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New Audible service offers free audiobooks to children, teens stuck at home

Aaron Mamiit
By

Amazon’s Audible, the world’s largest digital audiobook distributor, launched a new service that offers free audiobooks for children and teenagers who are staying at home to avoid exposure to the new coronavirus, officially called COVID-19.

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Audible Stories provides a collection of audiobooks in six different languages, which may be streamed on computers, smartphones, and tablets. Access to the audiobooks is completely free.

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“For as long as schools are closed, we’re open,” according to Audible Stories.

Listening to Audible Stories

The free audiobooks offered by Audible Stories are divided into several sections, namely Littlest Listeners, Elementary, Tween, Teen, Literary Classics, Folk & Fairy Tales for All, and five other categories for French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish audiobooks.

Examples of available titles on Audible Stories include Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling, Hollow City by Ransom Riggs, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and The Little Mermaid and Other Stories by Hans Christian Andersen. Some of the audiobooks are narrated by celebrities, including Scarlett Johansson for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Thandie Newton for Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre.

Parents and their children may browse through Audible Stories’ catalog, or search to see if their favorite book is available. To listen to audiobooks, which come with a synopsis and reviews, they will simply have to click or tap on the Start Listening button. Once the audiobook is playing, they may choose to rewind or forward by 30 seconds, adjust the recording’s speed, and jump to different chapters.

“We hope that Audible Stories will offer children — and everyone — some respite during these unsettling times,” said Audible in its announcement of Audible Stories.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the world into a standstill, but as Audible Stories demonstrates, tech is becoming even more important in supporting families’ daily lives. As companies establish work-from-home arrangements for their employees and content arrives to digital platforms early, it may be a good idea to wind down each day by listening to audiobooks with children.

In addition to Audible Stories, parents, teens, and children may want to look into other websites that offer free audiobooks, including Open Culture and Loyal Books.

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