Nice move, Audible

March 20, 2020 12:33 PM

Free stories from Audible mostly for kids, as described on the site:

For as long as schools are closed, we're open. 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.

posted by kingless (11 comments total)

The ones I sampled are Blackstone or Audible recordings -- so good stuff.
posted by wenestvedt at 1:26 PM on March 20, 2020

Amazon company. So it'll also contribute to their profiles.
posted by anthill at 1:35 PM on March 20, 2020

They may get some data and certainly publicity, but no account or login required to access them.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 2:43 PM on March 20, 2020 [2 favorites]

Would also like to recommend checking with your local library, which has plenty over audio and ebooks available online via overdrive and the like.
posted by mulligan at 3:14 PM on March 20, 2020 [1 favorite]

I see they've included Atlas Shrugged so that children all over the world can get ready to strike out on their own, free from the illusion that society or collective action is of any benefit to them during the COVID crisis.
posted by FungusCassetteBicker at 3:15 PM on March 20, 2020 [18 favorites]

Ayn Rand wrote for children of all ages!
posted by rhizome at 3:29 PM on March 20, 2020 [9 favorites]

I'm enjoying The Peaceful Valley Crime Wave so far. I had an Audible account for years until my backlog of audiobooks became about 6 months worth reading and suspended my account. With kids, having audiobooks you can play on constant repeat is a godsend. We're going to listen to Anne of Green Gables today (smallest had been reading it during lunch at the school library and is v. excited to get to hear it ahead of her own copy arriving later this week). Overdrive and your local library are great resources too.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 5:59 PM on March 20, 2020

Entirely non-functional in Opera browser - I get a blank white page. (I opened another browser to check that something was there.)
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 10:25 PM on March 20, 2020

If you've not read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley you can get it read to you here, free. Not a bad deal, IMO.

I sent the link to a friend who has his 3 year old daughter home for who knows how long, not sure if she enjoys to be read to but if so this is great.

Thx for posting this, OP.
posted by dancestoblue at 12:17 AM on March 21, 2020

Has overdrive improved their licensing? Because the last I heard libraries had to pay significantly more for anything checked out through them plus it just got bought by vulture capitalists. Which isn’t to say don’t use it, but to ask if their are other options you can use, to try those first. Also more than happy to be wrong.
posted by mfu at 4:28 AM on March 21, 2020

A lot of the free Audible content is classic titles that are out of copyright - but by no means all. Even though I have a massive dislike for Audible because they constantly try to get people to buy things that they can get for free from the library, I think this is a good move and am going to make sure it's on my library's website.

Re: Overdrive - one of their publishers, Duke Classics, is offering thousands of their titles for free as well. Again, most if not all are out-of-copyright classics which you could also get on Gutenberg or similar, but it's still a nice gesture.

Go support your local public library if you are not already! I bet a lot of them will let you sign up online or by calling them if you don't have a card already. You'll get heaps of ebooks, eaudiobooks and often a whole bunch of other things like online magazines/newspapers, streaming film and music, activities for kids, maybe even online language learning or access to Lynda to do short courses. Your local public library may vary, of course.

Ok I will stop proselytising now.
posted by Athanassiel at 7:05 PM on March 22, 2020