Do you enjoy using classic literature in your homeschool? If so, free public domain books are an excellent way to save money while homeschooling.

Books enter the public domain when their copyright expires, making them free for anyone to access, share, and use. In the US, this typically happens 70 years after the author’s death. Public domain books help make timeless literature, historical texts, and educational classics readily available to all.

Below, you’ll find links to public domain books you can use in your homeschool curriculum without spending a cent. These books are in ebook format and can be read online or downloaded.

Free Public Domain Books

Vintage Graded Readers– These vintage school readers were published in the late 1800s and early 1900s. They include well-known classics like McGuffey, Elson, Treadwell, and many others. There are 40+ reader series to choose from, all organized by grade level.

 

The Every Child Should Know Series– This collection of educational books emerged in the early 1900s. The series covers various topics, including nature, poetry, folklore, art, history, and more.

 

The Child’s Own Book of Great Musicians Series– These illustrated biographies from the early 1900s tell the story of musicians’ early lives and what helped them become world-renowned musicians. The series covers Bach, Beethoven, Choplin, Handel, Mozart, and several others.

 

The When Mother Lets Us Series– This collection of books was also published in the early 1900s. The books cover life skills, building projects, arts and crafts, playtime activities, and more.

 

Vintage Nature Readers– The popular Christian Liberty Nature Readers were based on these classic nature readers, which were published in the late 1800s.

 

More Free Public Domain Books

While the links above focus exclusively on public domain books, many other posts and pages on our website include free public domain books, among other modern resources. To find these public domain books, explore our free curriculum pages using the subjects menu on Freedom Homeschooling’s homepage. Or, to go directly to curriculum pages and blog posts containing public domain books, input “public domain” in our website’s search bar. You’ll find the search bar on our homepage underneath the subjects menu. There is also a search bar in the sidebar of our blog posts.