Audible to provide free audiobooks for children & teens during COVID-19 pandemic
Audible announced today the launch of Audible Stories, a new service through which the company will be providing free audiobooks for small children and teens for the duration of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
"For as long as schools are closed, we're open," Audible said.
"Starting today, kids everywhere can instantly stream an incredible collection of stories, including titles across six different languages, that will help them continue dreaming, learning, and just being kids," the company said.
The Audible Stories service is already live and available through web browsers or the company's official desktop and mobile apps.
The Stories portal currently lists hundreds of audiobooks, from folk tales to small children's books, and from elementary school reading material to literary classics.
Select titles include the likes of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," Herman Melville's "Moby Dick," Jack London's "White Fang," William Shakespeare's "Hamlet," and A.A. Milne's "Winnie the Pooh."
The Amazon-owned company said all titles were carefully selected by Audible editors to "offer a mix of education, entertainment, and general-interest titles."
Audiobooks are available in six languages -- English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, and Japanese.
The company's offer has been already very well-received by the many parents who, in the midst of today's coronavirus outbreak, have to work from home and babysit at the same time.
"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.
Thank you, @audible_com! My kids are both now getting into reading-via-listening, and spent a good hour each with a book yesterday thanks to you. 🎧📚 https://t.co/4okRrchM3d
— Libby Brown (@TruBluDevil) March 19, 2020