11 Easy French Books for Beginners to Read

[@youcool6185]

There's something missing here, that's part of our french culture forever, and easy for beginners : Les Aventures de Tintin et Milou , comic books by Hergé ! ( who's actually Belgium). Our number one comic book of all time! That's very good french, talking about many different situations, not childish but yet simple, ordinary sentences we all use daily. I don't know a single person in France who never reads Tintin. Watching the drawings while reading the characters talking sure would help beginners a lot !

[@andreanatsuminadeau5608]

Le Petit Prince is a must. I actually had the priviledge of having the person that inspired the book as a teacher without knowing it was the actual Petit Prince now an old man teaching philosophy in Quebec but still retaining that spark that inspired St-Exupery even as an old man. Nice that you put graphic novels in there, very nice way to learn cuz you got the images to help you understand the words (I've learned english reading Marvel comics).

[@Marie.b]

Anyone who says le petit Prince is a great book for beginners is a liar! But that's not what you're really saying is it.

[@marynaverzun228]

its a great book, but not for beginners at all, the worth recommendation for them, I would say

[@markward3981]

One of my favorite books 📚 in any language. Je vous remercie

[@rrssna]

L'etranger, was actually my first full read, in French and I found it quite easy, stylistically speaking. I find Camus in general an easy read. Now, the philosophical implication behind the text is another story.

[@Latinocr]

I bought both "French Stories for Beginners" and "101 Conversations in Simple French". I am halfway through the stories and I have enjoyed it immensely. Thank you!

[@storylearning]

Super happy to hear that!

[@theophrastepicot1689]

I love how you are presenting such classic french books, it's wonderfull to see that english speaking people can have acces to this part of our literature

[@cyberjynx]

Just realized the book I bought last week here is written by you! "Short stories in French" I like it so far it's just at the right level for my learning right now! Thanks!

[@christinefrazier]

I have 101 simple conversations already and now I'm going to buy ALL these books for my summer reading list. I love BD also.. Thank you for the recommendations

[@storylearning]

Thanks for the support!

[@MrX_TV]

The first book in French I read all the way through without struggling (I actually forgot I was reading in French) was one especially written for students so not an actual book for French natives. "Le match de Thomas" is a kids book about what happens to Thomas when a new kid joins his school and is immediately the most popular guy around. Yeah, it's for kids but I have fond memories because it was the first book I read fluidly without feeling like I was constantly translating.

[@alexshewan]

I liked and subscribed, and instantly became fluent in French. Its the most miraculous thing I've ever experienced.

[@theophrastepicot1689]

Reading is so good to extend your vocabulary in a foreign language, I love readig english books, and as a frenchman, it really helped me getting better

[@keidanekeith668]

Brilliante

[@rjlipman]

Any book title with Le Petit Nicolas in it is at the top of my reading list.

[@stephenpenrice1230]

Yes! Goscinny was a comic genius !

[@TangoIndiaMike144]

Russian learner, but here's a like and a comment for the YT algorithm.

[@storylearning]

Much appreciated!

[@stephenpenrice1230]

I would also recommend the 5-book series ¨Le Poids des Secrets'¨ by Aki Shimazaki. It tells a story from 5 different perspectives so once you read one you have plenty of context for the others. (And you don’t need to read them in any particular order.) It’s also very inspiring to know that the author won some awards for these books while writing in I believe her third language. (She’s native Japanese and she lived in British Columbia before moving to Quebec so I’m guessing she learned English before learning French.)

[@JustinArmstrongsite]

I'm surprised you recommended La nuit des temps. It's a wonderful book (although I slightly prefer Ravage by Barjavel) but I definitely wouldn't recommend it as a first novel, unless the learner is very motivated to slog through it. I find Barjavel's style great, but it can sometimes be a bit over the top in terms of his descriptive language. It was a good level for me when I read it, but I was pretty experienced reading French at that point. If anyone wants a more accessible science fiction story, I highly recommend La planète des singes (planet of the apes). It's not too long, has an accessible style and a pretty unique premise. It's also different enough from the movies that it will feel fresh.

[@storylearning]

Thanks for the tip!

[@ifihadfriends437]

I loved La planète des singes! I look forward to getting into Ravage and La nuit des temps soon.

[@N1inSK]

I am currently reading (VERY slowly!) 2001 : l'Odyssée de l'espace. Yes dear old Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey en français. It's a challenge, but I know the story very well, and can follow the plot in French without too much trouble. But I have a copy of l'Étranger somewhere in the basement. I'll have to find that and have a go. Wish I still had my late father's 1930's edition of Les Miserables. That was good reading when I was in high school!

[@stephenpenrice1230]

I enjoyed that one too and agree that it’s a pretty easy read.

[@trishemerald2487]

I was going to suggest Camus' _l'Étranger_ as well. Excellent choice. Merci!

[@br00k5y]

Hi Olly, loving short stories in Italian at the moment, and was hoping you would do a list like this for Italian please?

[@storylearning]

It’s coming!

[@misabel801]

Il non ho Laura

[@misabel801]

Paura

[@stevekaczynski3793]

One of my French teachers in school (end of 1970s) recommended the detective stories of Georges Simenon.

[@storylearning]

Nice!

[@ronarnett4811]

Already have Olly's books. They are great. Recommend them for everyone who is interested enough in the topic to have watched this video. Have both the French and German versions. Waiting for the Russian editions. Make sure you get the audio tracks. Where I live, there is a French language t.v. network produced by a French government cultural agency, available from the cable provider. It has a lot of stuff, some of it pretty weird. But one thing they show is the occasional classic opera. While I have never watched opera I do like listening to some of the great classic arias and duets. Because this is a French network they have subtitles in French for the Italian language that most of the classics are in. Thanks to Olly's books and what I gained from them, I can now understand the French subtitles. Which is to say I use my newfound limited ability to read the French subtitles to translate the Italian vocals into English so I can finally understand what is going on with the music and singing.

[@porisalfabs6490]

reading BD (bande dessinée, or comic books) really works for me as a beginner making my way to higher level! Wish you'd make another video which only include graphic novels or comics in French.

[@foreverlearningfrench]

Merci pour les recommandations Olly !

[@jennaleesmith4038]

Oh my goodness I have that French book of short stories! I’ve found it very helpful. I had no idea you were an author of it!

[@rrssna]

So, I have a big project, which is reading classic works of literature in as many original languages as possible. I'm a native Spanish speaker, so that's done, and of course I do read English. Next came Italian, and now I'm with French. I've done a few Camus, and I decide to jump in to the deep end of the pool. I'm current reading Le Rouge et Le Noir (which I read in high school translated into Spanish, and honestly, pas mal, pas mal. I'm taking it slow, but I'm enjoying it a lot. It is really satisfying that I'm understanding the literary devices. Very enjoyable!

[@carolinaparente5808]

I keep watching your videos to find motivation within me. I have found to be extremely challenging to learn a language outside of a community which speaks it daily, although that wasn’t how I learned English (I’ve never been to an English speaking country). Maybe stories should be a great way to give it a try!

[@elaineporter182]

I’ve ordered your book. Looking forward to it

[@EbbeLockert]

Great video! I'm at the stage where picking up an arbitrary book in French is still too hard, but I've already finished the standard recommendations of Le petit prince and L'etranger. Bonus point for adding genres like Sci-Fi, not just providing a list of boring old classics! I'll definitely check out Barjavel, or Georges Simenon as recommended in comment here. One question, though: Any reason you only recommend fiction? My impression is that non-fiction tends to be easier to read than fiction, and hence provide a smooth transition between comics and fiction.

[@storylearning]

Good question... I agree that non fiction can be easier, it’s just really hard to recommend non-fiction to people because it varies so much with personal interest

[@LearnThaiRapidMethod]

Yes, the best (and most enjoyable) way to learn a language is through reading. Even if you are an "auditory" learner (no such thing, btw). You can *hear* what people say far more clearly if you can follow the text of what is being said. I don't necessarily agree with reading "literate", old-fashioned stories. You will be exposed to a more formal, written form of French that isn't so useful for conversing with French people. Stick to books that are written in plain, modern French (not poetic or flowery). It's best to start with romance novels (particularly aimed at teenagers or the slush novels aimed at women who have only completed high school) because there's usually a lot of colloquial dialogue and slang, and the kind of topics that you would be exposed to in everyday life and conversation, usually with close friends or your lover(s). And read books about topics that you are personally interested in (and that you'd probably want to talk about with your French friends), even if they are non-fiction or a bit technical. Another great source for reading is to watch stand-up comedy shows (and study the French subtitles). I find Netflix invaluable for this because they have the closed-caption subtitles for all their movies and shows. It's a bit tricky, though, but what I do is capture the screen for every sentence that shows up as I'm going through the movie/show, and then read and study them separately before coming back to watch the show again - still with the CC subtitles (in French). (I've sent a request to Netflix to be able to download the subtitles for offline study, but they won't do it. Maybe if enough people make the same request then they are more likely to consider it.)

[@storylearning]

That's the reason I don't enjoy learning with TV... it's just not user-friendly

[@Hide_and_silk]

I find the use of the past historic in French novels very frustrating. It doesn't really help with every day spoken French.

[@mikehawk817]

Could you give me some examples of more modern written teenage romance novels? Thanks in advance

[@drywater4864]

Thanks Olly, really. You’re short stories in French have really helped me and I hope that soon I will be able tonconnect with some of my family even more!

[@storylearning]

That’s wonderful!

[@the_flushjackson]

Fantastic recommendations, Olly. Thank you!

[@joelemmer4111]

I've just read "Frère D'âme" by David Diop. A story based around Senegalese fighters in the First World War. Amazingly it has won both the Prix Goncourt (Francophone equivalent of the Booker prize) *and* the English translation won the Booker Prize this year (split equally between the author and the translator). I found the language itself very clear and simple. I would say it's simpler than L'Étranger, for example. It's also not too long at 160 pages, so a great target for a first novel in my opinion.

[@keidanekeith668]

Did you understand everything?

[@joelemmer4111]

@@keidanekeith668 As always there was some new vocabulary for me to pick up, but the language itself seemed very clear. Also, he repeats a lot of expressions and vocabulary again and again so it felt like I was understanding more and more as the book went on. Well worth a read in my opinion. :)

[@vinzetti22]

Awesome, thank you. I'm waiting for your intermediate french for paperback

[@storylearning]

Hope it arrives soon!

[@xJawsQuickScoper]

thanks for the recommendations!

[@MarcoDelgado93]

Awesome. Going to buy your books soon. 🔥🔥🔥

[@56932982]

THE classic bande dessinée française is without doubt Asterix. Some of the subtle humor will be lost with limited knowledge of the language. But it will be fun still. And if it is funny, the reading will come with ease. As a kid I read all issues of Asterix. (The German translation of course.) It will be much fun to reread them in the french original.

[@marcwibble7949]

This was really good thank you also youcool merci been for tintin reminder

[@Bobywan75]

Barjavel's "la nuit des temps" is mind blowing science fiction book. I highly recommend it.

[@mustaregis]

Thanks for the great content Olly! Have you considered making your short stories in Finnish?

[@storylearning]

We’ve talked about it, but I’m not sure there’s a huge demand

[@buster9106]

I'm reading Les Enfants Verts by Olga Tokarczuk translated from Polish. I think it's probably advanced beginner or intermediate level. I'm really enjoying it. It's not a long book. The story is about a 17th century Scottish biologist traveling with the Polish King through Poland. The King's soldiers find two children whose skin and hair is slightly green. The mystery is to find out who they are and why they're green.

[@matildawolfram4687]

Productive video! The book by Yuriy Ivantsiv “ Polyglot Notes. Practical Tips for Learning Foreign Language” had a profound impact on me, opening new horizons of understanding the diversity of languages and cultures. The author's ideas that learning foreign languages not only broadens one's horizons but also contributes to spiritual development became a real revelation for me. I realized that every language is not just a system of signs, but a whole world with its history, traditions and way of life. Thanks to this book, I learned to see language learning as a path to self-discovery and a deeper understanding of others, which in turn enriched my worldview. Inspired by Ivantsiv's approach, I became more conscious of my learning, integrating the author's practical advice into my daily life. This opened up opportunities for me not only to improve my language skills, but also to develop a personal philosophy based on mutual understanding and empathy. Immersing myself in languages has allowed me to see the world from different angles and realize the importance of cultural exchange, which has been the foundation for my spiritual growth. Reading this book and applying its advice has helped me to become a more open and tolerant person who seeks harmony in my relationships with others.

[@kackagalova2786]

Just bought some French books in czech E-shops. I'm a beginner so I bought some bilingual books but Short Stories also popped up… Wasn't in stock though. Now that you mentioned the quizzes, I'm prob. gonna go on Amazon or something 😆

[@gladisglz8176]

Merci beaucoup 😊

[@storylearning]

Is French hard to learn? 👉🏼 kzbin.info/www/bejne/qWSndqmpnrxlbs0

[@dancinggiraffe6058]

I was wondering whether you'd mention "Le Petit Prince". All of my language teachers liked it. I read it in junior high school (I'm that old), then read "Il Piccolo Principe" in high school, "Der Kleine Prinz" in college, and, in my late 30s, "Маленький Принц"! None of my teachers assigned "El Principito" when I started studying Spanish in my fifties, but maybe I'll just read it on my own now. I still remember a few sentences from the original, almost 60 years after I read it: Dessine-moi un mouton. Quand on est triste, on aime beaucoup regarder les couchers du soleil. Il tomba doucement comme tombe un arbre. (These might not be quite correct.)

[@Franko5986]

Bernard Werber ! :) Wonderfull ...

[@alancoe1002]

I just ordered a French translation of The Hobbit, and I possess a copy of Le Petit Prince (in French). I know The Hobbit very well, and I want to get an English copy of The Little Prince, read and absorb it, then just dive into the French translation. Ultimately, I want to read Verne in the original! Also, I want to get your two books in this list. Long ago, I had enough survival French to be able to buy train tickets, order food, etc. but I could not have even the simplest conversations. It will be a few years before I can travel in France again, and I have not been there since 1978, so, really, I am a beginner once again. Had 105 days of Duo, just started last week with Speakly and also Lingvist. I am also interested in the Memory Palace videos by Anthony Metivier. Your approach intrigues me. Cheers.

[@trudejensen8512]

What about L'homme qui plantait des arbres by Jean Giono? I loved it in Norwegian, and picked up a french copy in Perpignan, in the kids section.

[@DanielSantos-hs7pt]

can u make books recommmendations for german

[@storylearning]

On the way!

[@nojerama788]

I'm currently reading No et Moi by Delphine du Vigan, excellent book

[@noirsamourai8384]

New sub great stuff

[@tmhc72_gtg22c]

Are you familiar with the book "Le passe-muraille"? They had us read an excerpt in my French class. As I recall, it was one of the readings that the class liked the most.

[@fredericroy]

"Vingt milieu sous les mers" n'est pas un livre facile à lire pour un étranger. Ce n'est pas du français moderne. Le premier chapitre "Un écueil fuyant" je ne sais même pas ce que cela veut dire. En revanche, "l'étranger" est un chef d'oeuvre absolu. Avec des phrases simples : sujet + verbes + complément. A lire absolument

[@Seychelllian]

Hi I am a lower intermediate French learner trying to introduce reading into my program to accelerate my French learning. The problem that I am facing however is the fact that most French books seem to be written in Le Passe Simple which is a tense that is redundant to spoken French. While I appreciate the need to understand this tense eventually to be able to appreciate French in its fullest I am still struggling to fully grasp the spoken tenses and not ready to add an additional (“unnecessary“) tense to my load as well as, more importantly, deprive myself the opportunity to learn the tenses that I really need to learn. So I come here seeking advice on where I can find a selection of books written in “spoken French”. I imagine that I am not alone in this scenario and most beginner or intermediate learners want to focus on the spoken tenses when choosing their reading material. Any advice is appreciated. Merci!

[@johnmarday7872]

Do you have any german books recommendation

[@BlueDusk95]

I would add La Planète des Singes, by Pierre Boulle. It's the original novel on which the Planet of the Apes movies are based on.

[@d.a.5982]

Are Olly Richard's books (the two mentioned here) voiced by French actors? I recently bought a couple of audiobooks (by a different author) and they were read/performed by Canadian actors. I live in Spain so I would like to adapt my ears to the French tone of voice.

[@noirsamourai8384]

How about a series with repeating characters but in French?

[@amstabomitdembabo5984]

I think the 101 conversations book are great resources but that there is no audio included makes it quite difficult for me as a teacher to recommend it to my students.

[@storylearning]

The audio is available.

[@amstabomitdembabo5984]

@@storylearning yes but you've to use a platform like audible or find the audiobook somewhere in the internet (in my local library you can only purchase the book but not the audiobook) And then it costs extra. For a language learning enthusiast like me that's affordable but I can't expect the same from my students. They want to buy the whole thing for 15 bugs and that's it.

[@johntyb9495]

I agree, it is a shame you have to buy the product twice if you want the audio., i would prefer if audio was included as woth most other language learning products. I would pay a higher price if there was a link to download the mp3 files as the books are excellent

[@thirdworldpolyglot2095]

Hi Olly! Wanted to ask, would yo do the short stories for Latin? It's difficult to find material for beginniers and there is not too much of it

[@stephsbanjo]

Have you looked at the Lingua Latina series?

[@Nickelini]

Please do this for Italian

[@misabel801]

I enjoyed reading Aya de Yopougon, by Marguerite Abouet. There are 6 books. Comic strip style

[@WanderwithJon]

How about A la rechercher du temps perdu?

[@WanderwithJon]

@Beaudile hahaha ! the series was my goal from the start so...yeah. 🤣 it's good to know it is a relatively simple read. maybe i'll try and start it soon. 😊

[@Luboman411]

I was gifted a bunch of French novels from this friend who moved away from NYC, where I live, to Belgium. She gave me some books by Guy Maupassant, the 19th century French short-story writer. Are those easy to read in French? I remember reading an English translation of one of his stories way back in high school and found it very simple in grammar and construct, though the ending had quite a twist (I think he was famous for his crazy endings).

[@gaellelm6678]

Hello ! Maupassant's shorts stories are pretty easy to understand as a french. Not much hard vocabulary, but for well understand the plot and some characters behaviors you just may need to know a little of french history at that time. This really worth it, you may, way much better, catch the plot and the end, which are indeed pretty witty and funny, of each stories. Hope you have a good time reading these !

[@joejacquesschulz8514]

First French book I have read was "Mes chères études".

[@imahmoudha]

Merci

[@salpivartivarian1615]

Do these books use the literary tenses? (By the way, I've already bought your "Short Stories for Beginners" and it's a godsend.)

[@emcarver8983]

I have bought other books of French short stories, which all come with a free audio download. Why do we have to buy the audio for yours?

[@vjvj85]

Can you do a reaction video to Jose Mourinho speaking multiple languages or Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Romelu Lukaku

[@storylearning]

Interesting idea! Do you have a link I can check out?

[@vjvj85]

@@storylearning Here are a few footballers and football managers: Lukaku: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h3W7YWijhNZlg7M Zlatan: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fp21iWOsjtucaas Mourinho: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aaGVpH6Cg5lkkKc Pep Guardiola: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jqW6dXV7jbuIqtU Different Footballers: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2e8mqWdg6-ErcU

[@Li3li30]

Thanks for your amazing content. Btw I'm only studying French for about one month, but I'm sure that your pronunciation of "le petit prince" is wrong!

[@josefi3064]

Please read all of this😊God bless them and all of you reading this. Give your lives to Christ because He died on the cross, rose from the dead on the third day and is sitting at God’s right side in heaven. He did all this so that we could be forgiven our sins and have eternal life with God in Heaven. We are free but don’t use your freedom to indulge in unnecessary things and sins. We are made free to have faith in God and God so loves us. Never forget that God is for you, He will not leave you not forsake you. God knows your heart, so trust in Him with all of your heart. God is worth it. I love you all and so do God❤️

[@FfionKellegher]

I am currently creating an online French literature course to be marketed and sold by my company, LinguaTute. This would be an 8-week long course consisting of one live class (1.5hrs) every week, which will be taught by a PhD French literature student at Oxford University. I'd really love to hear people's opinions on what should be included in this French literature course - in return I can offer you a 10% discount on the course (which we will begin delivering around the end of May/beginning of April - specific date is still to be decided). If you would like to have a chat with me and help to shape the future of this course, please respond to this comment. Thank you!!

[@hectormejia7757]

Hello, can anyone recommend me some books for mid-level? Merci!!

[@lsegalsace]

I suggest the novel by Fémi Peters, "Job d'enfer", if you like fantasy and Greek mythology. You can find it on Amazon. :)

[@hectormejia7757]

@@lsegalsace Merci beaucoup Laura! Je vais le lire prochainement 😁

[@kenmorley2339]

Anything by Rene Falet , George Simenon or Andre Maurois .

[@slicksalmon6948]

Olly’s beginning French reader (“Short Stories”) isn’t beginner level. The cover says “beginner”, but the Introduction admits that it’s A2-B1 level. I was frustrated with it.

[@MohamedSalah-S]

We need an Italian 🍝 version

[@storylearning]

It’s coming, it’s coming 🤫

[@HeaventoHeart]

What’s the meaning of your shirt?

[@udlu4354]

Your recommendations look very interesting, but a bit "off the beaten track" aren't they? This week I started reading my first French novel and I went for the first Arsène Lupin novel.

[@storylearning]

Yes, I do like to be different!

[@potatokitty]

I can read french. But writing and speaking, not at all. This is an awesome list. Thanks Ollie.

[@marymissmaximus]

What if you're a "beginner" beginner... like you don't even know HOW to read french, and you don't really have much of a vocabulary besides "Bonjour" and "J'mapelle Mary" or "Le chat"?

[@Marie.b]

I understand a good bit of what I read in video transcripts, but I could not understand plenty of "great beginner books" like Le Petit Prince. I think all this advice is lies, especially if a person is self teaching. Either its lies or the advice givers don't really appreciate or remember it as a real beginner. Just because a book is easy for french kids to read, that's not the same as a language learner! By the time the french child is 5 even, they have been exposed to thousands of french words in their daily lives and can actually understand a whole lot. They are just putting letters to their already acquired language. No, simply reading books is not a way to learn a language. Unless you start at toddler level and adopt a french mama.

[@JonEyv]

Moebious? No?

[@rajvirsingh935]

Going through the review section found this very discouraging review of olly richard's short stories in French book. Can somebody help? Badly written stories with not much logic. Obviously not written by a native speaker. Not authentic. Strange use of grammar and tense. Not at all suitable for students at any level. I feel cheated and would like to ask for my money back.

[@thaisvanboekeldemedeiros6708]

don´t to think its rude to comment it on the author´s channel?

[@rajvirsingh935]

@@thaisvanboekeldemedeiros6708 why?

[@irenemcnamara9699]

In your French Short Stories for Beginners, I was very let down with the story of Daniel and Julie. There was all this suspense built-up for what would happen to Julie, and then there was nothing. Very disappointing.

[@storylearning]

Sorry it didn’t meet your expectations. Hope you like the rest of the stories more.

[@irenemcnamara9699]

@@storylearning I did enjoy y reading the story, however. I went over it with my French tutor from South Africa, and she enjoyed it too. I am looking forward to your book 101 Conversations.

[@jamesm.3967]

Your tag says for beginners and then your first book is for intermediates …doesn’t make any sense.

[@nsevv]

Upper beginner is C1?