Free First Grade Readers
Are you looking for quality readers for first grade? These vintage school readers, published in the late 1800s and early 1900s, are now in the public domain and free online. You’ll find well-known classics like McGuffey, Elson, and Treadwell, as well as many other lesser-known series. You may download the books for your child to read on a computer or tablet or print the books.
Why Choose Vintage Readers
Vintage readers offer beautiful classic literature, rich vocabulary, and charming illustrations. The stories are age-appropriate and typically encourage strong moral values. There’s also something special about reading a book that’s been used in schoolhouses and homes for over a hundred years. Perhaps your child’s grandparents or great-grandparents learned to read with some of these same readers.
Free First Grade Readers
The grade levels some of these vintage readers were intended for may not line up exactly with current grade-level expectations or your child’s reading level. If your first grader is just beginning to read, I’d suggest starting with a Primer Level Reader instead. On the other hand, if your child is ready for more challenging reading, you may want to consider these Second Grade Readers. Our Vintage Graded Readers page includes free readers for primer level through eighth grade.
Readers Published in the 1900s
These 1st grade readers were published between 1900 and 1924.
The Aldine Readers: A First Reader
Aldine Supplementary Readers: The Busy Brownies at Play
The American School Readers: First Reader
The Carroll and Brooks Readers: A First Reader
Child Classics: The First Reader
The Child’s World: First Reader
Everyday Classics First Reader
Golden Treasury Readers: First Reader
Holton-Curry Series: The First Reader
The Horace Mann Readers: First Reader
The Kendall Series of Readers: First Reader
McGuffey’s First Eclectic Reader
The Metcalf-Call Readers: A First Reader
The New Barnes Readers: Book One
The Summers Readers: First Reader
Treadwell’s Reading-Literature Series: First Reader
Wheeler’s Graded Readers: A First Reader
The Elson Readers: Book One (1920)
Readers Published in the 1800s
Most of these 1st grade readers were published in the late 1800s, though a few are from the mid 1800s.
Appletons’ School Readers: The First Reader
Baldwin’s School Reading by Grades: First Year
Chambers’s National Reading Books: Book I
Graded Literature Readers: First Book
Hazen’s Primer and First Reader
McGuffey’s New First Eclectic Reader for Little Children
McGuffey’s New First Eclectic Reader for Young Learners
New Century Readers for Childhood Days: First Year
The Normal Course in Reading: First Reader (First Steps in Reading)
The Normal Course in Reading: First Reader (Word Pictures and Language Lessons)
Pollard’s Synthetic First Reader
Sanders’ School Reader: First Book
Sanders’ Union Reader: Number One
Swinton’s Advanced First Reader
What to Expect From a Century-Old Reader
The following excerpt from the preface of the Everyday Classics First Reader (1922), co-written by Fannie Dunn, Franklin Baker, and Ashley Thorndike, gives an overview of what to expect from the reader. You’ll find that many of the readers listed above share similar characteristics.
Children come to a First Reader after the Primer knowing a few hundred common words and able to make out, by phonic analysis, some new words of simple form. That is, they have read a little and acquired the power to read a little. The problem of the First Reader is to stimulate in the children further interest, to increase their list of known words, and their command of the phonic elements, to quicken their pace and strengthen their confidence in their reading, and so enlarge their powers and add to their pleasure.
For this, as for the other books of the series, the editors have chosen, from the established children’s classics, prose and verse, which all are expected to know. Much use is made of stories of the repetitive type. Not only do children like the repeated form, but they get from it the most pleasing and effective kind of drill and a stimulating sense of achievement. The poetry, the fables, and the other stories present ideas that are simple and congenial to young minds. New words are introduced very slowly at first and are systematically repeated. Sure and immediate control of words is the right foundation for reading.
In the illustrations the artists have not only helped to interpret the literature, but they have satisfied the sense of beauty and the sense of humor.
More Than a Storybook
Vintage readers offer more than just stories. They help build a strong vocabulary and often teach important lessons and values. What makes them truly special is their long history. Families have loved them for generations. So, while browsing the internet for free homeschool resources, don’t overlook these gems. Whether it’s the familiar tales or the charming illustrations accompanying them, these vintage readers are a treasure trove waiting to be rediscovered.
Additional Resources for First Grade
- Free Phonics Curriculum
- Free Reading Curriculum
- How I Taught My Child to Read
- Free First Grade Christian Homeschool Curriculum
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