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Hi, we're Wattpad.

The world's largest storytelling community, home to 97 million people¹ who spend over 26 billion minutes a month engaged in original stories, wattpad has democratized storytelling for a new generation of diverse gen z writers and their fans..

¹As of July 2023

See Your Story...

Your original story could be the next big hit

Wattpad Studios discovers untapped, unsigned, and talented writers on Wattpad and connects them to global multi-media entertainment companies.

Wattpad Studios works with partners such as:

Your voice belongs on bookshelves

Wattpad Books aspires to recognize and reflect diverse voices by taking Wattpad stories to published book and onto bookshelves around the world.

Wattpad Books works with partners such as:

Find out more about what we do for writers →

How wattpad works.

Get your story discovered through the power of community and technology on Wattpad.

Share your unique voice and original story on Wattpad. Find the writing resources you need to craft a story only you can tell.

Establish a global fan base as your story gains readership and momentum. Connect with other like-minded writers through storytelling.

Gain Wattpad Star status and get your story published or adapted into film or television with Wattpad WEBTOON Studios!

²Monthly Wattpad Visitors. As of July 2023

Working with Wattpad Studios is like a dream. Not only do they care about your success, but also staying true to your vision.

KARA BARBIERI (@PANDEAN)

Kara Barbieri is a twenty-two year old author with a love for the weird and mystic. Her debut novel, WHITE STAG, will be published by Wednesday Books/Macmillan in January 2019.

When I joined Wattpad, I gained a second family who were as passionate about reading and writing as I am.

ALI NOVAK (@FALLZSWIMMER)

Ali Novak is a Wisconsin native and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's creative writing program. She started writing her debut novel My Life with the Walter Boys when she was only fifteen. Since then, her work has received more than 150 million hits online and My Life with the Walter Boys has been optioned for television by Komixx Entertainment and Sony Pictures Television.

Being a Wattpad Star is the foundation for everything I do as a writer, from the behind the scenes wrangling to the big, game-changing projects.

BEN SOBIECK (@BENSOBIECK)

Benjamin Sobieck is a Wattpad Star and editor of “The Writer’s Guide to Wattpad,” published in August 2018 by Writer’s Digest Books and featuring contributions by 23 Wattpad Stars, ambassadors, and staff. His stories on Wattpad, such as “When the Black-Eyed Children Knock,” have drawn more than 1.5 million reads.

Having been active on Wattpad for several years, I knew it would be the perfect platform for a thriller with lots of cliffhangers for readers to discuss. Teen horror is my passion, so I can’t wait to be able to share Light as a Feather with other horror aficionados on Hulu.

ZOE AARSEN (@ZAARSENIST)

Zoe Aarsen is a graphic designer and copywriter. Her first paranormal YA novel, Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board, is being published by Simon & Schuster and turned into a television series on Hulu.

The Wattpad Stars Program gave me opportunities I never thought possible. It connected me to a world that I had only imagined. I don’t know how else to say it. It changed my life!

ISABELLE RONIN (@ISABELLERONIN)

Chasing Red was one of 2016’s most-read stories on Wattpad -- and that was just the beginning for this Winnipeg-Manitoba-based writer. In a single year, her explosive hit has racked up over 127 million reads on Wattpad. Newly edited and expanded, the book was split into two and hit bookstore shelves in 2017.

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Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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“ paradise lost ” by honey homecroft.

🏆 Winner of Contest #248

Calls for help came every day, in every language spoken from Alpha Centauri to Xanoid 10. Meteor. Famine. War!!! Help us, they pleaded. Whoever they was in that particular society that had figured out how to contact us. “Please remain calm,” I used to say. “A unit will be dispatched to your location.” But after our people went Silent, the calls went more like this:  “Hello? We need help.” “We're sorry, but Planetary Assistance is no longer available. Our thoughts are with you during your pending apocalypse. Goodbye.” “Wait —” And I woul...

“ DANGER: UNSTABLE GROUND ” by Madeline McCourt

🏆 Winner of Contest #247

Do not ever step foot on the ground. Charlie had been told this his entire life, but it never really sunk in. He didn’t understand the deep-seated fear everyone else seemed to harbor. He thought it was incredible, a beautiful problem to be solved. Until he was laying on the floor of the lab staring at the ceiling and blinking away tears. The first time Charlie ever saw the ground consume a person he’d been twelve. What the tree-top teachers referred to as “live mummification” was a quick, disturbing process. Dirt crawling over skin to creat...

Introducing Prompted , a new magazine written by you!

🏆 Featuring 12 prize-winning stories from our community. Download it now for FREE .

“ Hearts Are Trump ” by Sarah Coury

🏆 Winner of Contest #246

Uncle Abe and Uncle Will haven’t played cards together in years. If you want to get real technical about it, Uncle Abe and Uncle Will haven’t even shared the same room in years, but that ain’t news to anyone east of Livernois. By now, the entire city of Detroit knows about Abraham and William Haddad—at least those who regularly stop into the family party store for their weekly supply of meats, spirits, and fresh-baked pita. It’s old news. Two bitter brothers broken up over a girl who left town anyway. It’s been ages and the aunties need fres...

“ Everything is Connected ” by Olivier Breuleux

🏆 Winner of Contest #245

Many people don't believe that everything is connected. It's strange. They believe in magnets, in electromagnetic waves, in quantum action at a distance. They believe that the force of gravity makes the Earth revolve around the Sun, and yet they do not believe that the same forces can influence the smaller details of our fate. They believe that it is all up to them. That they have free will. They say that Jupiter can gently pull the Sun, yet it cannot move our infinitely smaller souls.A paradox.The stars are difficult to read, for sure. The ...

“ The Party ” by Kerriann Murray

🏆 Winner of Contest #244

My phone buzzed. I rolled over to look at the text my cousin Maya had just sent. Can you send photo you took of all the girls in costume last night? xoxo My head was throbbing. Hanging out with Maya was fun, but she was eight years younger than me and she and her friends loved to do shots. I needed to stick with beer only if I didn’t want the hangover. That’s what I'd do next time. I opened my photos app to find the picture Maya had requested. It was a group shot I had no memory of taking. It wasn’t everyone who’d been at the party - just th...

“ Ke Kulanakauhale ma ke Kai, or The City by The Sea ” by Thomas Iannucci

🏆 Winner of Contest #243

Ke Kulanakauhale ma ke Kaior,The City by the Seaby thomas iannucci Author’s Note: In this story I use Hawaiian words, as the story is set in a post-apocalyptic Hawaii. However, I do not italicize them, as I am from Hawaii, and so these words are not foreign to me. Growing up there were many English words unfamiliar to us in school, and they were never italicized; I would like this same standard to be applied to Hawaiian, which is, for better or for worse, also now a language in the United States. Mahalo for your kokua. “The city by the sea,...

“ Do Not Touch ” by Niamh O'Dea

🏆 Winner of Contest #242

Jen lived by the unwritten rules of being single but wanting a child. Don’t look at children. Don’t engage with children. Don’t talk about children. Don’t let other people talk about their children. And don’t, for the love of all that is holy, tell anyone you long for a child. A nearby suitor could be eyeing you up, biting their bottom lip at the sight of your untoned bum, lusting after your wide midriff, admiring your conical legs. They could be subconsciously sliding you through their mental mold of their dream woman, seeing you slot in j...

“ When I Read Beckett ” by Liz Grosul

🏆 Winner of Contest #241

…in…in this room…cursed room…loved?... cursed…. where she slept…half-grown in her hometown t-shirt…shorts…no shorts…t-shirt worn with holes…on the floor…he having thrown it…under the bed…dust collected and swept and settled again…. and again…who?... he… not she?...gracious!...there for the first time…assuredly last time…no boys in the room, father said…keep out!...nodded her head… but in the room…blue light hugging the window…scotch tape…peeling off the paint whether chipped or freshly laid or…exhumed…he found her in the— no, not found…held…...

“ Lost and Found ” by Jonathan Page

🏆 Winner of Contest #240

On my last shift as a lighthouse keeper, I climbed the seventy-six spiral iron stairs and two ladders to the watch room, the number of steps the same as my age. The thwomp and snare of each step laid an ominous background score. Something wasn’t right. At that very moment, Richie Tedesco was pointing a fire extinguisher at the burning electrical panel in the engine room of his boat a few miles offshore.The placard in the watch room read “Marge Mabrity, Lightkeeper—First lighted the depths on March 2nd, 1985, and hasn’t missed a night.” Alrea...

“ Metonymia ” by Gem Cassia

🏆 Winner of Contest #239

“God is dead.” “Which one?” “I meant it as more of a blanket statement, but if we’re getting into specifics, I guess I mean the one that I killed.” [When | the | god | of | cause-and-effect | is | slaughtered | in | cold | blood | everyone | knows | who | to | blame.]“People aren’t too pleased about that, you know.” “I’ve heard.”[Everyone | has | heard.]<...

“ Five Turns of the Hourglass ” by Weronika L

🏆 Winner of Contest #238

I tow my dead father with me to the scorched heart of a desert. His body guilts down my shoulders, heavier each time he doesn't tell me that I took the wrong turn, that I need to straighten my elbows, that I never do anything the right way so why does he even bother. My jeep sputters and chokes under our weight as it brings us to the parking lot in front of the hotel. Vipassana, reads the sign above the glass door, melted open at the hinges. The Silent Retreat. Heat slaps me across the face. I backpack my father around my waist and march to ...

“ Love.edu: Courtship and Coincidence in Modern Academia ” by Eliza Levin

🏆 Winner of Contest #237

Thursday, Jan 18 2:12 PMTo: [email protected]: [email protected]: Your (Brilliant) Paper on Mirrors/Jane EyreDear Professor Rhodes,I hope this email finds you well. I must confess that, although we have never met, I am a longtime admirer of your work—I was actually at your talk on Charlotte Brontë and Elizabeth Gaskell last year, which I greatly enjoyed.I write to you today to express my sincerest compliments on ...

“ Frozen Lemonade ” by Jennifer Fremon

🏆 Winner of Contest #236

Trigger warning: Contains underage sexual content, mentions of assaultYou know the movie Dirty Dancing? The one where Baby goes off to that fancy resort with her parents for the summer, and in the beginning she is a good, sweet girl who loves her daddy, and then by the end she is still a good sweet girl who loves her daddy but now she is kinda sexy too and can dance like a pro and is totally in love with that beautiful dance teacher. Why doesn’t anyone talk about how that teacher is clearly much, much older than Baby, and despite Patrick Swa...

“ KILLER IN THE WILLOWS ” by Kajsa Ohman

🏆 Winner of Contest #235

KILLER IN THE WILLOWSJust do it, so the T-shirts say. Just pick up the gun, pull the trigger—but maybe aim first, aim at the upper sternum and then pull the trigger, congratulating yourself that at last, in your long, passive life, you have shot somebody dead. So she did, and thus she became a murderer. She slipped through the night after that and disappeared into the willows to wash off any blood that spattered onto her clothing. The willows were thickl...

“ 6:47 PST ” by David Pampu

🏆 Winner of Contest #234

What has four faces, eight arms, and can’t tell time? The clock tower at Union Station. Four clocks on the tower and none of them run? I mean, what’re the odds? I peer up at the time and shade my eyes. It’s 6:47 pm. Always is, always will be. And all anyone knows is that on a Monday the world was a loud, frantic place and Tuesday it wasn’t. Tuesday? Really? The world should’ve ended on a Saturd...

“ Vegan Hamburgers ” by Ariana Tibi

🏆 Winner of Contest #233

Vegan Hamburgers February 1st 11:11pm WOW. I cannot believe that just happened. I went to AJ’s studio and almost walked out with a record deal. I was sober, too. He started rolling a joint and offered me some but I immediately said no. Last week, I had drinks at Lighthouse Studios and the executive was totally judging me when...

“ The Lantern of Kaamos ” by Jonathan Page

🏆 Winner of Contest #232

The melting Arctic is a crime scene, and I am like CSI Ny-Ålesund. Trond is the anonymous perpetrator leaving evidence and clues for me to discover, like breadcrumbs leading back to him. “Jonna,” he had said, the day we first met at the research institute, “If you are going to make it up here, don’t lock your doors.” It seemed like a life philosophy, rather than a survival tip.It is ironic. Out on Kings Bay, the coal miners came first, then the science outposts. Trond was already out here mining the Arctic when I was sti...

“ No Junior League ” by Mary Lynne Schuster

🏆 Winner of Contest #231

You are sure you want to do this?   Running away. Starting over.  It’s not as easy as people think. You have to give up everything.  Oh, that part’s easy. Everyone thinks we are all traceable, that you can’t really hide. But, see, everything is tied to your identity. Your papers. If you change those, you are a different person.  Fingerprints? If they’re in the system, if yo...

“ The Lop-it-off-a-me List ” by Ethan Zimmerman

🏆 Winner of Contest #230

The Lop-it-off-a-me List Count money in the envelope one more time. Make sure Marcel has his itinerary. Ask Alex if she will come by to feed Odin. Buy extra cat food and litter so Alex doesn't have to. Give her the spare key next time I see her. Kiss Odin and tell her she is the best cat in the world, even if she has always been destructive...

“ The Gingerbread Cookies ” by Aaron Chin

🏆 Winner of Contest #229

The Gingerbread Cookies Let’s go downstairs and bake some cookies, like mother used to make. The warm smell sits right at home in your nostrils, invading them like wild ax-murderers hacking and slashing their way through endless miles of human bodies that stand in the way of their inhumane, carnal desires. Shhh, shhh, but that’s too dark. It’s Christmas after all. So let’s go down...

“ Cooking Lessons ” by Molly Jenkinson

🏆 Winner of Contest #228

“That’s it petal, just push down a smidge more and it should cut right the way through it.” Mam’s standing above me as I’m trying to hack through the biggest potato the world’s ever seen. I’m sweating bullets at this point but she’s having none of it. “Can’t you just do it, Mam?” I’m absolutely knackered. I’ve been stabbing at this thing for (no joke) fifteen minutes but she just will not take...

“ The Winters of My Discontent ” by Warren Keen

🏆 Winner of Contest #227

I didn’t wake up on November 29th, 2023. The day prior I remember vividly. I drove two hours into western Minnesota to replace some fuses in a pad-mount transformer. Easy job when you bring the right fuses. I wasn’t prepared to stand outside in the freezing cold all day waiting for them. Waiting is the coldest thing you can do. I had checked the weather that morning, but I refused to acknowledge that it was lo...

“ Forthright Thursday ” by Chris Campbell

🏆 Winner of Contest #226

8:45PM Thanksgiving Day – GLOVES OFF: My mother, Mary, and her sister Alice were engaged in a wrestling match on the dining room table. Aloysius – my father - and Alice’s plus one; Jack, attempted to pry them apart, but both women had locked themselves into each other’s hair with vice-like grips, despite both their hands being splattered with custard trifle remnants. All I could do as an observing teenager was sit with mouth agape while holding my new Super 8mm silent movie camera, recording the whole scene. It was typical behavio...

“ The Day Alfred Googled Himself ” by Olivier Breuleux

🏆 Winner of Contest #225

Everyone has Googled themselves at one time or another in their lives. Even you, dear reader, I'll bet. Why did you do it? Curiosity? Validation? Finding your own LinkedIn profile? When Alfred did it, his reason was self-pity. He was nobody, he had nobody, and he had nothing. His immediate family had died years prior. His extended family did not remember he existed, nor did he remember the...

“ Goldfish ” by Mallory Jones

🏆 Winner of Contest #224

4 pm Miss Lucy and Dr. Singh are letting me visit my house tonight! Normally I get to go home for twelve hours on holidays, and an aide comes with me to monitor my equipment, but today is different. It’s not a holiday, it’s not my birthday, it’s not even the weekend— but I’m going home! Mommy says Lily will be home too even though she goes to college in Iowa. She’s coming home just for me for my ...

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Short Stories from Reedsy Prompts

Short stories may be small, but they are mighty! With the weight of a novel stripped away, great short stories strike directly at the heart of their topics. Often maligned as the novel’s poor cousin, the short story medium has produced some of the most beloved works of fiction. From the eerily-accurate predictions of Ray Bradbury to the spine-chilling thrills of Stephen King and the wildly imaginative worlds of N.K. Jemison, some of the best authors in the business have made their mark writing short stories .

Whether the stories are sweeping explorations of the human condition, or slices of life vignettes that move us to tears, short fiction has the power to dazzle from first word to last.

Who writes Reedsy’s short stories?

Here at Reedsy, we're looking to foster the next generation of beloved authors. To that end, we've been running a weekly writing contest for over six years — and these short stories are the thousands of entries we've received over that time. Our writers come to the contest from all experience levels to hone their skills through consistent practice and friendly feedback. Some of them have even gone on to write and publish novels based on their short story submissions !

Discover short stories of all genres and subjects

Centered around themed writing prompts, these short stories range across all forms, genres, and topics of interest. Simply filter by the genre that appeals you most, and discover thousands of stories from promising new writers around the world.

Maybe you want to read something new, but don’t want to choose a genre? We’ve gathered our favorite entries in our literary magazine, Prompted . Each issue is packed with prize-winning stories that have been introduced and edited by a guest editor. Grab a free copy of our first issue here . Who knows, you could even discover your next favorite author before they even hit the big time!

(And if you’re a writer, consider heading over and entering the short story contest yourself! You may just walk away with the weekly cash prize, plus the chance to appear in Prompted . )

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Punctuation Guide for Kids

Categories: Age 6-9 years , All FKB Books , Children , English Language , Grade 1 to Grade 3 , Non-Fiction

A short guide to all the common punctuation marks – period, exclamation mark, question mark, comma, semi-colon, ellipsis, quotation marks, apostrophe, colon. This book was brought to you by Vappingo online proofreaders. Sample Page from Punction Guide by Vappingo  

The Conical Hat

Author: Ram Babu Subedi Illustrator: Promina Shreshtha

Categories: Age 2-5 Years , All FKB Books , Beginner English , Creative Commons , Culture , Grade K and Pre K , Read along video , Room to Read , Toddlers

A short story about conical hats and all their important uses. Great for young children, learning to read, and ESL. Sample page from The Conical Hat Author: Ram Babu Subedi Illustrator: Promina Shreshtha Brought to us by Room to Read. Read along with Kiwi Opa:  

Let’s Count Legs

Author: All Children Reading Cambodia Illustrator: Measa Sovonnarea

Categories: Age 2-5 Years , All FKB Books , Animals , Beginner English , Counting , Grade K and Pre K , Insects , Read along video , Storyweaver-Pratham , Toddlers

A fun counting book featuring the numbers 2,4,6, and 8. Brought to us by The Asia Foundation and Storyweaver. Author: All Children Reading Cambodia Illustrator: Measa Sovonnarea Sample Page from Let’s Count Legs Read along with Kiwi Opa in the video of Let’s Count Legs:    

The Pottering Pig

Author: Rohit Kulkarni Illustrator: Priya Kuriyan

Categories: Age 2-5 Years , Age 6-9 years , All FKB Books , Animals , Beginner English , Creative Commons , Grade 1 to Grade 3 , Grade K and Pre K , Humour , Read along video , Storyweaver-Pratham , Toddlers

The pottering pig causes all sorts of chaos, but did she break the potter’s pots? A cute whodunnit, when the Pottering Pig is accused of a crime she may or may not have committed. Author: Rohit Kulkarni Illustrator: Priya Kuriyan Sample Page from The Pottering Pig: Brought to us by Pratham Books. Read along with …

Three Billy Goats Gruff – CKF

Core Knowledge Foundation

Categories: Age 2-5 Years , All FKB Books , Animals , Children , Core Knowledge Foundation , Creative Commons , Editable Files , Fable , Grade 1 to Grade 3 , Grade K and Pre K , moral , Toddlers

This classic tale is told with some beautiful imagery combined with some comprehension questions. Creator: Core Knowledge Foundation See more from CKF on FKB here: https://freekidsbooks.org/publisher/core-knowledge-foundation/ This book is also available in an editable version (created using Open Office): https://freekidsbooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Three_Billy_Goats_Gruff-Landscape-Book-CKF-FKB.odt Sample Page from Three Billy Goats Gruff:    

Snowy Owl – Haiku for older children

Gabriel Rosenstock

Categories: Age 10-13 years , Age years 13+ , All FKB Books , Gabriel Rosenstock , Grade 4 to Grade 6 , Grade 7+ , Intermediate English , Older Children , poetry , Young Adult

Gabriel Rosenstock is back with a great collection of inspiring bilingual Haiku set to thought provoking artwork and photographs, including some issues on child labour in the US. Sample Page from Snowy Owl Gabriel Rosenstock See more from Gabriel Rosenstock on FKB For more about Haiku, see here: https://vcbf.ca/event/about-haiku/. It is noted that while Japanese …

Monster’s Day Out

Danielle Bruckert

Categories: Age 2-5 Years , Age 6-9 years , All FKB Books , Beginner English , Children , Creative Commons , Danielle Bruckert , Free Kids Books , Grade 1 to Grade 3 , Grade K and Pre K , Monsters , Toddlers

A sequel to the popular There’s a Monster this book explores, in rhyme, a day at the playground with Monster. Sample Page from Monster’s Day Out See also: There’s a Monster eBook More by the Author – Danielle Bruckert And, more books about Monster’s on FKB  

Happy Train

Author: Humayan Rashid Illustrator: Mehedi Haque

Categories: Age 2-5 Years , All FKB Books , Creative Commons , Grade K and Pre K , Intermediate English , Room to Read , Toddlers , Trains , Transport

A train travels through the country side, first she is very happy, but then getting farther and farther from home and seeing strange people and animals she becomes worried and scared. Fortunately someone comes to help. A great story about exploring emotions. Author: Humayan Rashid Illustrator: Mehedi Haque Sample Page from The Happy Train: Another …

Croak – the tale of a frog

Author: Kavitha Punniyamurthi, Illustrator: Ekta Bharti

Categories: Age 6-9 years , All FKB Books , Animals , Children , Creative Commons , Grade 1 to Grade 3 , Humour , Intermediate English , Storyweaver-Pratham

There’s a frog in the classroom, but can Masterji see it? Or does he think the children are pulling a prank on him? Find out in this beautifully illustrated story ideal for early grades. Author: Kavitha Punniyamurthi, Illustrator: Ekta Bharti Originally published by Pratham Books on their Storyweaver Platform. Sample Page from Croak  

A Day at the Carnival

Author: Syamphay Fengsavanh, Illustrator: Nivong Sengsakoun

Categories: Age 2-5 Years , All FKB Books , Animals , Beginner English , Family , Grade K and Pre K , mouse , Room to Read , Toddlers

Three brothers, Little Mouse, Littler Mouse, and Tiny Mouse go out for a day to the carnival, they have a really great time, but safety must come first, and it’s important to look out for each other. Luckily they are keeping track! Author: Syamphay Fengsavanh, Illustrator: Nivong Sengsakoun, Translator: Alisha Berger Originally published by Room …

Supercow IV – In a Minute…

Kiwi Opa and Danielle Bruckert

Categories: Age 6-9 years , All FKB Books , Animals , Behaviour , Children , Creative Commons , Danielle Bruckert , FKB Make a Difference , Free Kids Books , Grade 1 to Grade 3 , Intermediate English , Kiwi Opa , Read along video

A little girl and her mother walk through the park, but her mother is very distracted. Can Supercow help? Another book in the popular Supercow series. By Kiwi Opa and Danielle Bruckert Sample Page from Supercow IV – In a Minute… Other books in the Series: The Adventures of Super Cow Supercow Volume II: The …

Books for Benjamin

Author R.G. de Rouen, Illustrator Uliana Barabash

Categories: Age 2-5 Years , Age 6-9 years , All FKB Books , Children , Grade 1 to Grade 3 , Insects , Intermediate English , Toddlers

A worm yearns for reading, will he find the answer to his passion? Sample Page from Books for Benjamin         This book is also available in hard cover, paperback, and kindle edition on Amazon Author R.G. de Rouen Illustrator Uliana Barabash See more from the author at R.G. de Rouen’s Website. Books …

Rat Cat – Early Reader

Author: Dropti Sharma Illustrator: Rajeev Verma 'Banjara'

Categories: Age 2-5 Years , All FKB Books , Animals , Beginner English , Cats , Early Reader , Grade K and Pre K , mouse , Toddlers

Rat Cat is a very short book with cute illustrations featuring Cat and Rat. Perfect for building confidence in early readers! Sample Page Author: Dropti Sharma Illustrator: Rajeev Verma ‘Banjara’ See more Eary Readers on FKB in our Early Readers Section    

Hippo Naughty Hippo

Adaption Danielle Bruckert, Illustrations Megan Andrews

Categories: 5 minutes or less bedtime stories , Age 2-5 Years , All FKB Books , Animals , Creative Commons , Danielle Bruckert , Free Kids Books , Grade K and Pre K , Toddlers

What is Hippo doing? And is she really naughty? Find out in this cute, beautifully illustrated text for young children. Repetition and simple language can also be useful for learn to read age. See also Elephant, Naughty Elephant in this series. Sample Text from Hippo, Naughty Hippo What is Hippo doing, can you guess? Hippo, …

Hungry on the Steps – Early Learning

Author: Nandini Nayar, Illustrator: Nirzara Verulkar

Categories: Age 2-5 Years , All FKB Books , Animals , Cats , Counting , Creative Commons , Dogs , Early Reader , Grade K and Pre K , Read along video , Rhyming , Storyweaver-Pratham , Toddlers

Count with a hungry family, trekking up the stairs to their house, and someone else is hungry too – join in, in this cute interactive story featuring repetition, rhyme, and counting, perfect for early learning. Sample Text from Hungry on the Stairs “I am hungry!” Pranav shouts. “Hurry, then!” Amma says. “But why?” “You are …

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Latest audiobook releases, john smith's funny adventures on a crutch or the remarkable peregrinations of a one- legged soldier after the war.

A. F. Hill (1842 - 1876)

Complete | Collaborative | English

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Victor Rousseau (1879 - 1960)

Complete | Solo | English

Zum wilden Mann

Wilhelm Raabe (1830 - 1910)

Complete | Solo | German

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Wilfred Owen (1893 - 1918)

The Enchanted Castle (Version 2)

E. Nesbit (1858 - 1924)

Killers Are My Meat

Stephen Marlowe (1928 - 2008)

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Complete | Solo | Italian

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Posted on January 1, 2024

Happy New Year! A new year brings fresh starts, a chance to try something again or to go for something entirely new. Get inspired with 10 gems from our catalog. Let’s start at the beginning – of humankind. C. H. Robinson follows the development of human society from the discovery of fire and working all […]

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Posted on December 1, 2023

So many celebrations this month! Whether you celebrate Christmas, the winter solstice or just the end of the year, get in the mood with 10 gems from our catalog. Every year, kids anxiously await Christmas. “How many days left” can be easily deduced from an Adventskalender counting down the days with little daily gifts. This […]

The World of Men

Posted on November 1, 2023

It’s International Men’s Day on November 19, a perfect time to celebrate all men: Fathers and sons, brothers and husbands, or simply loved ones outside of family ties. Here are 10 gems from our catalog to do just this. Whether son or daughter, the closest man in everybody’s life is their father. Mamie Dickens, oldest […]

Animals are People, too!

Posted on October 1, 2023

World Animal Day on October 4 seeks to protect animals and their habitats. Learn about all sorts of beings that live among us with 10 gems from our catalog. Before there were humans, strange animals roamed the planet. George Langford weaves palaeontological research about prehistoric elephants, squirrels or horses into his Stories of the First […]

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I Am (Not) Scared

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Vooks is an ad-free, kid-safe streaming platform that puts an entire digital library of animated storybooks right at your fingertips. Through subtle animation, read-aloud narration, highlighted read-along text, and engaging music and sound effects, we bring your favorite children’s books to life to turn screen time into storytime. Vooks is an engaging and educational way to entertain without overstimulating, and inspires a lifelong love of reading in little learners around the world.

Vooks is most suitable for children under the age of 9, or anyone learning to read or simply looking for a new way to do storytime. We are also a valuable tool for English language learners of all ages.

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10 best apps and websites for downloading free books in 2024

Reading is a pastime that has only benefited from the expansion of smart devices like phones , tablets , and e-book readers . No longer chained to the confines of flimsy paperbacks and weighty hardcovers, you can carry your favorite reads on any number of your devices without worrying about weighing yourself down, damaging the fragile paper, or just losing them.

There’s also no shortage of e-books to read, with nearly every bestseller and classic now available in a digital format for your perusing pleasure. But free e-books ? That’s a different ballgame altogether. finding them can be on the tougher side. Thankfully, there are a number of apps and websites that either specialize in providing free e-books or have sections where you can find them.

While you’re unlikely to find the latest bestsellers for free, you are likely to find some public domain classics and some newer, but less well-known titles. Go find your next read with the help of one of these services.

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The king of the e-book reader is, unsurprisingly, one of the most solid ways to get a hold of free books. It’s also one of the best ways to get free e-books for a Kindle since they’ll be delivered straight to your device, unlike with a number of these other apps and websites.

Finding free books on Amazon isn’t the easiest process in the world, but it’s also far from the most difficult. If you’re using the website, then you can head to a category of books, then select Best sellers , then  Top 100 free to see a breakdown of the most popular titles in that particular category. You can also search for “free books” to find a list you can look through or narrow down to a certain category. It’s also possible to do this on the Amazon app, but keep in mind you can’t currently purchase e-books through the app due to disputes with Google and Apple.

It’s also worth mentioning there are Amazon services that furnish you with free books. Kindle Unlimited is a subscription service that gives you access to a vast range of e-books, as does Prime Reading as part of the Amazon Prime subscription. While neither is technically free, Prime Reading is a good bonus if you’re already subscribed to Amazon Prime, while Kindle Unlimited may be worth it for people who can read through multiple books a month or even a week.

Amazon is a solid way to get hold of free books, but it has some downsides. As you’d expect, it only really works for Kindle devices and the Kindle app, and you won’t be able to easily download these book files to send them to another device. It also requires an Amazon account and a checkout process of sorts, even if you’re not paying anything. Oddly, it’s also not particularly easy to find free books on the Kindle itself, as the storefront doesn’t really have the best browsing options.

Kindle Unlimited Prime Reading Free Books on Amazon

Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg is the place the go for free downloadable classics. The website, which stretches back to 1971, is the world’s oldest digital library and hosts over 70,000 titles. It’s the best place to look for titles in the public domain, and it’s here you’ll find a bunch of downloads for older classics, like Moby Dick , the collected works of Shakespeare, and even a lot of Agatha Christie’s books. The downloads are available in a number of formats, including simple EPUB files, as well as files tweaked to work on Amazon Kindles.

The sheer amount of file types on 0ffer can be a little confusing, though. Do you want the EPUB3, EPUB, or Kindle formats? Or is reading online better? And while you can find books in other languages here, most are in English. Some titles may also not be free to download outside of the U.S., so it’s sometimes not that straightforward. Finally, if you want an app, there’s no app here, as it only works as a website.

However, if you’re looking for an older classic, then this is where you should go first.

Google Play Books

Google Play Books is often seen as the poor cousin of Amazon’s Kindle service, but it’s nothing of the sort. If you’re looking to pivot away from Amazon’s seemingly all-encompassing monolith, then Google Play Books is a good alternative. It has a massive selection of e-books in general, but you can also find some great free options if you know where to look.

The first and principal place to find free books is the app’s home page. Scroll down to the eBook charts to can find a category marked  Free . Here, you’ll find the top 100 e-books that have been added to other people’s libraries, giving you a useful barometer of popularity. If none of these tickle your fancy, or if you’re looking for something in another genre, your options are unfortunately a little more limited. You can search for “free [genre]” to find books, or just search for your desired genre and then select Free  from the price filter. There’s no dedicated “free” section to browse, unfortunately.

However, there’s another big plus here, and it’s the selection of free audiobooks on offer. Yes, free audiobooks. They’re “auto-generated”, so not read by people, and are limited to just classics in the public domain. But that includes books you may have always wanted to read, like Dracula and  Frankenstein , or nonfiction like The Prince . Since they’re not read by a human, but a computer-generated voice, there’s a touch of uncanny valley about it, but if you can stomach that, this is a great option.

Downsides for Google Play Books include the aforementioned difficulty in finding free titles, but also keep in mind that it can be tough to get these titles onto e-book readers. Unless your e-book reader allows for third-party apps, you’re going to have to find a way to download the files and send them to your e-book reader of choice. Also, you’ll need a Google account to use and access the app.

Google Play Books website Google Play Books Android app Google Play Books iOS app Free audiobooks

The best way to get free books is from your local library — but it’s not like you can just walk in and take out a digital e-book. But what you  can do is use Libby to borrow e-books from your local library using your library card.

Libby is replacing the service previously known as OverDrive and functions much the same way. Get a library card from your local library and then sign up for Libby. Enter your library card details, and presto — it will let you know which books are available for loan. It’s simple and free, and if you’re in the U.S., it links up to Amazon Kindles, making it even easier to read them.

There are some problems with Libby, of course. If you’re not in the U.S. or don’t have a Kindle , then you’re restricted to reading your books using the Libby app, which may not be to your tastes or as easy as using an e-book reader. As it’s a library copy, there’s also a restricted number of licenses, meaning you may have to wait to get hold of a book, especially if it’s in demand.

Libby has some shortcomings that can make it a bit of a tougher sell, but if it’s free books you’re after, and you already have a compatible library card, then it costs you nothing to sign up and check out what you can get.

Libby website Libby Android app Libby iOS app

ManyBooks offers exactly what the name implies: It has many books, and they come from a wide variety of genres and times. ManyBooks offers over 50,000 titles on its website, and while there’s the usual selection of public domain classics to pick from, you’ll also find a whole heap of books from newer authors. You can download each book in multiple formats, so you can transfer them to your e-book reader, or you can read them using ManyBook’s online reader instead.

You’ll need a free account to download, or you’ll be sent over to Amazon instead, in which case you’ll need an Amazon account. Also, contrary to what the website states, not all of the books are available for free. However, those books are clearly marked and often available at a low price anyway, so it’s easy to forgive.

ManyBooks website ManyBooks Android app ManyBooks iOS app

Open Library

The Internet Archive holds a lot of great e-books, but it lacks an easy way of browsing those titles — and that’s why we have Open Library . Open Library pulls from the Internet Archive and presents it in a way that’s a lot more user-friendly and easy to browse. There are tons of titles here to pick from, including all the usual public domain classics, as well as some seriously famous books up for grabs — including A Game of Thrones  by George R. R. Martin and  Deep Six  by Clive Cussler. Granted, these more famous titles will only be available on a borrowing basis, but they are there and available if you want them.

Multiple download formats are available, and you can also search by language, which is a nice addition. However, it can be hard to find books available in your language, as sometimes a book will be listed as available, but only be borrowable in Spanish. This is fine if you speak Spanish, but not great if you don’t. Still, it’s definitely worth having on your radar. There are apps available for Android and iOS.

Open Library website Open Library Android app Open Library iOS app

Books aren’t the only way to read, and audiobooks are rapidly gaining interest for those who want a way to keep reading their favorite books while driving, walking, or doing chores. Getting free audiobooks can be a bit of a challenge, though, which is why it’s nice that LibriVox exists. LibriVox offers free audiobooks in a range of genres and languages. It’s especially good for children’s books, and while you’re again relying on public domain titles, it’s nice to have such a massive number of titles available for free.

It’s volunteer-run, which is why audiobooks can be offered for free. However, that’s a double-edged sword as quality can vary from book to book, with much depending on the individual skill of the volunteer who read that specific book. This can make it a bit of a tougher sell than you might originally think, but if you find the right audiobook, then all is forgiven. There’s a website and an app for Android and iOS.

Librivox website LibriVox Android app LibriVox iOS app

Free-ebooks.net

Another website that does exactly what it says on the tin, Free-ebooks.net offers, well, free e-books. There’s a massive selection to choose from here, with options ranging from classics to a whole bunch of newer titles you’ve probably never heard of. This wide variety also comes with some audiobooks as well, really boosting the options available to you.

The catch? You’ll need to register for free, and you can only download five books per month. That’ll be fine if you’re a slower reader, but if you devour books, then you’ll need to get more of your fix from elsewhere, too.

Free-ebooks.net website Free-ebooks.net Android app Free-ebooks.net iOS app

While eBooks.com is technically a marketplace, it doesn’t shy away from offering a bunch of books for free. Four hundred of them, to be exact, which is enough to keep even the most avid and active reader busy for a little while. They’re available to download or read online, though it’s worth keeping in mind that all of these free e-books come as an ACSM file, which means they’re locked down pretty tight with DRM and can only be read using Adobe’s software on a Mac or PC, or by using one of eBooks.com’s recommended reading apps on mobile. That’s a disappointment, but since you’re getting some solid free e-books, it’s hard to complain that they require a few small hoops to jump through.

eBooks.com website eBooks.com Android reader app eBooks.com iOS reader app

There’s something to be said for the benefits of quick and dirty, and Authorama is both of those. It’s stocked with pretty much just public domain books, but they’re well reproduced and high quality. The website itself is extremely simple and bare-bones to the extreme — it’s just a white space with an alphabetical list of titles. As a result, it’s very easy to use; just scroll down the list and find what you want.

The downsides? There aren’t very many options to pick from, and it lacks many books from languages other than English. It’s also not much to look at, and there are no advanced search features to be found here. It’s also largely restricted to just reading from the website, which can be a chore. But even with these downsides, it’s a good catalog of free books.

Authorama website

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Mark Jansen is an avid follower of everything that beeps, bloops, or makes pretty lights. He has a degree in Ancient & Medieval History, which obviously makes him a shoo-in to write about technology for a living. He currently contributes to the Mobile section on Digital Trends, with a particular emphasis and expertise on exploring the weirder side of smartphones, from tiny rugged phones to massive gaming phones. You'll most often find him seeking out leaks and rumors on upcoming devices, and playing with a variety of new apps for both Android and iOS.

Kindle deals aren’t just restricted to discounts on the devices themselves but services relating to them too. Right now, you can sign up to three months of Kindle Unlimited for free so you don’t have to worry about the monthly fee of $12. That works out as a saving of $36 across the three months while also allowing you to check out a near-endless supply of books too. Whether you’ve just bought a Kindle or you’re settling down for better habits this year, this is a great deal for anyone who hasn’t already signed up for it in the past. Keen to learn more? Let’s take a look at what Kindle Unlimited has to offer.

Why you should sign up for Kindle Unlimited Kindle Unlimited is basically Amazon’s book-borrowing service. It works just like a virtual library allowing you to check out up to 10 items at once. Not just e-books are catered for here with audiobooks and comic books also available, along with many magazine subscriptions. It’s possible to borrow titles as often as you like with no due dates if you don’t return them by a set time.

Samsung, Google, OnePlus, and even Motorola have been coming out with fast new Android phones that match a number of lifestyles and design tastes. And that means you'll need apps that can take advantage of those larger screens and faster processors.  They're how we communicate with friends, watch movies, stay productive, and so much more. You can have the best Android phone on the market, but if you don't also pair it with the best Android apps, you're missing out.

There are millions of Android apps on the Play Store. Many of them are great, some are fine, and others are bogus. To help you sift through everything and focus on the apps you should actually care about, we've rounded up 50 of our favorite ones right here. If you're looking for games, check out our list of the best Android games. And if you are in the market for a new Android phone, make sure to check out our latest smartphone reviews.

The Apple iPhone keeps getting better each year with features and new hardware specs that companies can take advantage up, and we have the new Apple iPhone 15 just around the corner. Whether you just want to doomscroll all day, communicate with others, check the weather, or even find your next soulmate, there's going to be some kind of app to help you satisfy those digital cravings.

But the App Store is filled with thousands of apps — where do you even begin? Don't worry, we're here to help. We've gone through the many apps on Apple's digital storefront so you don't have to. Here are the best apps for your iPhone, whether it's an iPhone 11 or an iPhone 14 Pro.

By bringing classic storybooks to life, a new exhibit aims to promote a love of reading

NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With book bans reaching historic levels and libraries becoming increasingly politicized, a permanent exhibit called “The Rabbit hOle” aims to shine a spotlight on the timeless magic of children’s books.

The capital “O” in the title is a nod to the large, round rabbit hole visitors walk through to enter the exhibit. Inside an unassuming former tin factory, visitors make their way down a dust-colored grotto stacked with books squished between towering layers of replica rocks. 

They are brought to the purple, glowing rabbit hole with shiny, golden words of the opening lines from famous children’s books on the walls. A swirling galactic clock entices curious minds to enter through the portal. 

After meandering through the winding twists and turns in the dark, lantern-lit tunnels, visitors land in a vast and vibrant storybook exhibit. Familiar faces such as Madeline and Strega Nona are some of the first characters to greet readers. 

A couple of books corresponding to the exhibits are stacked in nearby shelves and are accessible to those who pass by. There are also plenty of lesser-known storybooks sprinkled around the space. 

Life-size sculptures of characters from “No, David,” “Harry the Dirty Dog” and “I Am Bunny” have kids flocking to them like celebrities. 

The kids eagerly point out the images from the books in their hands, and match items in the exhibits that are in front of them in real life. Parents aren’t too far behind, snapping pictures to capture the excitement.

"The Rabbit hOle " was created by Pete and Deb Pettit, who for almost three decades owned a locally renowned bookstore called Reading Reptile but dreamed of something bigger.

 “'The Rabbit hOle' is a really unique hybrid of an experience,” Pete Pettit said. “It’s also a labor of love. We’ve been working on it for eight years, and it’s never going to be finished.”

The couple raised more than $15 million in eight years to create the one-of-a-kind showpiece. The capital came from national grants, local foundations and donations from regional families. 

The exhibit officially opened April 27, but in the first three weeks of a "soft opening" before then, more than 13,000 people from more than 32 states visited.

Currently, only the first floor of the 150,000-square-foot building is open, with more than 40 immersive storybook-themed exhibits.

Future plans include a café filled with storybook-referenced food like Strega Nona’s pasta and Bobo’s jum-jills from the book “The Funny Thing.” There also will be rooms for crafts and other activities, the Pettits said, as well as more storybook immersions.

“We were really into trying to get kids to really love reading, rather than being able to read,” Deb Pettit said. “You know, I think they are pretty different things and they’re both important, but I think our love lies in trying to get people to become readers.”

She said she believes people who want to ban or politicize books or “decide who reads what” are not serious readers.

“I think they’re often people that have had poorer or few experiences with actually reading,” Deb Pettit said. “And it’s like they’re afraid of what they don’t know.”

She said she hoped the exhibit would expose new and not-so-new readers to characters, cultures and experiences that might be unfamiliar to them. 

“That’s the beauty about books, nobody’s making people read the book. It’s a choice. And just because I choose not to read something doesn’t mean that what I like or don’t like should be enforced upon somebody else,” she said. 

Visitors will not find high-tech touch screens or blaring buzzers inside the exhibit, and Pete Pettit said that was by design. 

“We’re only 20 years into social media and the internet,” he said. “People are still figuring out what that is and how it’s impacting people. We’re not ‘anti’ anything but I think there’s an imbalance.”

Deb Pettit said the magic can happen when a book is connected to memory.

“A lot of your memories when you read a book are because you’re sitting next to someone or you’re sitting in their lap,” she said. “There’s a kind of coziness to it, too.”

Those memories are triggered in the dimly lit green “Goodnight Moon” room, where a crackling fireplace, a red balloon floating in the corner and a yellow rocking chair are illuminated by the glowing moon outside the window.

The classic bedtime story can help children understand their place in the world and realize that their own personal stories can be treasures, Pete Pettit said.

“The stories that we have here have already been told, and they can be experienced over and over again,” he said. “We want every kid, especially, to know that they have a story that matters.” 

Maya Eaglin is a digital reporter for NBC News' "StayTuned" on Snapchat. 

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May 8, 2024

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Introducing the Amazon Book Sale—a new shopping event with deals on thousands of books, starting May 15

Can I see all of my Amazon books in one place? Yes—introducing Your Books.

Your Books is a personalized space to explore all of your print, Kindle, and Audible books, receive recommendations, and gain insights into your reading habits.

What is Amazon Book Sale?

When is amazon book sale.

What are some of the best early deals and offers?

• Save 29%—Amazon’s lowest price—on select Kindle Scribe devices
• Save up to 80% on curated recommendations made by the Amazon Books Editors , including Kindle Books like Memphis , The Last Bookshop in London , Now Is Not the Time to Panic , Happy-Go-Lucky , Broken (in the best possible way) , and The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song
• Save on popular books trending on #BookTok , including 75% on Alexis Hall’s A Lady for a Duke , 70% on the Sarah J. Maas Starter Bundle: A Court of Thorns and Roses , House of Earth and Blood , and Throne of Glass (available May 13; Kindle Book only), and 57% on Rebecca Serle’s Expiration Dates

Anthony Bourdain’s

• Save up to 60% on popular book club picks , including The Christie Affair (Reese's Book Club; Kindle Book only) , Middlesex (Oprah’s Book Club), and Good Company (Read with Jenna; Kindle Book only)
• Save up to 50% on popular book-to-screen titles , including American Prometheus: The Inspiration for the Major Motion Picture OPPENHEIMER , The Lord of the Rings , Firefly Lane , Red, White & Royal Blue, The Last Kingdom , and The Princess Bride (available May 12)
• Save up to 40% on classics like Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (available May 12) and Plato’s The Republic (available May 12)
• Save up to 40% on popular children’s graphic novels , including Serena Blasco’s Enola Holmes: The Graphic Novels and Mariah Marsden’s The Secret Garden: A Graphic Novel
• Get three months of Kindle Unlimited for $0.00
• Choose any May First Reads , free with Prime or only $1.99 for a limited time, and get a $2 credit toward a select Kindle book
• Discover the latest Kindle Challenge mystery reveal and unlock a new achievement in the Kindle app when they read any three days between May 14 and May 20

All the best new books available to Kindle Unlimited members

Explore the latest releases and enjoy popular books and authors right now with Kindle Unlimited, our binge-worthy literary subscription service that offers unlimited reading and listening.

How can I find new book recommendations?

Do you have to be a Prime member to shop Amazon Book Sale?

Free Comic Book Day 2024: Get Marvel Comics 'Star Wars #1' for free

The annual 'Star Wars' holiday and Free Comic Book Day both kick off today, May the 4th!

Happy Star Wars Day to one and all!

Shining like the twin suns of Tatooine to help celebrate Star Wars Day 2024 , that annual occasion where we're all citizens of George Lucas's galaxy far, far away, we've got a collectable pair of Marvel Comics releases that'll have you cheering like a tribe of joyful Jawas scavenging in a giant junk pile.

For the first time ever, May the 4th coincides with Free Comic Book Day. So in perfect synchronicity, Marvel is offering up "Free Comic Book Day 2024: Star Wars #1," which provides two galactic adventures penned by distinguished "Star Wars" writers Greg Pak and Charles Soule and drawn by acclaimed artists Ibraim Roberson and Ramon Rosanas.

Check out the full description and sneak peek below:

"Are there Rebel survivors stranded on Hoth? Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Lando Calrissian, and Chewbacca mount a dangerous rescue mission to Echo Base! Lightsabers! Blasters! Snowtroopers! All-out action amongst the wreckage of AT-AT walkers, Rebel airspeeders and frozen weapons of mass destruction!

"Darth Vader also employs a surprise character from the past to help him find Luke Skywalker. But Sabé, former handmaiden of Padmé Amidala is also on a quest for the son of Vader. Having worked for him as an Imperial Commander, Sabé has enough resources to cause chaos for anyone who stands in her path. How will this affect the Dark Lord's plans to remove Palpatine from power?"

Interior art for "Free Comic Book Day 2024: Star Wars #1"

"Free Comic Book Day 2024: Star Wars #1" lands on May 4. Head to your local comic book shop to see what titles are available! You can find a store near you at FreeComicBookDay.com.

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Next out of the gate and fresh off the presses is a big birthday salute to "Episode 1," due to this month also being the silver jubilee of 1999's "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace." Casting its space opera magic into the festivities this week just prior to Star Wars Day is Marvel's "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 25th Anniversary Special #1."

Written by Greg Pak ("Planet Hulk") and paired with interior art courtesy of talented Irishman Will Sliney ("Spider-Man 2099") and a main cover from veteran illustrator Phil Noto, this 32-page expanded one-shot delivers an anthology of stories based on the prequel film. Inside, fans will discover tales centered around young Anakin's dream of becoming a Jedi Knight, Shmi Skywalker, Jar Jar Binks, and tales of Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi set in the aftermath of the Battle of Naboo.

Here's the official synopsis and a preview gallery below:

"Explore the earliest days of ANAKIN SKYWALKER with never-before-seen, revelatory moments set before, after, and between the scenes of the classic movie! Featuring the dream of a JEDI, the gift of a TUSKEN, the heart of a GUNGAN, the ache of a mother and the horror of a hero!"

Interior art for "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 25th Anniversary Special #1"

"Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 25th Anniversary Special #1" arrived on May 1. 

However and wherever you honor this geeky occasion, Happy Star Wars Day and May the 4th Be With You!

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Jeff Spry is an award-winning screenwriter and veteran freelance journalist covering TV, movies, video games, books, and comics. His work has appeared at SYFY Wire, Inverse, Collider, Bleeding Cool and elsewhere. Jeff lives in beautiful Bend, Oregon amid the ponderosa pines, classic muscle cars, a crypt of collector horror comics, and two loyal English Setters.

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Did Richard III Kill the Princes in the Tower?

Philippa Langley devoted years to the search for Richard III’s remains. Now, she’s trying to crack a 15th-century cold case: Did he really assassinate his nephews?

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By Amelia Nierenberg

Reporting from Edinburgh and the Tower of London.

For over 400 years, Richard III has been seen as Britain’s most infamous king — a power-hungry usurper who killed his young nephews to clear the way to the throne.

In Shakespeare’s “Richard III,” the king tells an assassin, “I wish the bastards dead,” referring to the princes Edward V and Richard. “And I would have it suddenly performed.”

But the king’s murderous image, drawn from history books and cemented in literature and lore, is just not true — or, at least, it has not been proven true, argues Philippa Langley, an author and independent historian.

“Maybe there is evidence,” she said over a cup of tea in Edinburgh earlier this year. “But there seems to be no evidence.”

Langley is, perhaps, Richard III’s most dedicated living defender. A prominent member of the Richard III Society , an organization that has been working since 1924 “to secure a more balanced assessment of the king,” she has made a career of researching — and rehabilitating — a man who ruled for two years, from 1483 to his death in 1485.

In 2012, she spearheaded a project to find his remains , which were under a parking lot in the city of Leicester, as she believed they would be, and give him a dignified burial. Once she had laid Richard III to rest, however, she found she couldn’t quite let him go. After all, he was still seen as a murderer.

So she took on the case of the princes’ disappearance . Is there, she wanted to know, enough archival evidence to say beyond a reasonable doubt that Richard III ordered the assassinations of the boys? Was the king a murderer — or a victim of centuries of rumor and prejudice?

These are the questions at the heart of Langley’s most recent book, “ The Princes in the Tower ,” published in late 2023. In it, she takes a true-crime approach to the mystery, using what she describes as “the same principles and practices as a modern police inquiry.”

She wanted to find the truth, she said, even if it meant finding evidence that suggests that he was, indeed, a killer.

“It’s about making sure that the story we tell about this country is correct,” Langley, 62, said, adding, “Whether that is today or tomorrow or 500 years ago, evidence, truth, facts — rather than stories and lies — are really important.”

To the reading public in Britain and historians around the world, Langley is something of a curiosity. She did not attend university. And yet she became the face of one of the splashiest historical events of the century.

For finding Richard III’s body, she was awarded an M.B.E. , a national honor. She is recognized at train stations, though not terribly often, she said. And she has earned the respect of many university scholars.

“I don’t think she got lucky with Richard III,” said Sebastian Sobecki, a professor of late medieval English literature at the University of Toronto. “She did very good research.”

He is one of many academics who acknowledge that Langley, who formerly worked in marketing and advertising, understands how to excite people about the past — more so, perhaps, than most academics (How many historians can say they were played by Sally Hawkins , as Langley was in the film “The Lost King”?)

But even if some professors think of her work as worthy, many also see it as fundamentally unacademic. Serious scholars do not usually probe the past to find or exonerate long-dead kings, they argue.

“The reason that archaeologists hadn’t looked for him in the past is that archaeologists don’t go looking for famous dead people,” said Philip Schwyzer, a specialist in early modern English literature at the University of Exeter.

A few critics even see Langley as a charlatan. But most just think that she is naïve, blinded by her own rosy image of the king.

That outlook builds on a longstanding skepticism of the Richard III Society. “It is frankly partisan in a war that ended more than 500 years ago,” said Spencer A. Strub, a humanities researcher at Princeton University, of the organization.

Langley knows what her detractors say about her, she said: She doesn’t have the right credentials. She’s emotional, a woman with a 15th-century crush.

But Langley fought for legitimacy well before discovering Richard III. For decades, she has lived with chronic fatigue syndrome , a condition that has long been met with skepticism from doctors and colleagues alike.

That’s part of what binds her to Richard III, Langley said. Studies of his skeleton showed that he had scoliosis — a physical condition long portrayed (and mocked ) on the stage as a motivation for his rage across the centuries. “He would have been dealing with something that he had to hide,” she said. “And I was the same.”

And her work speaks for itself, Langley said: She did find his grave. And now, she thinks she has cracked a major historical cover-up.

The story stems from Richard III’s coronation, which happened amid a swirl of scandal.

His brother, King Edward IV, had died in the spring of 1483. Richard was made protector of the realm until the king’s eldest son and successor, the 12-year-old Edward V, came of age. But before the boy was crowned, his parents’ marriage was declared illegitimate and his coronation was suspended.

Richard III was proclaimed king instead. Soon after, the boy and his younger brother, Richard, 9, disappeared from where they had been held, the Tower of London.

That, Langley argues, makes it a missing persons inquest, not a murder case. “This was all we knew for certain, based on the available evidence,” she writes.

She argues that the dominant narrative — that Richard III had the princes killed to take the throne — is little more than rumor that calcified into fact over 500 years. Instead, she suggests, the boys were alive when Richard was crowned.

Richard III was the last king in England’s Plantagenet line. Henry VII, who ousted him, was the first Tudor king; he had a dynasty to establish, a reputation to build. So, Langley argues, Henry VII cast his predecessor as a villain.

It would also have been useful for the Tudors if people thought the boys were dead, unable to fight for the throne, Langley writes in the book. Rumors of their deaths started under Henry VII, she notes, pointing to texts from Richard III’s reign that talk about his nephews in the present tense.

That’s why she thinks that the boys weren’t killed — at least not in the Tower of London, in 1483. Instead, she argues, they were smuggled out of the British capital. Then, after Richard III was killed and the princes were made legitimate again, she argues that they both tried to retake the throne, Anastasia-like .

She weaves her argument out of archival material gathered over seven years by a team of over 300 independent researchers . The evidence includes receipts for weapons; a witness statement describing the boys’ flight; royal seals and more. To complicate matters, Langley also argues that both of the princes were later given false identities by the Tudor government : They were described as impostors trying to pose as princes, not the real thing.

“Apparent red herrings seemed to litter the story,” she writes. “The project could not afford to miss anything, no matter how seemingly insignificant.”

Langley also tries to debunk some of the historically accepted pieces of evidence in support of the view that the nephews were assassinated, the so-called eyewitness testimonies. One, from Sir Thomas More, was written decades after the fact — under the Tudors. She argues that another, penned by an Italian monk who was in London in 1483, does not say the boys were murdered — only that he didn’t know what had happened to the older boy.

The accounts are not proof, she says.

Many top academics agree that the often cited accounts for the princes’ murder are thin. “People realize how flimsy the evidence is,” said Schwyzer, the scholar of early modern English literature. “The most reliable reports say they went into the tower and were seen less and less often, and people thought they were dead.”

For Langley’s argument to prevail, she must first explain the skeletons of young children that were found in the tower in 1674. The bones were examined in 1933. They are interred at Westminster Abbey as the supposed remains of the princes.

“How many children would have been put in a box and buried under a staircase in the tower?” said Raluca Radulescu, a professor of medieval literature and a cultural historian at the University of Bangor, in Wales. “Like, why?”

Langley has an answer there, too.

The remains have not undergone modern scientific analysis or DNA testing, she notes. That would require approval by the Dean of Westminster in consultation with the royal household.

“The view of previous deans has always been that the mortal remains of two young children, widely believed since the 17th century to be the princes in the tower, should not be disturbed,” said Victoria Ribbans, a spokeswoman for the Abbey. “There are no current plans to change this.”

Within the Tower of London itself, speculation is afoot.

Julian Jennings, a warden who has worked there for over 18 years, is fascinated by the history he protects. He even traveled to Leicester when Richard III was reinterred in 2015 , just to be present.

He’s been following the debate about Langley’s book, and he’s bursting to talk about it. When asked for directions — with no mention of the princes — he brought up the debate. “It’s an absolute minefield,” he said.

Jennings is still making up his mind on the matter, he said. But a few stories below, the longstanding narrative is codified on a plaque : “The tradition of the tower has always pointed out this as the stair under which the bones of Edward the 5th and his brother were found.”

The research Langley put forward, he said, could well be the biggest historical shake-up in a long time. He and his colleagues are abuzz with wonder: What if the princes actually lived?

The question is a testament to Langley’s influence.

“It’s good to keep an open mind,” he said, during a recent shift. “At least I do, anyway.”

Amelia Nierenberg writes the Asia Pacific Morning Briefing , a global newsletter. More about Amelia Nierenberg

More From Forbes

Book flights with southwest cash + points for instant cash savings.

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Southwest Airlines now lets travelers book award flights with cash and points, starting with 1,000 Rapid Rewards. This redemption option makes it easier to utilize small point balances, enjoy more flexibility with booking flights, and minimize out-of-pocket costs. Leisure and business travelers can benefit from this new perk.

CHICAGO - APRIL 3: A Southwest Airlines jet takes off at Midway Airport April 3, 2008 in Chicago, ... [+] Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

How Southwest Cash + Points Works

Effective April 22, 2024, personal and business Southwest Rapid Rewards® members can start combining points and cash to pay for Southwest-operated flights. Members can compare five redemption options and redeem as few as 1,000 Rapid Rewards plus a remaining cash portion.

To view these hybrid redemption options and potential cash savings, search for fares with “Dollars” as the redemption currency instead of points.

You can pay for the remaining balance with the following payment methods:

• Credit card
• Southwest gift cards
• Flight credits
• Transferable flight credits

The redemption value for each Southwest point is variable, depending on the destination, flight time, travel demand, and other underlying factors.

This booking method is only available for the initial reservation. Any costs stemming from future itinerary changes require a cash-based payment method. If you need to cancel a flight, the points are refunded to your loyalty account and the cash portion can return to the original payment method or be a flight credit.

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Further, adding a Southwest Companion Pass benefit to these fares is also possible. This perk allows one travel companion’s ticket cost to only be fees and taxes from $5.60 or higher.

Southwest Cash + Points Restrictions

This new booking feature has several advantages, but it’s not ideal in a few situations for travelers trying to maximize their Rapid Rewards loyalty perks.

Some of the downsides to know about include:

• Cash + Points bookings won’t earn Rapid Rewards points, tier qualifying points for A-List or A-List Preferred, or Companion Pass qualifying points.
• Rapid Rewards credit card members only earn points and tier qualifying points on the dollar portion of bookings.
• Rapid Rewards credit card members only earn Companion Pass qualifying points on the dollar portion of bookings.
• Cannot combine Rapid Rewards balances between multiple accounts to book Cash + Points fares. All point transfers between Rapid Rewards accounts incur a fee.
• Points + Cash bookings currently only apply to airfare purchases through Southwest.com, swabiz.com, and Southwest mobile channels. Unfortunately, Southwest vacation packages and ancillary services are ineligible at this time.

Despite these point-earning limitations, Cash + Points flights count towards the annual one-way flight requirements for A-List, A-List Preferred, and Companion Pass when flown.

All Rapid Rewards members now have access to Southwest Cash + Points bookings. This feature makes business and leisure travel more affordable and makes it easier to redeem small amounts of airline points, which is helpful for periodic passengers.

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