Free short stories for 7th graders
Peabody has 13 free short stories for 7th graders at reading level 7, from about 1,025 to 1,982 words each, including fables, fairy tales and true stories. Each opens at once with no sign-up and reads in a few minutes. Free through the end of 2026.
| Story | Kind | Words | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rule Fourteen | Peabody story | 1,496 | Tovi Marsh is the newest cadet on the worst team in a space academy, and her team must face the unbeaten champions in a zero-gravity game. |
| The Shell Line | Peabody story, spooky | 1,895 | Tansy the hermit crab has outgrown her shell, and every better shell in the tide pool already has somebody inside. |
| Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves | Classic | 1,739 | A poor woodcutter hiding in a tree hears forty thieves open a rock with two magic words. |
| The Well That Breathed | Peabody story, spooky | 1,982 | Something is breathing at night in the old well at Gran's farm, and every afternoon it runs dry. |
| Heidi | Classic | 1,529 | Heidi goes to live with her gruff grandfather high on a Swiss mountain, where she runs with Peter and the goats and watches the peaks glow red at sunset. |
| Icarus and Daedalus | Classic | 1,474 | Trapped on an island by a king, the great inventor Daedalus builds wings of feathers and wax for himself and his son. |
| The Monkey King | Classic | 1,628 | A monkey hatched from a stone learns seventy-two magic changes, steals the peaches of heaven and declares himself the greatest being in the universe. |
| The Trojan Horse | Classic | 1,627 | After ten years of trying to break through the walls of Troy, the Greeks build a giant wooden horse and sail away. |
| Chameleons Up Close | True story | 1,050 | A chameleon is a lizard with eyes that swivel on their own, a tongue as long as its body, and skin that changes color. |
| The Thirty-Three Miners | True story | 1,025 | A true story about thirty-three miners trapped deep underground in Chile in 2010. |
| Gulliver in Lilliput | Classic | 1,460 | After a shipwreck, Lemuel Gulliver wakes up on a beach tied down with hundreds of strings by people no taller than his hand. |
| Rip Van Winkle | Classic | 1,481 | Rip Van Winkle, the kindest and laziest man in his village, wanders into the mountains with his dog and meets a silent crew playing ninepins, whose bowling sounds like thunder. |
| Robin Hood | Classic | 1,787 | Robin Hood and his Merry Men live in Sherwood Forest, and the Sheriff sets a perfect trap at an archery contest. |
What level 7 reads like
Peabody works out a story's level from its text, never from the child. At level 7 a sentence is at most 48 words long and a screen holds 90 to 130 words. Reading level 7 shows the rest of the limits and a sample.
Is level 7 right for a 7th grader?
Peabody names its levels for the reading, so level 7 is the one it calls 7th grade. A 7th grader starts one level lower, at level 6, so the first stories feel easy. The level moves up as books run easy. Level 6 stories are a good fit too, and level 8 suits a strong reader.
Stories by kind
- Classics (8): Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Heidi, Icarus and Daedalus, The Monkey King, The Trojan Horse, Gulliver in Lilliput and more.
- True stories (2): Chameleons Up Close and The Thirty-Three Miners.
- Peabody's own (3): Rule Fourteen, The Shell Line and The Well That Breathed.
More free stories
- The whole library: free stories by reading level, no account needed.
- Classic stories retold short: fables, fairy tales, myths and legends.
- Free short stories for 6th graders
- Free short stories for 8th graders
- Free Aesop's fables for kids, with the lesson of each
- Free classic fairy tales for kids
- By level: Level 7
Questions parents ask
What reading level are short stories for 7th graders?
Peabody calls level 7 its 7th grade level. It is worked out from the text: sentence length, words on a screen and how common the words are, not from a grade label. A 7th grader starts one level lower, at level 6. The level pages show every level's limits.
Are any of these stories scary?
2 of the 13 are marked spooky: The Shell Line and The Well That Breathed. The mark is on each story's page, and none are marked scary or horror, which are not open to visitors at all.
Do the stories cost anything?
No. Every story on this page is free to read through the end of 2026, with no account and no card.
Checked against how Peabody works on 19 October 2026. Written with help from AI, from Peabody's own code and library. Peabody is a learning app, not an assessment: if you're worried about your child's learning, talk to their teacher.