Pros and Cons of Epic Books for Kids
This post may contain affiliate links.
Epic books for kids provides 40,000 high quality children’s books in the form of ebooks for a monthly membership fee. Epic! is the leading digital reading platform app and website for children. But is it worth the price? What are the pros and cons of using Epic!?
The digital library of high-quality picture books, chapter books, and middle grade books, many of which are award-winning books from a variety of publishers, continues to grow with children’s books for all ages and reading levels.
For parents, try Epic! free for one week to see if it works for their family. That way you’ll learn if you 1) like the selection of books and 2) discover if ebooks work as an option for your child.
Teachers benefit from the library of books on Epic because, in schools without enough books, students can check out ebooks online for reading for fun or for about specific topics and themes. Teachers can see, just like parents can, what books the students are reading and their progress. Even better, Epic! is free for teachers when school is physically in session.
Not only that but teachers can use the Epic educator resources, which include handouts and lesson plans. In addition, you’ll want to know that Epic also provides educational videos.
EPIC Books for Kids
Things I Like About Epic Books for Kids
1. I like the “Read-To Me” option because it lets kids follow along with the text while hearing the words. The Epic Original I listened to (Cat Ninja) included sound effects and a full cast of characters.
2. Epic books for kids offers Audiobook options, too.
3. Epic! is FREE for teachers so students can read more and earn classroom reward points.
4. Every time you click on a book, you’re told the age range, Epic’s reading level, estimated reading time, if it includes a quiz, and brief summary. This is helpful information to decide if it’s in your interest and ability level.
5. Where ever you stop reading, Epic! marks your place, so if you want to pick the book back up, you can start from where you left off.
6. Epic records the time it took to read a book. This is good and bad. Good for parents to make sure kids don’t skip to the end and read a chapter book in 30 seconds, but not accurate if you leave your browser or app open since it will show you took 8 hours to read a few pages.
7. They’ll give you topics of interest for your age group. Kids will like that they can search by keywords and by many categories such as recommended, popular, adventure, fantasy, funny, sports, mystery, world history, science, and more.
8. The resolution on this app is excellent.
9. There are many videos in the Epic books for kids library — some about picture books, and some are informational.
10. It’s a great way to bring books at your reading level with you on the go. The app works on iOS, Android, and tablets.
11. Parents can monitor their child or children’s profiles and progress.
12. Elementary school educators can monitor their class and each student’s progress with the student profiles option.
13. Kids can read anywhere.
14. The Epic books for kids emails recommend books you can send each child, which I like. And they’ll send parents weekly progress reports, including what day the child reads, the minutes read, and the books finished.
15. Finally, don’t miss the engaging activity books that accompany many of the EPIC originals to extend the learning. They’re fantastic.
16. Search by topic to find nonfiction books and topics that spark your child’s curiosity. Or search the Epic Library to search by genre, such as a graphic novel.
17. Check out the Epic originals — they include many excellent options with activities and quizzes! The Epic Originals are interesting and exciting books published by Epic. I already have several favorites including Bark Park, Cat Ninja, and Kitty and Dragon.
18. Teachers can monitor their students’ reading progress and have access to many resources.
Things I Don’t Like about Epic Books for Kids
1.Screen time. Research shows that children do better with their reading comprehension if they’re reading physical books vs. digital books. Not only that, using Epic is extra screen time. It’s convenient but is the screen time worth it?
2. The audiobook playback isn’t perfectly timed. It highlights the word just before its read aloud.
3. The website promotes Epic Originals first and foremost. They’re great but sometimes you may want to see other authors and titles first.
4. The navigation is FOR YOU, COMICS, READ TO ME, VIDEOS, AUDIOBOOKS. I wasn’t sure what to click.
5. Too many videos. I want kids to read books, not watch videos.
6. When you click a topic, the recommendations aren’t for the right age. I put in my pretend kid was 7 years old and got recommendations for ages 10 and up. You have to filter by age, even when you’re logged in.
7. I don’t love their selection of nonfiction books except for their National Geographic Kids books. Their books are more old-school, traditional informational texts.
8. It’s difficult to navigate quickly and find a book to read. I wasted a lot of time browsing.
9. I wanted a read along option with the audiobook stories, particularly for picture books, because you need the pictures to comprehend the story.
Final Thoughts
Is it worth the monthly fee to have access to the books online?
YES, especially if you don’t have access to enough books.
Book access = reading success.
However, it depends on your child or student and what type of books he or she wants to read and that child’s preferences. Does an ebook work for the child?
Will the badges and rewards be incentives to motivate your student? Possibly!
Try it for a free week to see what you think.
You Might Also Like
Kindle Unlimited Books for Kids
For emergent readers and second language learners, the Unite Books app is an alternative that is always free for everyone. There are more than 500 mostly nonfiction picture books, narrated in 50 languages, in the app. The books are also available online at https://www.uniteforliteracy.com. No logins, games or ads, just great, diverse, narrated picture books.