Why I built KiddReads
A kid walks up to the desk and says "I want something good to read." You ask three questions to figure out what they like, what level they're at, and what they've already finished. Then you scan your shelves, your memory, and your gut — and find them a book. That's the job KiddReads is built to help with.
Most book-discovery sites are built by adults, for adults. They have ads. They serve up content meant for grown-ups. Their "AI recommendations" make up books that don't exist.
I built KiddReads to be different. Every book is content-reviewed and age-classified. Every AI recommendation is verified against Google Books before it reaches a kid — so no hallucinated titles ever appear. No ads, no tracking, no commercial agenda.
If you serve young readers, I built this for you too.
What librarians might find useful
The things that matter when you're recommending books to kids and families.
55,000+ curated titles
Content-reviewed, age-classified, and filterable by age and US grade level. Adult and inappropriate material is filtered at the catalogue level — not left for a kid to stumble onto.
AI that never makes up books
Seb, our friendly book buddy, suggests real books — every recommendation is verified against the Google Books API before it ever reaches a kid. No fabricated titles, ever.
No ads. No tracking.
I don't run ads, sell anything, or follow kids around the web. Parents set up each account, and a kid's real name and email never get collected — because a book site just doesn't need them.
Parents stay in the loop
Grown-ups can see what their child searches, reads, and reviews — so kids get room to explore and parents get the peace of mind to say yes. That's something you can point a family to without a second thought.
See what kids are reading
A live peek at what young readers are loving right now — which genres are hot, what's earning the best reviews. It's all counts and trends, never any one kid. View the dashboard →
👋 A note from me
I'm Brandon, a 12-year-old book lover in Vancouver, BC, and I built KiddReads myself — every page, every feature. I started building it because I couldn't find a book-discovery site actually made for kids my age, and I got tired of AI recommendations that made up titles that didn't exist. Every feature here reflects something a real kid (me!) wanted from a book site.
Ways librarians can use KiddReads
Practical ideas, starting today.
Use it for recommendations
When a kid asks "what should I read next?" — they can ask Seb directly. Or you can use the browse-by-age filter to build a list together. Ask Seb →
Reading lists
Browse by grade level to build reading lists and suggestions for your patrons. The catalogue skews toward books kids actually want to read. Build a reading list →
Put a shelf on your site
Drop a book widget on your library website — copy-paste HTML, no code skills needed. Try the embed builder →
Help shape what comes next
I'd love to hear from librarians directly. What features would help you most? What's missing from existing kids' book sites? Get in touch →
🛠️ Built for librarians
Everything below came from librarians telling me what they actually needed.
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Reading-level filters — coming soon Lexile, Accelerated Reader, and Guided Reading levels for every book. Building this out now — I only ship it once the data is verified, not guessed.
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Librarian's Pick badge Sign in, open any book, and star it — verified librarians can mark books they personally recommend, and those stars show up to kids browsing.
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Curated collections → Themed lists (mystery, kindness, mythology, and more) you can share or remix for your library.
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Suggest-a-book form Can't find a title while searching? Suggest it for the catalogue — I prioritize librarian recommendations.
Get in touch
Questions, ideas, feature requests, or just want to say hi? I'd love to hear from you.
bw@kiddreads.comEvery email gets read. Most get a personal reply within a day.
Got an idea?
Every idea helps me make KiddReads a little better for everyone — tell me what's on your mind. Send as many as you'd like!