Millions of kids around the world may be left without much to do except playing video games and watching TV, as school's out amid fears of coronavirus or COVID-19 spread which is also keeping them from going outside and playing with friends.
In such a situation there's nothing very productive or educating that parents could do. However, if you are concerned that your kid might be spending too much time using a smartphone or in front of the idiot box, Audible seems to have the perfect solution.
Audible's Audio Stories to the rescue of WFH parents
The Amazon-owned audiobook provider has opened a treasure trove of tales, and stories to help parents, children, and teens as they try to kill the hours away in self-quarantine during the pandemic.
Audible has announced the launch of a new service called Audible Stories which contains thousands of free audiobooks for small kids and teens which they can access for free for the entire duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hundreds of free kids stories and some literary classics
Audio Stories is now live and available via Audible.com or Audible's official desktop and mobile app available for both Android and iOS. The website offers a collection of hundreds of educational and entertaining audiobook content ranging from folk tales to small children's books, and from elementary reading materials to literary classics, which even the parents could try.
For small kids some of the stories include popular titles such as "Stone Soup", Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", "Alladin" and AA Milne's "Winnie the Pooh." For teens and older readers there's Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", Charlotte Brontë's "Jane Eyre", "The Call of the Wild", Herman Melville's "Moby Dick", along with classics such as William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights."
There are also titles such as from authors like Dan Gutnam, Leigh Bardugo and Julie Kagawa, and some select titles are narrated by celebrities like Randie Newton for "Jane Eyre" and Dan Stevens for "Frankenstein." Additionally, their are hundreds of fun educational content like children's songs collection and rhymes.
Audiobooks in six different languages
Audible says that all the titles have been carefully selected by Audible editors, keeping in mind the audience, to "offer a mix of education, entertainment, and general interest titles." You can also choose titles across six languages including audio books recorded in Spanish, Italian, Japanese, German and French for free.
Audible's nice gesture offers a welcome respite for millions of parents who have had to work from home and babysit at the same time due to the global coronavirus outbreak and it has been well received so far. "We hope that Audible Stories will offer children-and everyone-some respite during these unsettling times," the company said in a press release announcing the new service. So, as long as school's out, and coronavirus keep you in. Happy reading!
