The 16 best ways parents in East Lancashire can bag a free book for kids this World Book Day

From accessing free books on Kindle, to grabbing freebies with World Book Day tokens, to listening to stories on Audible, here are the best ways to grab a freebie this World Book Day

Discover FREE must-read kids' Kindle books you'd normally pay for

There are lots of must-read kids' books on Kindle that you'd normally have to pay for, but if you know where to look you can find some of them for free.

You don't need to have a Kindle, you can get an app on your phone or tablet.

Amazon has many classic Kindle books that are permanently free, from Black Beauty to The Jungle Book. Most are out of copyright – see Amazon's list of free classics.

Yet if those don't quite match your child's virtual to-read pile, there are hundreds of normally paid-for Kindle books have been made free since schools closed.

These include: The Secret Diary of Thomas Snoop, Tudor Boy Spy, The Disappearing Diva (Max the Detective Cat) and The Baby Brother From Outer Space.

There's also The Rescue Princesses: The Enchanted Ruby and Beast Quest and Sea Quest: An Unexpected Adventure.

For kids worried about coronavirus, there are some lovely free titles to help: Everybody Worres, Stuck Inside and The Princess in Black and the Case of the Coronavirus.

The easiest way to locate the free books is to go to Amazon's kids' Kindle books section, filter by age or genre, then sort by 'Price: low to high'.

Read and listen to hidden free kids’ books on your iPhone/iPad

Know where to look and it's possible to get selected kids’ e-books and audiobooks for free by downloading the Apple Books app to your iPhone, iPad or Mac.

To see what's up for grabs, go to the Book Store and scroll down to ‘Free Books’. You can also just try searching for ‘free kids books’.

It’s worth checking back regularly because freebies change, and once downloaded they’re yours to keep.

Enjoy thousands of FREE e-books and digital audiobooks via your local library membership

Even though libraries are currently closed, most still allow access to a vast catalogue of kids' (as well as adults') e-books and digital audiobooks for free via an online service using your library membership info.

It's worth seeing if your library offers a Borrow Box service – your library subscribes to a service which hosts an online or app-based version of a library where you can borrow/check out titles digitally.

All you need is a login, then you can borrow several audiobooks and e-books at a time from a selection of hundreds – exact borrowing limits differ per library.

You may need to wait a month or so to 'borrow' popular books if there's a queue, but often there's not.

How it generally works

You'll need to first be a member of your local library. If you haven't already registered, you can usually do it just by giving them a call.

Check to see if your library is signed up to an online service – see Gov.uk to find your library's website and it should tell you on there. Each library's online service differs by local authority – with some of the popular services being Borrow Box, RB Digital and Overdrive/Libby.

The next step is to download the free app of the service your library uses. Once you've opened the app, search for your library and register – you'll need your library membership info for this.

You can then search for titles or browse, and start borrowing.

It's worth noting you can't usually read library e-books on a Kindle (except for the Kindle Fire tablet, as you can download apps on to it). You'll need a compatible device such as an iPhone, iPad or Android phone/tablet.

The number of e-books and audiobooks you can check out at one time, and for how long, is determined by your library. It's best to check your local service's site to see what's on offer. Many libraries are still responding to email requests if you get stuck logging in.

Grab one of 12 FREE kids' books with a token

Each year, the World Book Day charity dishes out free book tokens, which your child can swap for one of 12 selected books.

This year’s include Planet Omar, Luna Loves and The River Whale (see this year's full list).

Or, if there's nothing on the list they fancy, you can use the token to get £1 off any full-price book instead. You can only use one token per book though.

The majority of schools are registered to get the tokens for a free book or £1 off, and this year most are sending them out electronically. Check your little one's messages from school if you haven't seen one.

All you need to do is take the token to a participating bookseller – this includes many supermarkets, eg, Tesco and Sainsbury’s. The deadline was meant to be March 28, but as most booksellers are currently closed due to lockdown, the World Book Day organisation says booksellers will honour past that date, while stocks last.

Enjoy hundreds of free Audible kids' audiobooks

Audible has a whole catalogue of kids' audiobooks completely free – you don't even need to sign up – just choose what you want and stream it.

Audiobooks include Alice's Adventures in Wonderland narrated by Scarlett Johansson, Timeless Tales of Beatrix Potter: Peter Rabbit and Friends, and Kid Normal.

Audible began offering these freebies at the start of the UK-wide lockdown last year, but it hasn't given an end date, so go quick if you want to get some listening in.

You may be able to grab a bespoke bundle of library books via click and collect in England

Of course, one of the easiest and cheapest ways to fuel your child's reading habit under normal circumstances is a trip to the library, but these aren't due to reopen until April 12 at the earliest in England.

Yet many libraries across the UK still offer a free click and collect service.

While not guaranteed, this is widespread across the UK.

For example, according to Public Libraries News, about two-thirds of library services in England are providing click and collect. 

Virtually flick through 150 free Oxford Owl e-books

Recommended for kids aged three to 11, the Oxford Owl online library has a collection of 150 free e-books which are designed to help develop reading skills at home.

Books include kid-favourite characters such as Biff, Chip and Kipper as well as Winnie the Witch.

To get stuck in, you'll need to register at Oxford Owl. It says its e-books are best viewed on a computer, laptop or tablet, as they're not optimised for phones.

Children with vision impairment can access 1,600 titles online thanks to RNIB's online library

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has an online library featuring 1,600 children's audiobooks. Kids can choose from authors such as Roald Dahl, Chris Riddell and Angie Thomas.

Its library also includes Braille and giant print books, as well as audiobooks on CD and USB stick. These items are delivered free by post.

To join, call its helpline on 0303 123 9999 or you can print and post a registration form.

Snuggle up with a storytelling session from the likes of David Tennant or Meghan Markle

For a bit of calm, why not let David Tennant, Reese Witherspoon or Lupita Nyong'o read your kids a bedtime story?

A-list storytellers have been making good use of their spare time during lockdown by filming clips of themselves narrating favourite storybooks.

It's all part of Save the Children's Save with Stories campaign, which is supporting kids throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Watch on Save the Children's US Instagram account.

There's also Storyline Online YouTube channel, where you can listen to a host of famous faces reading storybooks, from Rami Malek to Oprah Winfrey, but most importantly, Anna from Frozen.

Pick up cut-price collections, eg, 10 books for £13, including P&P

Online booksellers The Works and Scholastic do cheap bundles where the price is much less than if you bought copies individually.

These can make a fab alternative to plastic-filled party bags, or even sweets at Halloween.

For example, Scholastic has 10 Little People, Big Dreams books for £25.99 with free delivery (£2.60/book).

The books are normally £5ish each when bought separately elsewhere (it also gives a donation to your chosen school).

Alternatively, The Works has 10 fairytale classics for £10 – we have this set and it gets a big thumbs up (delivery's £2.99).

Some lucky under-fives can get a free book every month... from Dolly Parton

If you're lucky enough to live in an area where this generous scheme runs, it's well worth signing up to the Imagination Library.

Dolly Parton's Dollywood Foundation charity sends all children who live in those regions a free book by post every month until they turn five, including The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

The scheme runs in 200 districts across the UK, including Aberdeen, North Lincolnshire and Southwark. Enter your postcode online and if eligible, you'll be asked to give your details to sign up.

Buy bundles of second-hand comics

Magazine subscriptions are brilliant, but the cost can add up if your kid whizzes through them. So head over to eBay, where you can often pick up huge bundles of pre-loved comics for a few quid.

Make use of free 'bookish activities', including free personalised storybooks

If you've got a printer, the internet is a treasure trove of free literary activity pages to print off online.

For tons of fun options, check out Usborne Books, National Literacy Trust and Lonely Planet Kids. Many authors have their own pages with activities, eg, Sarah McIntyre and Nick Sharratt.

For little artists, illustrator Rob Biddulph posts draw-along videos on YouTube. The BookTrust has more tutorials from illustrators, including Lydia Monks and Ed Vere.

Got an Alexa device? Listen to free audiobooks and short stories

If you've got an Alexa-enabled device, such as an Echo smart speaker or Fire TV stick, you can listen to selected audiobooks each month completely free – just say 'Alexa, what's free from Audible?' to hear what's available. You don't need to have an Audible subscription or give it any payment details.

Past free titles have included Aladdin, Harry Potter, Oliver Twist, Pinocchio, Treasure Island, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Free short stories – though you can only pick the genre, eg, mystery, sci-fi, kids It's very easy to listen to short stories narrated by the likes of Stephen Fry, David Jason, Juliet Stevenson and more on your Alexa-enabled device.

To get it to work, say 'Alexa, open Audible Stories'. You'll then be asked to choose a genre, eg, mystery, sci-fi, kids – Alexa will then randomly select a short story for you to listen to, eg, The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

Access hundreds of kids' e-books for free with Epic 

Epic is an app that's essentially Netflix for kids' e-books. Sign up for a free 'basic account', and you can access hundreds of titles for free from a wide selection of fiction and non-fiction titles aimed at under-12s.

With the free basic account kids are limited to two hours of reading per week.

Free titles include CatNinja, A Girl Like Me and Cosmic Pizza Party. There's also a host of non-fiction books, covering everything from coding to police dogs.

To sign up, download the app for free from Google Play or the Apple App Store. Alternatively, use Epic's desktop site.

To read as much as they like, you need to sign up for an 'unlimited' account, which costs $9.99 a month (£7.15 at today's exchange rate) and gives you access to a full range of 40,000 titles.

If you do decide to pay for Epic, consider a specialist travel card to avoid fees when making your payments, as it's a US site. Some schools provide pupils with a login to access the site for free, so check with yours before paying.

Borrow from a 'Little Free Library'

The Little Free Library project is run by volunteers across the globe. It's a community book exchange where anyone can leave a book or borrow a book – and children's titles often pop up.

There are now 50 of the tiny hutch-sized libraries in front gardens, playgrounds, phone boxes and bus shelters across the UK. 

Of course, if you do decide to borrow books at the moment, it's advisable to clean and disinfect them – see the Government's latest coronavirus info.