If you’ve ever sat at 10pm Googling the best kids reading app UK and ended up with 14 tabs open, this one’s for you.
There’s a lot out there. Too much, honestly. And when there are too many options, decision fatigue kicks in fast. You worry you’ll pick the wrong one. Burn through £12 a month for a year only for your child to barely open it.
So here’s the short version before we get into it.
In the UK, you’ve got five real options:
- Epic, the big US catalogue.
- Pickatale, UK-published and picture-book heavy.
- Vooks, animated picture books (not really reading).
- BorrowBox and Libby, your council’s library, free with a card.
- Little Reads, hand-picked and ad-free (by a former English teacher).
That’s the gist.
Don’t worry, i’m not about to reel off a tonne of features to you (that’s wayyy too dull) and you really don’t need 47 rows of ticks and crosses to make a call.
You just need to know which one to try first.
So I’ll walk you through the few things (with my English teacher hat on) that I think matter when you’re choosing.
And if we’re not the right fit at the end of it, I’ll point you somewhere that is. Promise.
What actually matters in a UK kids reading app
So before you go signing up to anything, there are a few things i’d weigh up. Honestly, the rest is just noise.
Here’s what i actually look for:
Curation vs breadth
Curation means someone has actually read the book before it goes on the shelf. Breadth means quantity (sometimes with filler thrown in, a bit like scrolling Netflix and 80% of what you see isn’t really what you want).
Different families want different things and that’s totally fine. If your kid loves to graze and you don’t mind sifting, breadth is your friend. If you’d rather not be sorting through a 40,000-book catalogue at bedtime, curation is.
UK vs US catalogue
This one catches people out. Epic is American, so Diary of a Wimpy Kid is in. Horrid Henry isn’t. Tracy Beaker? Nope. For a UK family on the school reading list, that gap matters more than it looks.
Ads and sneaky in-app purchases
Every parent’s nightmare. The charge you spot on your bill weeks later because your little one was “really into” something on the tablet (£19.99 on what?!).
The good news? None of the apps i’ve listed here run ads. Still, always worth a quick check before you commit to anything though (just in case).
Cost
Here’s the straight version. No hedging.
- BorrowBox / Libby: Free, with a UK library card.
- Pickatale: £5.99/month after a 30-day trial.
- Little Reads: £7.99/month after a 7-day trial.
- Vooks: Around £8/month (priced in dollars, so it shifts a little).
- Epic: Around £9–£11/month (also priced in dollars).
Which app fits which family?
Okay, here’s the honest run-down. What each app does well, where it falls short, and who’d actually get the most out of it.
Epic
The big one. Epic has a massive catalogue, audiobooks, videos, the lot. If your kid loves to graze and isn’t fussed about who wrote it, they’ll have a field day in there.
The trade-off is the catalogue is American. So Diary of a Wimpy Kid? Brilliant. The Worst Witch, Roald Dahl, Mr Gum? Not really. If your child is heading into Year 4 and the school reading list is going UK-traditional, that gap will start showing up fast.
Pricing-wise, Epic is in dollars (you’ll pay somewhere between £9 and £11 a month depending on the exchange rate). Considering you’re paying for what is mostly a US-skewing offer, it stings a little.
Best for: a family that reads a lot already, wants volume over picks, and isn’t fussed about UK staples.
Pickatale
Pickatale is the UK middle ground. About 3,000 books, picture-book heavy, properly British. If your child is anywhere between 3 and 8, you’re in good hands here.
The catch is it runs out of road quickly. A confident 9-year-old who already ploughs through their reading book at school will hit the end of the catalogue and start asking what else there is (and then you’re right back to Googling).
£5.99/month after a 30-day trial. That’s one of the longer trials in the lineup, which gives you proper time to see if your kid actually clicks with it.
Best for: families in the picture-book stage. Especially if your child is still finding their favourite illustrators and you want something curated rather than overwhelming.
Vooks
Vooks is a bit different to everything else here. Think animated picture books with read-along narration, characters who move on screen, a bit of background music playing underneath the words.
Honest take? This isn’t really reading. It’s TV with words. Which is fine, but don’t expect it to build a reading habit on its own. It’s lovely if your little one is pre-reading and needs the screen to keep them engaged. Less so if they’re already happily reading on their own.
Pricing is in dollars (around £8/month). For what is essentially animated storytime, that feels a touch steep when you compare it to what else is out there.
Best for: pre-readers, or the younger sibling who wants to feel included in storytime while their big brother or sister gets on with a chapter book.
BorrowBox / Libby
Genuinely the best free option going. With a UK library card, you can borrow ebooks and audiobooks straight onto your phone or tablet. No subscription. No catch.
The catch (because there’s always one): what’s available depends entirely on your council. Some councils have a brilliant kids’ section. Others, well… less so. There are waiting lists for popular titles too, just like a physical library.
Worth saying though, every family should try this first before paying for anything. The library is the baseline, not the competition. I use BorrowBox most weeks for audiobooks alone, especially in the summer holidays when we’re racking up the car journeys.
Best for: every UK family with a library card. Which, while we’re at it, really should be every UK family.
Little Reads
I’m biased, obviously. But here’s the honest version.
Little Reads is hand-picked. Properly hand-picked, by a former English teacher (me, hello). Every one of the 3,000+ books has been checked first. There’s no filler, no algorithm deciding what’s on the shelf, and no ads to navigate around. £7.99/month after a 7-day trial.
The trade-off? The catalogue is smaller than Epic by a long shot. That’s by design though. Wading through 40,000 books to find the good ones isn’t what most parents are looking for. If your child wants endless options to scroll through, this isn’t for them.
But it is less than the price of a paperback a month. Just for reference.
Best for: families who’d rather not sort through a 40,000-book catalogue themselves, and want someone to have read the books first.
The honest recommendation
Okay, so what would I actually do?
If cost is even a small factor, try BorrowBox or Libby first. If your council is any good, you might not need anything else. And honestly, even if it’s only okay, you’ll still get plenty out of it (the audiobooks alone are worth the setup).
For the picture-book stage where you want curation: Pickatale. UK-published, picture-book heavy, sensible price, with a 30-day trial to see if it fits.
For 5-11s and you want someone to have read the books first, that’s our patch. Little Reads is the hand-picked shelf in a market full of warehouses. If that’s the shelf you want, you’re in the right place.
Want sheer volume and don’t mind the US slant? Epic. Just go in knowing the UK staples mostly won’t be there.
Pre-reader stage and the screen is what keeps them engaged? Vooks. Just remember it’s television-with-text, not really reading.
No app fits every family. But there’s a good chance one of these fits yours.
If we sound right for your family
If you’ve made it this far, thanks for sticking with me.
If Little Reads sounds like your kind of place, have a look around. £7.99 a month after a 7-day free trial. Cancel anytime. No catch.
And if we’re not the right fit? The library app is genuinely free. Start there. No hard feelings, promise.