kinds of items at no cost. You can post that you are looking for free children's books in a group (as well as many other items.) While you can search for a Buy Nothing group on the page's website, I also recommend searching directly on Facebook using your town or neighborhood's name + "buy nothing," as many groups aren't in the website's directory.

7. Look for specific programs for English language learners or adult learners that may provide free books. For example, the Los Angeles Public Library's adult literacy program gives parents a free children's book to keep each time they learn to read a book.

8. During the summer, look for programs that reward children for reading. Almost all public libraries offer some type of summer reading program with resources and rewards for kids. Barnes and Noble usually has a summer program that awards kids free books for completing a reading journal about the books they've read.

9. In the coming months, many communities will start to hold in-person events again, including book festivals. These can be a great place to find free children's books since literacy organizations often set up booths at the events.

Sources for Low-Cost Children's Books

10. Seek out Friends of the Library book sales. Most public libraries have volunteer organizations that support them, including through used book sales. Some library branches have small used book stores within the library, while others hold book sales a couple of times a year. Children's books are often priced at $1 - $3.

11. Shop at brick-and-mortar used book stores and thrift stores. Search online to find secondhand book stores in your community, or look in the book section of thrift stores. I have found great deals on high-quality picture books for my son at Goodwill. If you live in the Los Angeles area, check out this list of the 10 best used bookstores in the city.

Note: Vajra Books and Gifts and Sam: Johnson's Bookshop are permanently closed.

12. Shop at online used book stores. One of my favorites is ThriftBooks because shipping is just $1.99 for orders under $10 or free for orders of $10 or more. I search for children's book titles that have won awards in past years because there are more likely to be used copies available.

13. While currently on hold due to the pandemic, Scholastic Book Fairs frequently has warehouse sales with deeply discounted books.

14. If you have books that you or your children no longer need, exchange them using a service like Book Mooch or Paperback Swap. The only cost is mailing the books (which can be done cheaply using the U.S. Postal Service's Media Mail rate). Once you've mailed a book to someone else, you receive a credit that you can use to receive a book.

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14 Low-Cost Ways to Build a Home Library for Your Kids on a Budget

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Here are 14 ideas to help families on tight budgets build home libraries that support children's lifelong learning.

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Organize regular visits to the school library. Familiarizing students with library resources can foster a habit of reading.

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Set up reading challenges with rewards to motivate students. These can be based on the number of books read or minutes spent reading.