Read and Record India logo — an open book with a microphone
Student-led · Free forever · Hyderabad

Every child deserves to hear
what confident reading sounds like.

We pair free storybooks with audio recordings so children can listen and read along at the same time. Built for NGOs and government schools. Zero cost, zero extra work.

Hear it for yourself

The Pottering Pig

A sample from our Ages 5–7 library · StoryWeaver, CC BY 4.0

This is exactly what students hear in a session. You just press play.

How it works

Listen. Read along. Grow.

Many children in government schools are asked to read without ever hearing what fluent reading sounds like. Our model fixes that with three simple steps, run by your own staff in 25 minutes, twice a week.

1

Scan and play

Your coordinator scans a QR code on our instruction sheet. It opens a YouTube playlist of recorded stories. No app, no login, no training needed.

2

Listen, then read along

Students follow the words in a physical book while the audio plays. On the second play, they read aloud softly with the recording, at their own pace.

3

Fluency grows

Pronunciation, speed, and confidence improve with every session. Recordings can be replayed as many times as a child wants, year after year.

The story library

26 books. Three age groups. Fully legal.

Every story is either Creative Commons licensed from StoryWeaver by Pratham Books, or fully public domain under Indian law. Every recording is legal to create, share, and reuse.

Ages 5–7 · 10 stories

Short, playful stories with repetition and rhythm. All from StoryWeaver, CC licensed.

  • The Pottering Pig
  • See You Tomorrow
  • Hungry on the Stairs
  • Croak
  • Binti Knows Her Mind
  • Unni's Wish
  • Let's Count Legs
  • When the Letters Fell Out
  • Aiman's School Bag
  • The Doll that Bommakka Made

Partner with us

A partnership, not a burden.

We are not asking for funding, space, or staff time beyond the sessions themselves. Here is exactly how the work is divided.

Your team does

  • Run 25-minute sessions, twice a week
  • Send us one short WhatsApp update after each session
  • Keep the physical storybooks safe
  • Let 10 to 30 students take part

We handle

  • All recordings and audio content
  • Tech support — broken links fixed the same day
  • Monthly in-person visits to observe
  • Baseline and post-test reading assessments
  • A full impact report, co-credited to your organisation

The 3-month journey

From first session to proof of impact.

Week 1

We set up together

One visit. We run a baseline reading test with your staff, hand over the kit, and agree on a simple schedule. Then your team takes it from there.

Month 1

Build the habit

Two sessions a week. Students listen first, then read along. We check in on WhatsApp weekly and visit once to observe.

Month 2

Build confidence

Students take turns choosing the story and leading the session. We swap any stories that feel too hard or too easy.

Month 3

Measure the change

We re-test with the same passage from Week 1, collect student responses, and write the full impact report. Your organisation receives a copy, co-credited.

Why this matters

The gap is real. The fix is simple.

Research from Telangana shows how urgent this is, and how well audio-supported reading works.

4%
of Telangana government school students meet basic literacy benchmarks
CSF FLN Report, EGRA tools
10%
comprehension gap closed to near parity with audio-led intervention
Hyderabad Multilingual School Study
26
stories recorded and ready across three age groups
StoryWeaver CC + public domain
₹0
cost to your organisation. Ever. No hidden fees, no ongoing effort
Free and reusable forever

Common questions

Things partners usually ask.

Do our staff need any training?
No. If your coordinator can scan a QR code and press play on a phone, they can run a session. We give you a one-page guide that explains everything, and we show you in person during the first session.
What equipment do we need?
Just one smartphone with internet. A basic Bluetooth speaker helps for groups of more than 10 students, but the phone speaker works fine for smaller groups. No projector, no screen, no computer.
Is this really free? What is the catch?
It is completely free, forever. We are students building a literacy initiative, and what we ask in return is simple: access to your students for sessions, and your organisation's co-signature on the impact report at the end of the pilot. Your credibility strengthens our findings, and our findings strengthen your programmes.
Are the books and recordings legal to use?
Yes. Every story is either Creative Commons licensed from StoryWeaver by Pratham Books, or public domain under Indian law, which applies 60 years after the author's death. We follow the attribution requirements on every recording.
What happens after the 3-month pilot ends?
The audio library stays with you, free, forever. Your staff can keep running sessions on their own. If the pilot works well, we would love to keep partnering, adding new stories, and growing the programme with you.

Get in touch

Ready to bring stories to your students?

One WhatsApp message is all it takes. We will show you a demo in 15 minutes and you can decide from there.

Let's build this together.

We respond the same day. Tell us a little about your organisation and we will take it from there.