Your first evening making a Talebrix book

How the evening goes

1. Step 1

   Start it together

   Choose the child's profile, then let them press the red button and say what they want a story about. Anything at all is an answer: a bin lorry, a cat who is a detective, starting school on Monday.

2. Step 2

   Answer the questions in their words

   The machine asks a short list of questions, one at a time. A child can answer by touching one of the paintings on the screen or by pressing the button and saying something else.

   If they would rather you held the button, hold it. What matters is whose words go in.

3. Step 3

   Wait

   When the questions run out, the book is written and drawn. The design target is a few minutes, about as long as brushing teeth.

4. Step 4

   Look at the cover together

   The cover comes up on the screen with the title and the child's name as the author. Nothing is printed until the button is pressed, so this is the moment to look at it.

5. Step 5

   Print it, and read it

   Press the button and the book is printed page by page, then comes out of the slot at the front. The first reading is the best part, and it is the reason the evening is worth doing.

Helping without deciding

Ask, do not suggest

“And then what?” and “who else is there?” keep a story going without putting your idea in it. A suggestion from a grown-up tends to become the answer.

Say back what they said

A young child often knows what they mean and not how to say it. Saying it back more clearly, in their words, is translating, not deciding.

Let a short answer stand

“A dragon one” is a whole answer. Whatever is left out is filled in when the story is written, and what the child did decide is not written over. The more they say, the more of the book is theirs.

Let it be silly

A spider who turns out to be polite is a better book than the one a grown-up would have chosen, because nobody else would ever have made it.

With a younger child

Talebrix is designed for children to lead the story, with a grown-up nearby. A younger child can still take part with the grown-up leading: point at the paintings, ask which one, and let the child choose.

Questions families ask

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 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.

How this page is kept true

Every number on this page is read from the same facts the rest of the site uses, so when a fact changes the page changes with it. The date at the top changes only when a person has read the page against the product.

• 5 November 2026 First published.