Reading
Story Pirates Podcast
Kids hear stories dreamed up by other kids performed as sketch comedy and songs, and some go on to write their own.
Story Pirates takes a story written by a real kid and hands it to comedians, musicians and the occasional celebrity guest, who turn it into sketch comedy or an original song. A seven-year-old’s premise about a dog running for mayor, say, can come back as a full musical number with sound effects. Many episodes include a conversation with the young author about where the idea started, and that seems to make writing feel within reach for listeners. The show’s site invites kids to send in stories of their own, and the team publishes activity guides and story prompts for writing at home. Episodes come out weekly during a season, and the back catalog stretches across many seasons. The humor leans loud and silly, so kids drawn to quieter stories may reach for something calmer, while those who love a big laugh will likely feel right at home.
- Ages
- Young storytellers and their families
- Works on
- Web browser; iPhone and iPad app; Android app
- Topics
- Reading, Creative play
- Languages
- English
- Listed
- 2026-10-18
What kids do
- Listen to a kid’s story performed as comedy
- Sing along with an original song
- Write a story to send in to the show
- Try a writing prompt from an activity guide
Who it suits
Young storytellers and their families.
Notes for parents
Every story on the show starts with a kid author. The team lists more than 100 activity guides for writing at home.
What you need
- A podcast app or web browser
More Reading
- Epic – Kids' Books & Reading: A digital library where children browse stories and nonfiction, listen to Read-To-Me books and audiobooks, and look up words with an audio dictionary.
- Reading.com: A parent and child go through scripted phonics lessons together, followed by decodable stories and practice games.
- Reading Eggs: Pre-reading, first reading, systematic phonics and later comprehension are split into separate programs aimed at different ages.
- Teach Your Monster to Read: Children design a monster and take it through games that match letters to sounds, blend words and read sentences.
- Hooked on Phonics Learning: Guided reading activities come with an ebook library meant to go alongside the lessons.
- Teach Monster: Reading for Fun: Recipes, signs and instructions are the reading material in a village adventure where helping characters earns books for a monster’s shelf.
- Vooks: Animated storybooks with narration, where each word is highlighted as it is read aloud.
- Endless Reader: Animated words are built letter by letter, dropped into short sentence puzzles and then acted out in a little scene.