Bedtime stories are stories to entertain, amuse, and, of course, educate kids. Whether it is a classic, a fable, a fairy tale, stories have an inherently captivating power, one that opens the door of imagination and create lasting learning experiences. Kids love them and enjoy reading and/or listening to them. In today’s post I am sharing with you a collection of some of the apps that provide access to great bedtime stories and audiobooks.
These are apps that feature a wide variety of bedtime stories spanning different genre; stories to stimulate kids’ imagination, wonder, and reflection. They can also help kids develop social emotional intelligence and be in tune with the world around them.
As a parent, you can help your kid select a bedtime story of their choice, read it to them or guide them as they read it or listen (in case of an audiobook) to it themselves. Bedtime storytelling is a great time to consolidate emotional bonds with your kids while helping them develop their reading and listening skills.
[Related: Best storybook apps for kids]
1. Little Stories: Bedtime Books
Little Stories features curated fairy tales with your kid as the protagonist. The way it works is simple: choose a story from the library, enter your kid’s name and gender, and start reading fairy tales about your kid. You can even record your own voice and use it as voice-over in your kid’s stories. Also, stories in Little Stories app come with enhanced visuals, soothing music, and beautiful melodies.
Compatibility: Android and iOS; Age: 4+; Price: Free, offers in-app purchases.
2. Bedtime Stories for Kids Sleep
As its name indicates, Bedtime Stories offers audio stories that kids can enjoy while falling asleep. ‘The relaxing background music, soothing narrator’s voice, and enchanting storyline will help your child settle down and fall asleep.’ Some of the cool features of this app include: simple language, soothing background music, stories narrated by professionals, optimal duration, intuitive interface, and more.
3. Dr. Seuss Treasury Kids Books
Dr.Seuss Treasury offers over 50 Dr. Seuss classic stories such as Daisy-Head Mayzie, Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book, Green Eggs and Ham, Horton Hatches the Egg, I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? Steak for Supper, The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, The Rabbit, The Bear, and the Zinniga-Zanniga, Too Many Daves, You’re Only Old Once, among many more.
Features provided by the app include tappable words and pictures to help new vocabulary items, organize book collections alphabetically or by series and publication date, search for titles using keywords, and more.
Compatibility: iOS; Age: 4+; Price: Free, offers in-app purchases.
4. Fairy Tales Bedtime Stories
Fairy Tales offers a wide variety of bedtime stories with narration and animated characters. Popular tiles provided include:The Beauty and The Beast, Cinderella, The Three Little Pigs, The Snow Queen, The Tinderbox, Ugly Duckling, The Three Spinners, Aesop’s Fables, Mother Snow, Gingerbread Man, and more. Features provided by Fairy Tales include: both read-to-me and read-it-myself modes, offline reading, interactive games for kids under five, and more.
5. Audio Bedtime Stories Saga
Audio Bedtime offers over 2500 bedtime stories spanning various genres including: fairy tales, classic, educational, myths, poems, and more. For instance, in the Classic category you will find stories by renowned authors such as Lewis Carrol, Rudyard Kipling, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, Edward Lear, among others.
The Educational category features stories inspired by historical events, Bible stories, myths, etc. Educational stories include the story of Helen of Troy, the Wooden Horse, the sea-journey of Odysseus, and more. Fairytale stories include titles such as the Brothers Grimm, Charles Perrault, Aesop, and more.
Compatibility: iOS; Age: 4+; Price: Free.
6. Booka- Bedtime Stories
Booka is another good reading app that offers access to a huge collection of bedtime stories and audiobooks for kids of all ages. You will have the option to choose among poems, fables, short stories, Lullabies, narrated by professional actors and voice talents. Besides the opportunity to create their own libraries, Booka also offers an offline mode enabling kids to access their libraries anytime with no Internet connection.
Compatibility: iOS; Age: 4+; Price: Free, offers in-app purchases.
7. Kid Stories
Kid Stories offers over 240 interactive stories spanning different types including bedtime stories, Aesop’s fables, fairy tales, early reading stories, moral stories, and more. The app offers both the read-by-myself and read-for-me modes allowing kids to develop their reading as well as listening skills.
Kid Stories app also offers a number of key features to facilitate kids reading including: word highlight, interactive animations, animated characters, storybook suggestions based on kids reading interests, and more. Among the popular stories included are: Cinderella, Three Little Pigs, The Thirsty Crow, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The Fox and The Grapes, Little Red Riding Hood, and more.
8. Kids Audio Book- Fairy Tales
Kids Audio Book features a wide collection of bedtime audio stories in three languages: English, Spanish, and Bulgarian. These stories are especially ideal for preschoolers, kindergarteners, primary and elementary school students. Parents can download stories for offline access. Also, each fairy tale story has a section for parents outlining the lessons of the story. Other features included in the stories are: personalized greeting to the child, relaxing background music, read-to-me functionality, and more.
Compatibility: iOS; Age: 4+; Price: Free.
