Splash.
Ivy had one word and she said it over and over: splash. So the book is about an elephant who discovers puddles and a duck who shows her how. Six pages, one word each. Her parents have lost count of the readings somewhere past forty.
A shoebox that turns your child's ideas into a real book you read together
Your child talks. MirthTale writes the parts they leave open, prints the pages, and binds a picture book that comes out of the slot, ready for tonight's story, and tomorrow's, and the one after that.
Tonight's idea"A story about a fox"
What a Tuesday night looks like
Six minutes from an idea to a book on the shelf. No app opened, no screen read.
The idea
"A story about a fox who lost the moon." Said from under a blanket.
The button
You hold it, they talk. Who, what goes wrong, and maybe how it ends.
The cover
Their title and name on the small display while the pages print. Then it goes dark.
The book
Out of the slot, bound, warm. You read it aloud. They correct you twice.
Again
Same book, same voice. The fortieth reading is where the words stick.
Publishing needs thousands of readers. A child needs one.
Every children's book on a shelf was written for a crowd. The reader who matters most to your child is the one sitting next to them tonight. MirthTale is designed around that audience of one, which changes almost everything about how a book gets made.
The child leads
Who is in the story, what goes wrong, and how it ends are the child's decisions. There is no fixed script to follow and no menu to pick from.
MirthTale writes the gaps
We only write the parts your child leaves open. If they name a fox, a sister, and a detective cat, those are the characters. If they choose the ending, that ending is theirs.
You read it on paper
The finished story is printed and bound, and you read it aloud. The device shows the cover for a moment, then goes dark. The screen is never the book.
From an idea at bedtime to a bound book in your hands
Press and talk
One button. Your child says who is in the story and what happens, in their own words, with you beside them.
MirthTale fills in the rest
Using the chosen Story Pack world, it writes only what your child left open, keeping their characters, problems, and endings.
The cover appears, briefly
While the pages print, the small display shows the cover with your child's title and name. Then it goes dark.
The book comes out of the slot
Folded and sealed along the spine, sturdy enough for small hands, and yours to keep on the shelf.
Books that came out of the slot this week
Every one of these began as a sentence mumbled at bedtime. The child had the idea, MirthTale filled in what they left open, and by morning the book was on the shelf.
A Dragon, Slightly Afraid.
Theo wanted a dragon that was scared of a mouse. He did not say how it ended, so MirthTale wrote the part where the mouse shares its biscuit. Theo says that is the best page.
The Spider Who Was Very Polite
Amara's spider says please and thank you to everyone, and the problem is that nobody says it back. She chose the ending herself: the ladybird does, and then everyone does.
The Bin Lorry That Went to Space
Leo's bin lorry gets tired of Tuesdays and drives straight up. What goes wrong: it forgets the way home. Leo's sister, age 3, has her own three-page version of the same trip.
On Monday I Start School.
Noor made this the night before her first day. She is the hero, the cat came along uninvited, and the ending, in her words, was "I come home and it was fine."
When Nana Was in Hospital
Milo told MirthTale who was in it, Nana and a whale outside the window, and what was wrong. He asked MirthTale to write the ending. It did, gently. Nana keeps the book on her bedside table.
Why paper, and why together
We built MirthTale on a simple reading of the research: what helps children most is not clever content on a screen. It is a familiar book, a familiar voice, and the conversation that happens between the two.
More talk on paper
When adults read alongside a child, paper books tend to produce more story-related conversation, better comprehension, and stronger word learning than the same stories on a screen.
Repetition builds words
Children hearing the same story again and again learn new vocabulary better than children hearing a different story each time. The book you read tonight matters more tomorrow.
Turns beat word counts
The number of back-and-forth turns between an adult and a child predicts language growth more strongly than the sheer number of words a child hears.
We count turns, not words
The number of back-and-forth exchanges between an adult and a child predicts language growth more strongly than the sheer number of words a child hears. A book the child helped write is a book worth arguing about, and every argument is a turn.
- Why did the fox leave? A question with no answer in the text.
- Was that really the ending? They will have a view.
- What happens tomorrow? A question that turns tonight's book into next week's.
A book that survives being loved
What comes out of the slot is a real picture book: thick matte pages, a sealed spine that opens flat, a cover with their title and name. Built to be carried around the house, dropped, chewed, and re-read until the corners go soft.
Folded and sealedThick matte stockMouth-safe inksRecyclable
Three questions make a story theirs
MirthTale builds every book from whatever your child can already tell you. None of it is required, and all of it is kept.
Who is in it?
A hero, a friend, a villain, someone from your kitchen table.
a foxmy sistera detective catGrandma
What goes wrong?
Every story needs a problem, and children are excellent at inventing them.
the moon is missingthe boat flips overnobody can find the biscuits
How does it end?
If your child can say it, the ending is theirs. If they can't or won't, MirthTale writes one gently. We never press a child for details.
Grandma's Boat Goes Upside Down
written and illustrated withJonah, age 4
The child's title goes on the cover, with the child's name, whatever the story turns into.
Fifteen worlds. Your child picks the hero.
A Story Pack is a small physical insert that sets the world and its companion: the setting, the supporting cast, and one animal friend who turns up when needed. Your child still chooses who the hero is and what happens to them.
Same idea, different agesage 5
The fox looked up. The moon was gone. "I will find it," said the fox, and she packed a lantern and two biscuits.
One story, sized for every child in the house
Drag the age and MirthTale rewrites the same idea into a book for a two-year-old, a five-year-old, or a nine-year-old. Siblings can share an adventure and each get a book that fits them.
The screen is not the book
What MirthTale does
- Shows the cover while the book is being made, then goes dark
- Prints picture pages your child turns with their own hands
- Binds a book that survives being carried, dropped, and loved
- Leaves the reading to you, on paper, in your voice
What MirthTale never does
- No scrolling, no tapping, no hidden content behind the screen
- No autoplay narration or animated pages
- No account for your child and no app they need to open
- No pressure on a child to finish an idea they didn't have
Everything on the box, and nothing else
A button to talk, a dial for age, a slot for the book, a bay for the Story Pack, and a small display that shows a cover and goes dark. There is nothing to pair, update, or unlock.
One button
Listens only while held. A light shows when it is on.
One dial
Age 2 to 9. Move it and the next book is rewritten.
One slot
Where the finished book comes out, bound.
One bay
Physical Story Packs click in and out like cassettes.
0Story Pack worlds, each with a companion
2 to 9Ages the dial covers, one story for every child in the house
0Books from one paper refill, roughly, at age five
0Button. That is the whole interface
0Screens your child reads on
From the families testing it
Twelve families around Berlin have had a MirthTale on the nightstand since March. We asked them not to be polite.
She has one book she wants every night and it is about our neighbour's dog. I have read it maybe fifty times. She can say every word. I did not expect that from a box.
The screen going dark was the thing that sold me. He doesn't even look at it. He looks at the slot, waiting for the book, like it's toast.
My two argued about the ending for twenty minutes. The seven-year-old rewrote it the next night. That argument was the best conversation we had all week.
What we promise
The rules we wrote before we built anything, and which have not changed since.
- Their words stay theirs. Every character, problem, and ending a child gives is kept exactly. We write only what is left open.
- The screen is never the book. It shows a cover and goes dark. No scrolling, no hidden pages, nothing to tap.
- No pressure, ever. A child who cannot give an ending is never asked twice. MirthTale writes one, gently.
- Their name on the cover. The title is theirs, spelled the way they said it, whatever the story becomes.
- As little data as possible. We process a story to print it. No profiles, no training on children's voices.
Short guides for long evenings
Reserve your MirthTale
We are building the first run in Berlin. Join the list and we will write to you when yours is ready to ship, and never before.