Curious about Epic Books for kids? Well, if you want access to thousands of awesome books for your kids, here’s everything you need to know about this awesome online book subscription!
What is Epic Books?
It’s only the largest digital library that exists for children aged 12 years and under, with instant access to over 40,000 books. I’m always looking for ways to encourage more reading and curiosity! Don’t worry, it’s kid-safe!
It’s an ideal app for kids reading at different grades or levels at home or in school! You will have access to high-quality books from some of the world’s best publishers.
If you’re interested in the benefits of reading, especially as a family activity, then check out my post about why reading together is the perfect family activity.
It not only promotes bonding, unity, and warmth, but it also has so many educational benefits like increasing vocabulary, reading fluency, and more.
How to use Epic Books!
You can use Epic Books on your computer, phone or tablet. Get the app for free on your IOS/ Apple device and Android device.
Each time you click on a book, you can view the age range, reading level, estimated reading time, quizzes, and a brief summary!
You can create multiple profiles on one account so the whole family can enjoy it and you don’t need to pay for multiple Epic accounts ! I often find a book for myself!
You can also track the number of hours and books read! Unlock rewards, reading achievements and badges!
What type of books does Epic Books include?
While there is a library of more traditional ebooks, there are also other fun reading formats:
- Books to read
- Audiobooks – we LOVE audiobooks in our home.
- Video content
- Read to me books – these books contain pictures and the text is highlighted as it is being read to your child. This is to encourage your child to see the words and increase their own reading fluency.
They also have their own original content too.
Finding books on Epic!
This is so easy! The user experience is amazing; you can search for books differently.
You can search for books by format like comic books or picture books or by genre like fiction and non-fiction. The books are also categorized into series, popularity and many different topics of interest. You can also filter titles. From fantasy to adventure to animal wonders- it’s the perfect balance of books.
The books are also levelled according to popular systems including AR, DRA, F&P Lexile and grade levels. If you’re one of our epic educators-this will make it a breeze!
There are multilingual books including Spanish, French and Chinese-language books.
How much does Epic! books cost?
Unfortunately, it is not free BUT…
There is a free 7-day trial to check it out before subscribing! After that the price of a paid subscription is $11.99 per month OR $ 79.99 a year (this works out to $6.67 a month which is a saving to grab!) This is great because you can see if you like the book selection and if ebooks are an option for your child.
If you were even to buy one of these books new in the store, you’d already be over that price-point immediately. Here, you are getting access to thousands of books for the same cost.
Teachers… this is for you!
Some good news for teachers… Epic is free while school is in session! You can track your students’ reading progress and weekly reading goals and use resources like lesson plans, handouts, and educational videos!
Assign the students reading buddies and have fun rewards- this will make your class the better part of their school day! It really does broaden your student’s exposure to novels and improves a child’s reading skills. Don’t forget to share it with your colleagues.
The Pro’s
- While we love going to our local library, sometimes it’s just not an option to get out of the house to do so. My shelves are also overflowing with books and I just don’t have space to add many more physical books at home. With Epic, I can now access a virtual library of books.
- Ebooks mean that when you travel, you don’t have to pack bulky books, and you have extra packing space!
- They even have read to me books too!
- My kids love being able to get into the interactive reading app from pretty much anywhere that they want. And I love knowing that they can use their screen time as a great way to increase their knowledge base, too.
- The app resolution is fantastic and there are many videos for the kids to watch!
- As a parent, I can monitor their reading, but this would work great for teachers, too!
The Con’s
Now don’t get me wrong. I love this app and strongly believe that there are so many good things about it! However, we sometimes need to weed out problems and here are a few:
- Remember to filter by age even when you’re logged in because sometimes the recommendations don’t show the age range even if you have your child’s age on their profile.
- The videos are great but I want the kids to read more so we try to limit the videos they watch.
Our Favorite Get Epic Books
Since there are so many great books available it’s really hard to narrow it down but here are some of our favorite books that we’ve loved so far: (and our list is ever-changing because we’re constantly geting new books!)
- The Giving Tree
- Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?
- Diary Of A Wimpy Kid
- My Father’s Dragon (as a good starter read aloud)
- Chrysanthemum
- The Nappying House
- Splat the Cat
- The Big Nate series
- The True Story of the Three Little Pigs (audiobook)
I’m loving these books that teach children creativity and imagination… if you have Get Epic or are getting books from your local library then here’s some creativity books:
- Sky Color – the sky doesn’t have to just be blue.
- The Dot – look at what happens when you make a dot.
- The Magnificent Thing
- Ish
Check out this list of top recommendations for more!
We find that they’re great for supplemental learning and schooling, and we also love to snuggle up and read together right before bedtime. I highlight a few ‘spotlight words’ to improve their vocabulary and pronunciation and we either make flashcards or say it with silly sound effects!
Looking for more reading fun? Check out my Toddler Bedtime Routine Chart that includes reading time!
I can’t express how simple it is to sign up for and it’s definitely worth checking out the free 7-day trial.
Sign up here for a free 7-day trial.
Overall thoughts
Do I think Epic is worth it? ABSOLUTELY!
It’s the ideal way to curate a personalized reading experience and improve your child’s reading skills.
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