Dibbly Dinosaur and the Cake Castle
he dreamed of a cake castle
Talebrix Storybook Maker · Ages 3–8
Your child tells the story. Talebrix makes it a real book.
Make up a story together, out loud, and Talebrix is designed to turn your child’s story into a book they can hold, read and keep, with their name on the cover as the author.
Join the families waiting for Talebrix
Join the list for first access when pre-orders open.
No payment required. Unsubscribe any time. See how it works
- Bought onceNo subscription planned. Story Packs when you want them.
- No reading, no typingSpeak an idea and choose between pictured options. A parent can help.
- Nothing for your child to unlockNo app, no account, no feed. You talk to it together, and it prints.
What comes out
Books nobody would have thought of but your child
A publisher needs an audience of thousands. A child needs an audience of one, sitting next to them. That is the whole difference, and it is why this shelf looks like this.
The Spider Who Was Very Polite
she decided it was friendly
When Nana Was in Hospital
made on the drive home
The Bin Lorry That Went to Space
Tuesday, obviously
A Dragon, Slightly Afraid
entirely his own idea
On Monday I Start School
read four times before Monday
Splash
one word, and a lot of pointing
The Mushroom That Was a Door
obviously it was a door
A Detective Who Is Also a Cat
the cat solves it
Written examples of the books we are designing Talebrix to make
About who actually writes the books
Your child decides. Talebrix does the writing and the drawing.
Here is exactly which parts of the book are theirs, and what it does with the ones they leave. You can decide whether that is enough.
- Who it is about
A fox, their sister, a detective who is also a cat. It has nothing in mind beforehand.
- What goes wrong
The question that turns a list of things into a story, and the one they think hardest about.
- How it ends
Theirs when they have one. When they shrug, it writes one rather than pressing them for it.
- What it is called
Their title goes on the cover, whatever it turns out to be, and their name goes under it either way.
Want one when they are ready?
Leave an email and we will write to you when pre-orders open. Nothing to pay now, and nothing about your child, ever.
Two emails, and nothing about a child, ever. What we do with it
Talebrix is being built in Farnham by Thomas and Jade McDonough. Meet the team
Why a book and not an app
Paper, a grown-up, and the same book again. The research is clear about all three.
None of these studies is about Talebrix. Every one is about picture books read with a grown-up, which is what comes out of it, and the reason it makes a book rather than a file.
- Paper gets the two of you talking
Parents and toddlers reading a print book together talked more, and more about the story, than the same pairs on a tablet, where the talk turned to the tablet.
Pediatrics, 2019 - Children follow a story better on paper
Across thirty-nine studies of children aged one to eight, a story was understood better from a paper book than from a screen, and a grown-up reading along helped most of all.
Review of Educational Research, 2021 - The same book again is how words stick
Three year olds who heard one story three times learned more of its new words than children who heard three different stories. A book on a shelf is the same book tomorrow.
Frontiers in Psychology, 2011
A book your child made up, read to them by you, from paper, and asked for again tomorrow night. That is what Talebrix is built around.
About the screen
Your child speaks and chooses. The story becomes a book.
We know exactly what you are thinking. You are being sold a device with a display, by people telling you screens are the problem. So here is the whole of what it does, and then what your child is doing while it does it.
Children speak their ideas and choose between options on the touchscreen. There is no scrolling feed and no child account. The finished story is read as a printed book.
Before anything
It waits to be asked.
The screen holds one invitation and nothing else. Nothing plays, nothing scrolls, and nothing starts until the red button is pressed.
The screen graphics are illustrated design previews in our current brand style. The family scenes are illustrations. The design may change before it ships.
Written for whoever is listening
One idea, and a different book for every age in the house.
Designed for ages 3–8, with parent-guided participation for younger children. The ages 1–2 examples are for shared reading. Drag the age to see the writing change; the planned book stays 26 pages.
Story Worlds
A world to set it in, and whatever your child can imagine happening there
These are example settings for a story, not limits on what your child can invent. Optional starting points for the device are planned. Every Story Pack supplies 4 pre-bound blank books; it does not fix the characters or unlock a world.
Woodland
Fox · Curious and kind
Meadow
Hare · Quick and joyful
Night
Owl · Wise and watchful
Mountain
Bear · Gentle and steady
Ocean
Whale · Brave and curious
Town
Cat · Clever and adventurous
Long Ago
Dinosaur · Bold and wondering
Jungle
Tiger · Bright and daring
Snow
Penguin · Warm and cheerful
Space
Mouse · Quiet and fearless
Farm
Sheep · Soft and friendly
Desert
Camel · Calm and sure
Castle
Raven · Proud and loyal
Island
Parrot · Merry and wild
Garden
Snail · Small and patient
Target launch prices
£149, with 4 books in the box. No subscription planned.
A craft box gets made once. A tablet gets an hour. Next to a storytelling device for kids, which plays a story that already exists, this makes a book, and the book stays made.
- Talebrix
Sits on the side, a compact tabletop device. One button to talk to it, and a slot the book comes out of. It plugs in and stays plugged in.
- 4 books in the box
Then a Story Pack of 4 when you want to make more books, £3.75 in Story Pack material per book. A parent loads each blank book into the same slot the finished one comes out of.
- Everyone in the house
Tell it the ages of who lives there and it writes to fit. The same idea comes out as two different books for a four year old and an eight year old.
- Bound, not printed out
A pre-bound blank picture book, printed page by page, 148 × 210 mm portrait, using pre-bound blank books made with 250gsm smooth paper. Durability will be tested before launch.
Questions
Before you leave an email
Everything below is answerable now. Where the answer is “not yet”, it says that instead.
Is my child really writing the book, or is Talebrix?
The machine does the writing and the drawing, and it has no story of its own to start from — so the book is made of what your child said and nothing that existed beforehand. What it is about, who is in it, where it happens, what goes wrong, how it ends, what it is called: they decide as much of that as they want to, and a four year old often says “a dragon one” and stops, in which case it writes the rest. What it will not do is write over something they did decide. That is the honest division of labour, and we would rather say it here than have you find it out afterwards.
Does Talebrix need a subscription?
No subscription is planned. Target launch prices are £149 including material for 4 books, then £15 per Story Pack of 4. Ink pricing and final pack contents will be confirmed before orders open.
What is a Story Pack?
Material for 4 books, inserted by a parent through the same bottom-front slot used to retrieve the finished book. The pack does not limit the setting or characters: those come from your child’s imagination. Woodland and Night are examples of story settings, not worlds you must buy to unlock.
Does my child need an app or an account?
No app or account is needed for the child. A parent sets up the device and its reading profiles. Children speak their ideas and choose between options on the touchscreen; the finished story is read as a printed book.
What can a Talebrix book be about?
Whatever they say — a bin lorry that goes to space, a detective who is also a cat, a spider who turns out to be polite. It is not a personalised version of somebody else’s story, and the writing is pitched at the age of whoever is listening. It handles the ordinary things too: starting school on Monday, or somebody being in hospital.
More questions
Do I have to make the story with my child?
Talebrix is designed primarily for children aged 3–8 to lead the story, with a parent nearby to help. Younger children can take part with a parent leading the activity. A parent handles setup and loading.
How is Talebrix different from a personalised book?
A personalised picture book puts a child’s name into a story somebody else wrote. This one has no story in it beforehand. The subject is whatever the child says it is, which is why the examples look like that — no publisher would print a book about a house that ran away because it had had enough, since there is a market of exactly one for it, sitting up in bed next to you.
How long does a book take to make?
We are aiming for a finished book in a few minutes. We have printed onto the book paper as a test, but the machine has not yet made a whole book from start to finish. We will say how long it really takes before launch.
What ages is Talebrix for?
Designed for children aged 3–8. Younger children can take part with a parent leading the activity. The reading examples include ages 1–2 for shared reading; they are not a claim that toddlers can operate the device independently.
What is a Talebrix book made of?
The planned format is a 26-page 148 × 210 mm portrait book using pre-bound blank books made with 250gsm smooth paper, printed page by page. The book itself is the same at every age; what changes with the reading level is the words, and how many there are on a page. We have not yet checked how well it stands up to months of bedtimes.
Is Talebrix a screen, then?
It has a 7-inch colour touch panel for choosing between story options. There is no scrolling feed. The finished story is read as a printed book.
When can I buy a Talebrix?
Not yet. We aim to start making them in June 2027. That depends on finishing the design, raising the money, the companies we will work with, and passing safety approvals. There is no delivery date yet. This page takes an email address rather than an order or a payment. Leave one and we will write to you when pre-orders open.
What happens to my email address?
It gets the two emails this page promises — one straight away to say it is on the list, and one when they are ready — and then nothing else. This website never asks for anything about a child — not a name, not an age, not a birthday — and the age demonstration on this site stores nothing and sends nothing.
Does Talebrix itself ask for anything about my child?
When a grown-up sets it up, it asks for a nickname and an age or reading level, never a birthday. To make a book, what your child says, the story and the pictures are worked out on computers over the internet rather than on the machine. We plan for recordings to be deleted, and for the companies we use to be barred from learning from them, and we will hold them to that before launch. This website collects nothing about your child.
First access
Join the families waiting for Talebrix
Join the list for first access when pre-orders open. We will email to confirm you are on the list, then once more when pre-orders open.
Two emails, and nothing about a child, ever. What we do with it