Children aged 9-10 read fluently and are ready for longer, layered stories: several characters, a mystery, a problem that needs clues put together. The 9-10 stories on Kitapz are set in real places, teach something inside the story and give the reader something to think about at every choice.
The 5W1H questions, discussion questions and word lists on each story page also work as a reading comprehension activity in class.
Ages 9-10 8 min Educational Free
The old clock tower in Yozgat's town square falls a few minutes behind every evening, and on Saturday it's going to be taken down. Owen wants to find out why with his own eyes: will he peek at the gears, or look into the chilly evening air? You get to decide…
Ages 9-10 8 min Adventure Free
On his dad's very last tram run of the day, Wyatt finds a violin case tucked beneath a seat. Inside are a violin, a labeled cake of rosin, a notebook full of music notes, and an invitation to tonight's concert! The rules say the case has to stay at the tram…
Ages 9-10 8 min Fantasy Free
A broken panel from a village fountain arrives at Toby's mother's tile workshop. Every morning, the blue fish on the panel is somewhere else in the pattern, and no one but Toby can see it. Before the kiln is fired on Thursday, it's up to you to find out where…
Ages 9-10 8 min Adventure Free
On the sandy riverbank of the Tigris, Nellie's mom has grown a watermelon so enormous that it's even heavier than Nellie! The Watermelon Festival starts at noon, but the pickup truck won't start, and Ben won't let anyone lay a finger on the watermelon. "It'll…
Ages 9-10 8 min Nature Free
In this story, children gather evidence with Clara about the stork nest on her grandpa's cracked barn chimney, checking a teacher's stork records and listening to the village builder. As well as showing how storks recognize their nests, it takes seriously…
Values: curiosity, family, caring for nature
Ages 9-10 8 min Educational Free
In this story, children help Owen work out, step by step, why the reed kite he made himself spins and crashes every time he launches it. His sister and the shopkeeper offer advice, but each idea gets tested in the meadow. Readers' choices decide how Owen…
Values: perseverance, curiosity, family
Ages 9-10 8 min Educational Free
In this story, children join Ben in Halfeti as he chases the secret of the black rose, comparing rosebushes, asking questions and holding on to small clues. Alongside the plant puzzle, it takes seriously the hurt between a grandmother and a granddaughter who…
Values: curiosity, family, empathy
Ages 9-10 8 min Nature Free
In this story, children help Ellie work out why pearl mullets heading upstream from Lake Van can't get over a knee-high stone dam. They watch the water closely, spot small differences and ask why when an idea fails, all while weighing the feelings of Max, who…
Values: curiosity, teamwork, caring for nature
Ages 9-10 8 min Educational Free
In this story, children help Daisy find out why a handful of caterpillars vanishes from Granny Hattie's silkworm room every morning. It introduces silkworms raised on mulberry leaves and explores the difference between looking guilty and being proven guilty…
Values: fairness, friendship, honesty
Ages 9-10 15 min Educational Free
In this story, children help Zoe find out why a sinkhole opened overnight in a Karapınar village: listening to older people's memories, sketching what she sees and looking for other signs. It explores the hidden water beneath the plain and a child's courage…
Values: curiosity, responsibility, courage
Ages 9-10 15 min Nature Free
In this story, children help Ella track the bear that knocked over her granny's beehives without going near it, using fur on a wire, prints in the mud and a camera trap's photos. Uncle Hank wants to move the hives and Granny Hattie wants them to stay, so Ella…
Values: curiosity, caring for nature, teamwork
Ages 9-10 15 min Adventure Free
In this story, children help Ada find out who owns the ringed pigeon a stormy night blew onto her grandpa's terrace, by studying the ring, noting how the bird behaves and asking grown-ups. It is about caring for a found animal, patiently searching for its…
Values: curiosity, responsibility, honesty
Ages 9-10 15 min Adventure Free
In this story, children join Lily as she investigates a dark patch of ice beside the sled trail on Lake Çıldır from the shore, recording measurements, observing carefully and listening to village elders. The story teaches ice safety and takes seriously…
Values: curiosity, courage, empathy
Ages 9-10 15 min Adventure Free
In this story, children join Nell as she investigates carved steps found during repairs to her grandpa's stone house in Cappadocia: she tracks the air with a strip of cloth, draws what she sees and listens to village elders. The story also takes seriously the…
Values: curiosity, responsibility, empathy
Ages 9-10 15 min Nature Free
In this story, children help Daphne and her cousin Kieran find out why baby turtles crawled toward the dune instead of the sea, drawing the tracks and checking the volunteer team's records. It shows how hatchlings find the sea and why dark nights matter to…
Values: caring for nature, curiosity, empathy
Ages 9-10 15 min Adventure Free
In this story, children follow a forty-year-old letter's trail with River: comparing drawings, studying old postcards and listening to the island's oldest residents. It shows a girl, bored on an island with no phone signal, drawn in by curiosity, and why a…
Values: curiosity, perseverance, teamwork
Ages 8-12 20 min Adventure Free
In this story, children help Ben deliver nine birthday boxes on time after all their labels fall off. Time is measured by rings dropping from the burning Day Candle, so readers work out with Ben and rule-loving Lina how many trips they can make. Choices…
Values: teamwork, responsibility, friendship
Ages 8-10 25 min Educational Free
In this story, children help Ivy and her friends decide what to do when one pile of supplies can't fix all four of the schoolyard's problems. Careful planner Ivy works alongside Rory, who wants to start right away, observant Mia, and Caleb, whose pockets…
Values: teamwork, patience, responsibility
Ages 6-10 25 min Fantasy Free
In this story, children join Efe, who always puts off tidying his room, as he finds a tiny glowing door under his bed and must choose between opening it and telling his mom. The fantasy links putting things off, responsibility and teamwork to children's own…
Values: responsibility, curiosity, teamwork
Ages 7-10 15 min Adventure Free
In this story, children follow Hero, a jumpy rooster hailed as brave after an accident, as he tries to work out what is making a mysterious night-time sound. It invites talk about tall tales versus what really happened, and about hiding fear versus sharing…
Values: courage, honesty, friendship
Ages 7-9 15 min Fantasy Free
In this story, children join Smokey, a cat who loves new streets, as he tries to turn a faint line to the clock tower into a real path by walking it again and again. Despite its title, it is not a retelling of Perrault's tale but a story about patience…
Values: patience, perseverance, teamwork
Ages 7-12 25 min Fantasy Free
In this story, children join Maya, who likes everything finished and in its place, as she tries to fix a neighborhood that runs backward after one hasty move. Setting her love of order against very different ways of seeing things, it opens a conversation…
Values: responsibility, curiosity, friendship
Ages 7-11 15 min Adventure Free
In this story, children meet Puff, a living dough boy who climbs out of Ada's bowl after she guesses at a recipe measurement. Readers' choices decide whether Ada, hiding Puff as he swells in the heat, shares her secret with her little brother Rory and…
Values: honesty, empathy, teamwork
Ages 7-10 20 min Educational Free
In this retelling of the Brothers Grimm tale “The Town Musicians of Bremen”, children set off with Grey, an old donkey no longer wanted after years of carrying sacks. Grey patiently listens to the hurt and shy animals he meets, and each begins to wonder…
Values: friendship, teamwork, self-confidence
Ages 7-12 15 min Fantasy Free
In this story, children follow Kai, who hates leaving one square empty, into Cubia, where a placed cube can never be taken back. With him go his sharp-eyed friend Dani and Biko, a guide who talks in status reports. Readers decide when Kai rushes and when he…
Values: responsibility, patience, empathy
Ages 7-10 15 min Fantasy Free
In this story, children follow Kaan, who dozes off over his dinosaur homework and finds himself in a valley of giant ferns, where two sounds seem to call him. Facts from his book about fossil tracks, levers and long-necked dinosaurs prove useful, showing how…
Values: curiosity, patience, kindness
Ages 7-12 25 min Educational Premium
In this story, children follow Nolan, a fast boy used to playing alone, as he is invited to a tournament and meets his shy new teammate, Owen. It weighs wanting to be the star against playing together, and lets readers hear how the child on the sidelines…
Values: teamwork, sharing, empathy
Ages 7-10 20 min Fantasy Premium
In this story, children follow Ada through a brass door that appears overnight in an old stone wall, into Skygate Academy, where doors talk and sing but some have fallen strangely silent. Setting impatient Rory beside careful Ada, it shows why it pays to…
Values: curiosity, patience, empathy
Ages 7-10 25 min Educational Premium
In this story, children join Ellie, who is too full of questions to sleep, and Twinkle, a tiny star afraid to rest in case she goes out, on Granny Moon's trip across the night sky. They wonder why stars twinkle, and the story gently opens up talk about…
Values: curiosity, friendship, empathy
Ages 7-10 15 min Educational Premium
In this story, children follow River on a rainy day as she turns buttons, spools, keys and ribbons from her mom's drawer into a world on the rug. It invites talk about how boredom can spark imagination and why sharing something you made can feel hard…
Values: curiosity, sharing, teamwork
For reading tips and what to look for at each age, see: Book recommendations by age
