Everything You Need to Know About the Kindle for Kids
For Christmas, we gave Ella a new Kids Kindle (this post has been updated with the most recent kids kindle that was released at the end of 2024) and after I mentioned it in my annual post about what we were giving the girls for Christmas, I got SO many questions about it.
I won’t pretend that some of my motivation for giving her the Kindle for Kids was so that I could be knowledgeable about it, and now that she’s been using it (daily) for the last six weeks, I’m excited to share with you what we’ve thought.
Everything You Need to Know About the Kindle for Kids
The first thing you need to know about the Kindle for kids is that it is NOT the same as the Amazon Fire Kids Edition. The Fire is a tablet – which means you have access to videos, games, and apps on it.
The Kindle for Kids is an e-reader so there are no videos, no apps, no games, no ads, no messaging.
Like the Kindles for grown-ups, they are designed specifically for reading and nobody does an e-reader better than Amazon.
The second question I’ve been getting non-stop is “What’s the difference between a Kindle for Kids and a regular Kindle?”
First, the Kindle for Kids and regular Kindle have the EXACT SAME hardware! Exact same! The most basic Kindle is $99.99 and includes ads that show up on your home screen. If you want it ad-free, it’ll cost you $109.99 which is exactly the same as the cost of a Kindle for Kids (which has no ads and no option to HAVE them for a lower cost). This is the Kindle I got for Christmas – without ads – so it’s been helpful to be able to compare them.
The Kindle for Kids also comes with an included case, which the regular Kindle doesn’t (my case was an additional $30. For the record, this is my third Kindle and the first time I’ve ever had a case. I don’t know that they’re REALLY necessary, but for a kid, it feels more important).
The Kindle for Kids ALSO comes with a year of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited, which includes thousands of books your child can read or listen to on their Kindle. You can also use Amazon FreeTime Unlimited to watch videos or use apps on a Fire Tablet or listen to audiobooks through an Echo or Echo dot.
And the Kindle for Kids comes with a 2 year warranty – if anything happens to your Kindle during the first two years, Amazon will send you a replacement, no questions asked.
So unless you’re willing to get a Kindle WITH ads for your child, I think the Kindle for Kids is a better option because for the price you get a cover, the warranty, and a year of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited.
What age would you recommend a Kindle for?
Like all things, it’s VERY dependent on your child. For some kids, having an e-reader may encourage them to read more. For others, it may be more hassle than it’s worth. I plan to get Ani one for her eighth birthday at the end of the year – I think she’ll love it! (And I also think she’d love it now).
What happens after your year of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited expires?
You can choose to renew it or just buy or borrow the books you want.
Can you read picture books on a Kindle for Kids?
Yes, you can. But it’s a black and white only screen, so there won’t be any color in the pictures. If your primary reading is going to be picture books, I don’t know that you’ll really want a Kids Kindle (a tablet like the Amazon Fire HD for Kids is probably a better option).
Will my Kindle books show up on my child’s Kid Kindle?
No, you have to approve every book that’s added to their library (outside of the FreeTime Unlimited books), so only ones you choose from your content library will appear.
Can you borrow eBooks from the library and have them sent to a Kid Kindle?
Yes! I’d say 85% of Ella’s Kindle reading is with library books. You’ll have them sent to your Amazon account and then you just add them manually to their library. And obviously, this is only for library eBooks that are in Kindle format.
Can you use Kindle Unlimited with a kid Kindle?
Yes! Just find the books you’ve checked out from Kindle Unlimited in your content library/manage family library and then add the ones you want to their account. They won’t have access to the books from Kindle Unlimited that you’re reading on your own (unless you choose to share them). (If you need more in depth instructions on this process – click here!)
Can you listen to audiobooks on a Kindle?
Yes, but you’ll need bluetooth enabled headphones to do so!
Does the Kindle give off blue light?
Yes. It’s pretty low on the spectrum of devices as far as how much blue light it emits, but basically every device has some blue light. If you’ve used a Kindle, you’ll be familiar with the matte look of the screen when it’s lit, rather than the bright light of a tablet or computer or phone.
Can you set time limits on the Kids Kindle so they don’t stay up reading all night?
Yes! Directions for how to do that here.
What kind of battery life does the Kindle for Kids have?
The newest Kindle for Kids battery lasts up to 6 weeks on a single charge!
Any other questions I didn’t answer? Let me know in the comments and I’ll do my best to help you find the answer!
If you liked this post about the Kindle for Kids, you might like these posts too:
- Why I LOVE my Kindle reader
- How to get library books on your Kindle
- The best Kindle Unlimited books
- How to Setup A Kindle Kids Account
Photos by Heather Mildenstein
Great insights! I love how you broke down the features of the Kindle for Kids. It seems like a fantastic tool to encourage reading in young ones. The parental controls are a huge plus too! Thanks for sharing!
Is there a way to see what books they have opened or read, of all the 1,000’s of titles accessible to them?
You can see in the parent dashboard which books they’ve accessed. And everything is available to them based on the age limit you’ve set for them. If you want to remove certain titles, there are instructions here https://everyday-reading.com/how-to-remove-books-from-amazon-kids/
Hi – Have you had any issues with downloaded content not being available when offline? I got each of my twins Kid’s Kindles for their 8th birthday and we’re struggling with accessing their downloaded content when offline. I can see it in my profile if I exit Kid’s mode but their kids Home Screen goes blank and says to connect to WiFi to reload content even though we’ve downloaded 10+ titles.
We have this problem too! It’s so inconvenient because we download things before we go on travel and want to have access to all we downloaded. When I take it out of kids mode I usually find the books there and my son can read from there (but then it has my books too). I’ve also been able to use a mobile hotspot to re-download but it’s wildly inconvenient and not what I was expecting.
How do you turn on the text to speech on the kids version? I can’t find the accessibility features.