A picture book where your child is the hero of a story they love, and practises one real skill along the way. For ages 2 to 8.A picture book where your child is the hero of a story they love.
Books start at R249. Nothing to pay until you’ve seen the cover.
Everyday ones are perfect, uploaded through a private link.
We draw them to look like themselves, and redo anything that doesn’t.
We send the cover and a spread. Nothing is printed until you say yes.
The trailer comes first, then the book at your door. We aim for 7 to 10 days after you approve the preview.
Nothing to pay until you’ve seen the cover.
Five classics, retold with your child as the hero. Each one practises a single skill.
The Wizard of Oz, 1900
A great wind carries them off a grey prairie and onto a golden road.
Practises counting to 12.
Estimate and count to at least 10 everyday objects reliablyThe CAPS wording for this skill. CAPS is our reference, not an endorsement.
Jack and the Beanstalk
A handful of beans grows overnight into a beanstalk above the clouds.
Practises number bonds to 10.
Practise number bonds to 10The CAPS wording for this skill. CAPS is our reference, not an endorsement.
Alice in Wonderland, 1865
They follow a white rabbit down a hole, where each door opens to the first sound of their name.
Practises the first sound of their name.
gives the beginning sound of own nameThe CAPS wording for this skill. CAPS is our reference, not an endorsement.
Peter Pan, 1911
They fly over Table Mountain at night and don’t come home till morning.
Practises saying how they feel.
how to express what I feelThe CAPS wording for this skill. CAPS is our reference, not an endorsement.
A South African folk tale
In the Karoo, they help a clever jackal and a hungry wolf learn to take turns.
Practises sharing and taking turns.
Waiting my turnThe CAPS wording for this skill. CAPS is our reference, not an endorsement.
Tell us what they can’t stop talking about. We’ll write an original story around it, set somewhere they know, from the Karoo to your own street.
Story for Me presents
Something brand new
Now starring Lerato
Set anywhere in South Africa, even your own street. Practises one real skill, chosen with you.
We’ll start your book with The Golden Road.
A book to hold and keep, with their face on every spread and a simple check on the last page.
The Golden Road
Then the wind came, and Lerato stepped onto the golden road.
That night, the sky above the road was full of stars, and the Southern Cross shone among them.
Count all seven stars with Lerato.
Hardcover: The Golden Road, starring Lerato. The last spread is the night sky over the road, with seven stars to count: the five of the Southern Cross, then its two Pointers, which show the way south.
Tap each star once and count out loud together.
Now cover the page and ask how many stars they counted. If they say seven without counting again, they’ve got it. If they start again from one, try another night.
On the cover, the spine and the bookplate, and in the story itself.
Chosen with CAPS as our reference. The Golden Road practises counting to 12.
A sample mock-up. Your book is drawn from your photos. Size, paper and finish are confirmed with our printer before you pay.
When the book is ready, their trailer comes to your phone, with their name in the title cards. It’s made for sending to Gogo and Ouma.
From a sample book: the narrator says Lerato, not your child’s name.
Every book practises one skill, chosen for their age. Here is how, with the research behind it.
Skills a book can practise, in the exact words of South Africa’s curriculum (CAPS), or of the early-learning framework (NCF) before Grade R.1
Exploring mathematics
Children show awareness of and are responsive to number and counting
The Golden RoadEach star lights up as they count
Towards Grade R
recognise own written name and names of others
Down the Rabbit HoleTheir name on every door
Identity and belonging
Children build strong relationships
Jakkals and WolfOne for you, one for me
Mathematics
Estimate and count to at least 10 everyday objects reliably
The Golden RoadCount the Southern Cross
Home Language
gives the beginning sound of own name
Down the Rabbit HoleA sound unlocks each door
Life Skills
how to express what I feel
Second to the RightBrave enough to say it
Mathematics
Practise number bonds to 10
Up the BeanstalkMake it ten, climb again
Life Skills
Waiting my turn
, Sharing
Jakkals and WolfFair shares, every time
Home Language
Recognises cause and effect in a story
Down the Rabbit HoleDrink me, and then what?
Mathematics
Practice number bonds to 20
Up the BeanstalkNow the clouds need twenty
Life Skills
Dealing positively with conflict
Jakkals and WolfA trick, and a fairer way
Life Skills
read and tell stories, sleep and dream
Second to the RightStraight on till morning
CAPS is our reference, and the Department of Basic Education doesn’t endorse us.
Children notice their own name from babyhood, remember more when it’s about them, and talk more about a book that stars them.2
The skill is part of the plot, so it comes back on several spreads before the check at the end.3
Asking questions as you read is one of the best-studied ways to grow a young child’s language. In Khayelitsha, families shown how to share books this way saw bigger gains in their toddlers’ language and attention.4
One thing they can show you, like counting the stars on the book above. Try it again a week later.5
Our books are new and haven’t been tested themselves, but the techniques inside them are well studied.
The school years
It’s about them
The skill drives the story
A page of questions for you
A small check at the end
Every format includes the trailer. Nothing to pay until you’ve seen the cover.
R249
Ebook and animated trailer
The whole book on any screen, easy to share with family.
R499
Printed book, plus digital
The everyday copy, for bedtime after bedtime.
Our pick for gifts
R699
Printed book, plus digital
The one to keep on the shelf.
R1,799a year
Four books a year, one skill each
A new story every three months. We agree the format and how you pay before the first book.
Prices in rand. Delivery within South Africa is quoted before you pay.
If yours isn’t here, email us at our email. We reply within 2 working days.
We work from 1 to 3 clear, everyday photos and match their face, skin tone and hair, along with details like glasses or freckles. You see it before anything is printed, and if it doesn’t look like them, we redo it.
Only a parent, legal guardian or someone else who may legally consent for the child can upload them, through a private link. We use them for one thing: your child’s book and trailer. They’re never used to train AI, never sold, and never used in our ads unless you say yes separately. Our illustration partners may process them outside South Africa, under contracts that forbid training and require deletion. If you ever have a complaint, you can also contact the Information Regulator (inforegulator.org.za).
Only a parent, legal guardian or someone else who may legally consent for the child can upload them, and we use them for one thing: your child’s book and trailer. We’ll explain exactly how they’re stored and deleted before we ask for any.
Only for as long as we need them. Within 30 days of delivering your book, we delete your photos, the pictures we drew of your child and their details, or sooner if you ask. For The Series, that’s 30 days after the last book. We don’t keep copies, so save your ebook and trailer. If you choose to keep the photos for your next book, they stay in your account, labelled with your child’s first name, until you delete them. If you cancel before your book is made, we delete your photos and your child’s details within 30 days. After that, all we keep is what the law requires for invoices, and your contact details if you’ve asked us for news.
We keep them only while we make your book, and we’ll tell you exactly when they’re deleted before we ask for any.
No. Ordering takes a few minutes: you tell us about your child and upload their photos, and nothing is charged. There’s nothing to pay until you’ve seen the cover. Then you pay through a secure link.You pay through a secure link before we print. You can cancel any time before paying.
We’ll deliver anywhere in South Africa, by courier to your door or to a pickup point. We’re aiming for 7 to 10 days after you approve the preview. The ebook and trailer reach your phone first, and we confirm dates and delivery costs before you pay. Christmas order dates will follow once our printer is confirmed.
Ages 2 to 8. Each book practises one skill chosen for their age, like counting the stars of the Southern Cross or the first sound of their name, and from Grade R up we choose it with CAPS as our reference. A page at the back gives you questions to ask as you read, and one simple check to try after the third read. Paediatricians recommend reading together from birth.1
Source 1: Klass, Miller-Fitzwater, High & AAP Council on Early Childhood (2024). Literacy promotion: an essential component of primary care pediatric practice. Pediatrics, 154(6), e2024069090. doi.org/10.1542/peds.2024-069090
Children already love them, and they’re in the public domain in South Africa, so we can retell them in our own words and pictures rather than any film’s. If your child is set on something else, tell us what they love and we’ll build an original adventure around it.
Yes, and Gogos, Oumas and godparents are very welcome. We’ll ask the child’s parent or guardian for the photos and their go-ahead before we make anything, and we can send it straight to the family with no prices in the parcel.
Yes. We make books in English, isiZulu, isiXhosa, Afrikaans and Sesotho. If there’s another language you’d like, tell us when you order.
We draw your child into the pictures and the trailer with AI, working from the photos you upload. You see every page before anything is printed.
