Kids
Digital and Online Resources for Children
LEARN
Early World of Learning
An interactive and playful environment that encourages reading comprehension and mastery of phonetic skills. Stories, videos, songs and games. For children in pre-K through 3rd grade. Requires an Essex Public Library card to log in.
READ or LISTEN
Audible stories
NEW! Temporarily free from Amazon. Audiobooks for children in pre-K through high school. No library card required.
eBook Cricket Media Collection
Children can explore and expand their world through more than 400 ebook titles from Cricket Media. For children in pre-K through 8th grade. No library card required.
NoveList K – 8 Plus
Can’t decide what to read next? Use NoveList to discover your next favorite author, series or title. Browse genres that interest you and review suggestions based on the titles and author you know you already enjoy. No library card required.
Overdrive eBooks and audiobooks
From nursery rhymes and classic tales to robots and pirates, young readers come explore! Download audio and eBooks for all ages. Essex Public Library card required.
RB Digital audiobooks and magazines
Find classic middle grade titles, early chapter books, beginning readers and fun magazines. Download audiobooks and digital magazines. Essex Public Library card required.
RESEARCH
Accelerated Reader (AR) Bookfinder
Please check with your school to make sure that the AR test is available for the book you choose.
Explora Primary
Safe, age-appropriate environment to find articles and facts for research papers, class projects or homework. For kindergarten through 5th grade. No library card required.
Gale in Context: Elementary
Look up a specific topic or browse amongst categories for information on current events, arts, sciences, health, people, government, history, sports and more! Find magazine, newspaper and reference articles to read (or have read to you) and pictures and videos to watch. Includes a dictionary and educator resources. For children in kindergarten through 5th grade. No library card required.
NEW! MORE ONLINE FOR KIDS
Jarrett J. Krosoczka (Lunch Lady, Hey Kiddo) Draw Every Day with JJK! Live weekdays at 2p.m. EST or watch later
Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems (Pigeon, Elephant & Piggy) Live weekdays at 1p.m. EST or watch later
Jarret Lerner (Enginerds) Blank Comic Book Pages, “Finish This Comic!” and Drawing/Writing Prompts
Pete the Cat Read Alouds on InstagramLive each weekday at noon EST
Storyline OnlineVideos featuring actors reading children’s books.
Museum of Natural History Virtual Tour Take self-guided, room-by-room tours of select exhibits and areas.
Monterey Bay Aquarium Webcams Ten live cams to choose from to experience the wonder of the ocean no matter where you are.
Wow in the World Podcast Guides curious kids and their grown-ups on a journey into the wonders of the world.
Circle Round Podcast Adapts folktales from around the world for kids incorporating sounds and music. Episodes explore kindness, persistence and generosity and end with activities that inspires conversation between children and grown-ups.
PBS Kids Games A collection of games in a variety of subjects.
Science Projects from Babble Babble Do A collection of 20 science projects for little ones.
Carmen Sandiego Game Track the world’s greatest super thief around the globe to recover the stolen loot.
Lego Six Bricks A hands-on tool of 25 fun and short activities using just six bricks.
Chrome Music Lab Make learning music more accessible through fun, hands-on experiments.
Groove Pizza A circular rhythm app for creative music making and learning! Create grooves using math concepts like shapes, angles and patterns.
Cosmic Kids Yoga Yoga, mindfulness, and relaxation videos for kids.
Story Time from Space NASA astronauts read stories!
Kate Messner’s list of “learning at home“ Author Kate Messner’s (The Brillant Deep, Breakout, Chirp) collection of free resources from lots of authors and illustrators and includes read alouds, writing and drawing lessons and research links. Also provides links for talking about COVID-19 with kids.
