<p>Possibilities here</p>
<ul>
<li><p>I sometimes read essays written by Chinese children: <a href="http://www.ruiwen.com/zuowen/xiaoxue/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">RuiWang's 作文</a>.  They have all levels for free, starting from 一年级 (grade 1).</p>
</li>
<li><p>You can find many English novels translated into Chinese and available for purchase on <a href="https://www.jd.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">JingDong</a> or other sites.  I read Matilda (<a href="https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%8E%9B%E8%92%82%E5%B0%94%E8%BE%BE/13787271" rel="nofollow noreferrer">玛蒂尔达</a>) this way.  I thought it was helpful for improving my reading speed.</p>
</li>
<li><p>You can access Chinese school textbooks for free at <a href="http://www.dzkbw.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">电子课本网</a>: the reading material is <a href="http://www.dzkbw.com/books/rjb/yuwen/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">语文</a>.  Again, starting from 一年级 (grade 1).  [After selecting a book chapter, it looks like you need to scan a QR code, but you can just click it and it'll show you the pages.]</p>
</li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.duchinese.net/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Du Chinese</a> is a well-polished reading app---new material is free [it's also new and fresh], and I feel it's <a href="https://www.duchinese.net/subscribe" rel="nofollow noreferrer">reasonably priced</a> for what's clearly a lot of effort.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Hacking Chinese reviews <a href="https://www.hackingchinese.com/review-mandarin-companion-graded-readers-level-1/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Mandarin Companion's graded readers</a> which are <a href="https://mandarincompanion.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>.  (There is also <a href="https://www.hackingchinese.com/866-digital-textbooks-for-expanding-your-chinese/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">an article about 语文</a> which is more advanced.)</p>
</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>There's a list of resources here: <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/1120/resources-for-learning-mandarin-chinese">Resources for learning Mandarin Chinese</a>, but it's cumbersome.  These kinds of resource questions is why I wrote <a href="https://chinese.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/1652/what-resources-do-you-actively-use-to-study-chinese-and-why">this post on meta</a> (although it hasn't caught on).</p>
<p>I also note that many books are available for download from <a href="https://blah.me/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Blah.me</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-26T00:55:21.253Z
2020-08-07T11:45:31.123Z
2020-08-07T11:45:31.123Z
Becky 李蓓
<p><a href="http://www.qigushi.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.qigushi.com/</a> is a site for children to read stories.</p>
<p><a href="https://children.moc.gov.tw/animate_list?type=1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://children.moc.gov.tw/animate_list?type=1</a> is a Taiwan site, full of videos about picture books.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-08T16:23:37.177Z
2020-08-08T16:23:37.177Z
sfy
<p>You can search 小学语文 online. There're a lot of Youtube materials. If you're in China, search with Baidu. </p>

<p>I found this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXQJ23hRAfM&amp;list=PLPcQoyI9NUIDcEfSKKtFUmp5-9I3_02pA" rel="nofollow noreferrer">one</a>  seems quite easy, with English subtitles. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-26T03:27:31.273Z
I recommend reading a mixture of material printed in both unsimplified  and simplified characters because the unsimplified ones give a better sense of the pictograph behind the character which gives some insight into the socio-cultural nuances of Chinese thought. You also see the thinking behind the simplification which gives a greater technical appreciation of the language. I prefer reading unsimplified material, not just because I started with it, but because of the innate beauty of unsimplified characters. They have better structural balance and "life" in them.
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-26T05:33:34.347Z
@WayneCheah I think you're right, however it might be too confusing for a starter...
sylvia
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-26T02:46:13.537Z
2020-01-26T02:46:13.537Z
sylvia
<p>Another free site is <a href="https://hskreading.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://hskreading.com/</a>
They have short stories/articles at many different HSK levels. They also include the translation, discussion questions, and a hover-over word-by-word translation. I have found them quite useful.</p>
<p>Some non-free e-books are the Mandarin Companion Series (such as <a href="https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/1941875033" rel="nofollow noreferrer" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.amazon.com/Country-Blind-Mandarin-Companion-Readers/dp/1941875033</a>) and an interesting series that is a simplified version of Journey to the West (<a href="https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B07SGNCQYX" rel="nofollow noreferrer" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Monkey-King-Simplified-Vocabulary-ebook/dp/B07SGNCQYX</a>). I have started reading the Mandarin Companion Series (which I find quite useful), but not the Journey to the West series. The Mandarin Companion Series takes Western classics (such as Sherlock Holmes, Country of the Blind, and Emma) and translates them into simple Chinese, while localizing them to China at the same time (i.e. with original Chinese names for the characters and settings in China).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-09T06:50:26.593Z
2020-08-10T17:02:14.990Z
2020-08-10T17:02:14.990Z
2ndQuantized
<p>You can find a lot of stories here: <a href="https://www.story101.site" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.story101.site</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-02-14T07:41:01.370Z
2023-02-14T07:41:01.370Z
thuwuyh
<p>Is there anywhere (ideally free online) to find a wide range of reading material that is in extremely simple Chinese, the equivalent of perhaps "Fun With Dick and Jane" in English? <a href="https://books.google.se/books?id=Gg9iCgAAQBAJ&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;dq=fun+with+dick+and+jane&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiBoZPes5_nAhXuwMQBHYp_DL4Q6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&amp;q=fun%20with%20dick%20and%20jane&amp;f=false" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://books.google.se/books?id=Gg9iCgAAQBAJ&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;dq=fun+with+dick+and+jane&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiBoZPes5_nAhXuwMQBHYp_DL4Q6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&amp;q=fun%20with%20dick%20and%20jane&amp;f=false</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-02-14T09:08:44.213Z
For people who want answers to (or to answer) this question, you're better off going to the resources question.
Becky 李蓓
<resources><reading>
Is there a place to find extremely simple stories?
# Is there a place to find extremely simple stories?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-01-25)

Is there anywhere (ideally free online) to find a wide range of reading material that is in extremely simple Chinese, the equivalent of perhaps "Fun With Dick and Jane" in English? <https://books.google.se/books?id=Gg9iCgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=fun+with+dick+and+jane&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiBoZPes5_nAhXuwMQBHYp_DL4Q6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=fun%20with%20dick%20and%20jane&f=false>

**Tags:** resources, reading

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: For people who want answers to (or to answer) this question, you're better off going to the resources question.  

---

## 5 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-01-26. Score: 4

Possibilities here

* I sometimes read essays written by Chinese children: [RuiWang's 作文](http://www.ruiwen.com/zuowen/xiaoxue/). They have all levels for free, starting from 一年级 (grade 1).
* You can find many English novels translated into Chinese and available for purchase on [JingDong](https://www.jd.com/) or other sites. I read Matilda ([玛蒂尔达](https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%8E%9B%E8%92%82%E5%B0%94%E8%BE%BE/13787271)) this way. I thought it was helpful for improving my reading speed.
* You can access Chinese school textbooks for free at [电子课本网](http://www.dzkbw.com/): the reading material is [语文](http://www.dzkbw.com/books/rjb/yuwen/). Again, starting from 一年级 (grade 1). [After selecting a book chapter, it looks like you need to scan a QR code, but you can just click it and it'll show you the pages.]
* [Du Chinese](https://www.duchinese.net/) is a well-polished reading app---new material is free [it's also new and fresh], and I feel it's [reasonably priced](https://www.duchinese.net/subscribe) for what's clearly a lot of effort.
* Hacking Chinese reviews [Mandarin Companion's graded readers](https://www.hackingchinese.com/review-mandarin-companion-graded-readers-level-1/) which are [here](https://mandarincompanion.com/). (There is also [an article about 语文](https://www.hackingchinese.com/866-digital-textbooks-for-expanding-your-chinese/) which is more advanced.)

---

There's a list of resources here: [Resources for learning Mandarin Chinese](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/1120/resources-for-learning-mandarin-chinese), but it's cumbersome. These kinds of resource questions is why I wrote [this post on meta](https://chinese.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/1652/what-resources-do-you-actively-use-to-study-chinese-and-why) (although it hasn't caught on).

I also note that many books are available for download from [Blah.me](https://blah.me/).


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-08-08. Score: 2

<http://www.qigushi.com/> is a site for children to read stories.

<https://children.moc.gov.tw/animate_list?type=1> is a Taiwan site, full of videos about picture books.


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2020-01-26. Score: 2

You can search 小学语文 online. There're a lot of Youtube materials. If you're in China, search with Baidu.

I found this [one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXQJ23hRAfM&list=PLPcQoyI9NUIDcEfSKKtFUmp5-9I3_02pA) seems quite easy, with English subtitles.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: I recommend reading a mixture of material printed in both unsimplified  and simplified characters because the unsimplified ones give a better sense of the pictograph behind the character which gives some insight into the socio-cultural nuances of Chinese thought. You also see the thinking behind the simplification which gives a greater technical appreciation of the language. I prefer reading unsimplified material, not just because I started with it, but because of the innate beauty of unsimplified characters. They have better structural balance and "life" in them.  
> **username_3**: @username_4 I think you're right, however it might be too confusing for a starter...  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2020-08-09. Score: 2

Another free site is <https://hskreading.com/>
They have short stories/articles at many different HSK levels. They also include the translation, discussion questions, and a hover-over word-by-word translation. I have found them quite useful.

Some non-free e-books are the Mandarin Companion Series (such as [https://www.amazon.com/Country-Blind-Mandarin-Companion-Readers/dp/1941875033](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/1941875033)) and an interesting series that is a simplified version of Journey to the West ([https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Monkey-King-Simplified-Vocabulary-ebook/dp/B07SGNCQYX](https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/B07SGNCQYX)). I have started reading the Mandarin Companion Series (which I find quite useful), but not the Journey to the West series. The Mandarin Companion Series takes Western classics (such as Sherlock Holmes, Country of the Blind, and Emma) and translates them into simple Chinese, while localizing them to China at the same time (i.e. with original Chinese names for the characters and settings in China).


---

### Answer by username_6 on 2023-02-14. Score: -1

You can find a lot of stories here: <https://www.story101.site>


---

