Listening to audiobooks can be incredibly beneficial for children. Read on to learn the best YouTube channels for children’s books read aloud.

YouTube books read aloud

Children can benefit from listening to audiobooks in many ways. With audiobooks, they can improve their language skills, learn proper pronunciation, enhance fluency in other languages, and expand their vocabulary.

Of course, audiobooks have other advantages. They’re also practical, portable, and allow multitasking. These days, numerous platforms like Audible feature read-aloud stories for both children and adults.

However, like Audible, many require a subscription. Those looking for a free option should look into YouTube. In this article, we’ll provide a list of the best YouTube channels for children’s books read aloud.

The best YouTube channels for books read aloud

Here’s a list of YouTube channels where users can listen to children’s books and bedtime stories:

KidTimeStoryTime

KidTimeStoryTime has the largest library of children’s books read aloud. However, this isn’t the only thing that sets it apart.

Many YouTube channels feature narrators reading from picture books or e-books. KidTimeStoryTime stands out because the videos include puppets, vivid storytelling, sound effects, and humor.

The narrator is a writer and Emmy award winner with an engaging voice. Listeners can enjoy playlists like Halloween stories, Thanksgiving stories, Disney fairy tales, and many others. The channel also features videos that center on particular topics like elections and voting, women’s history, Earth day, etc.

The most popular videos are “The Bad Seed,” “Don’t Touch This Book,” and “There Was an Old Mummy Who Swallowed a Spider.”

Storytime TV

On Storytime TV, children can enjoy stories read by a girl named Peyton and her parents, Karen and Reid. The videos are divided into “Books read by Peyton,” “Books read by mom,” and “Books read by dad.” All videos are engaging, fun, and unique.

In some videos, listeners can see the narrators reading the book aloud, while in others, they only see interesting animations. Moreover, the channel features a section called “Crayons books,” which can be particularly exciting for smaller children.

Besides reading books, the family does book reviews and unboxing videos.

The most popular videos on the Storytime TV channel are “The Crayons’ Book of Numbers,” “Little Blue Truck’s Springtime,” and “How to Catch a Unicorn.”

The Joyful Bookshelf

Although The Joyful Bookshelf channel doesn’t have as many videos as other channels listed here, it deserves a spot on the list because of the impressive selection of children's stories.

All stories are captivating and entertaining. Parents can find stories for children of any age, including preschool, kindergarten, first grade, and above.

The main purpose of the channel is to make reading fun for children. That’s why listening to books can be a part of homeschooling or for continuing your children’s school day education at home.

The most popular videos on this channel are “The Pigeon Has to Go to School,” “The Good Egg,” and “The Biggest Apple Ever.”

Let’s Read Stories

Many love the Let’s Read Stories channel because a child reads the stories. Hearing kids read aloud can help little ones connect more easily to the stories. The narrator has a great voice and makes the stories exciting and engaging, captivating the listeners’ attention.

The channel features numerous popular story books like “Pete the Cat,” “Mother Bruce,” and “Dad and the Dinosaur.”

The StoryTime Family

The StoryTime Family is another excellent channel where children and adults can enjoy high-quality stories.

Unlike many other channels, this one doesn’t feature commercial characters and popular stories children may already know. Instead, the channel introduces less popular, but still exciting stories that quickly grab children’s attention.

In most videos, viewers can see the book from which the narrator reads. Thanks to this, children can read along, learn new words, and improve their language skills.

Besides stories, this channel teaches children about emotions, which is another benefit.

Some popular videos are “I Wish You Happiness,” “Some Pets,” and “Sleepyheads.”

Read Right Now

The top-notch content selection and a clear and engaging voice make this YouTube channel one of the best.

Numerous similar channels have the narrator reading from physical books and flipping pages. This isn’t the case with Read Right Now because here, the narrator uses e-books. Instead of flipping pages, we see a seamless shift to the next slide.

The channel also features curated playlists that center on a particular topic, like Earth Day Books, Funny & Silly Books for Kids, Best Dinosaur Books & Songs, etc.

The most popular read-aloud videos are “The Three Little Aliens and the Big Bad Robot,” “Miss Rumphius,” and “The Mess That We Made.”

Other popular storytime read-aloud channels are StorylineOnline and Awnie’s House. Both features read aloud book videos for children of all ages and interests.

Speechify—Turn any text into speech

Undoubtedly, YouTube is a valuable source of children’s books read aloud. However, it has a few disadvantages.

First, listeners can’t choose their preferred voice. Secondly, the selection is limited. You may want to listen to a story that doesn’t exist on YouTube.

With Speechify, you don’t have to worry about these problems. Speechify is a text to speech platform that can turn any digital text into high-quality spoken language. For children, this can mean turning online stories and e-learning content into easy-to-follow audio.

It can also be a valuable tool for children and adults with learning difficulties, vision impairment, or anyone who prefers listening to reading.

Speechify additionally features optical character reader (OCR) technology, which allows users to scan physical copies of books and convert them into audio files. Moreover, users can choose whether they want to play their files through Speechify or download them for offline use.

Speechify is available as an independent desktop app and a mobile phone app. It is also accessible as a browser extension for Chrome and Safari.

Try Speechify for free and explore its incredible options.

FAQ

What are some good children’s audiobooks on YouTube?

Some of the most popular children’s audiobooks on YouTube are “A Bad Case of Stripes” by David Shannon, “Never Let a Dinosaur Scribble” by Diane Alber, and “The Great Eggscape” by Jory John and Pete Oswald.

What is the best read aloud book?

Since every child is different, it’s impossible to say one read-aloud book is the best.