The template
If you’re happy to answer a few prompts
$49 once
- The complete book and the studio
- A guided setup: one command, a few questions
- Under an hour, at your own pace
- Every feature on this page
Adding to it takes a minute
Real recordings of the studio, the private side only you can open, on a phone.
Add a moment
Pick photos or videos, write a few lines and save. The date fills in from the photo, and the moment lands in the right chapter.
Write a sealed letter
Choose their 12th, 16th or 18th birthday. Until then they see an envelope with a countdown. Not even you can open it from the book.
Log a checkup
Type it the way the doctor wrote it, like 3′10″ or 99.5 cm. It joins the growth chart.
Share with family
Choose a family code and send the link. Grandparents type the code once and their browser remembers it.
Why I made this
I built the first version for my own daughter. I wanted one place for her photos, her height at every checkup and letters she’ll read when she’s older, without ads, a subscription or a company holding it.
Little Storybook is that same book with our family taken out, so you can fill it with yours.
The parent who made Little Storybook
What’s inside
A chapter for every year
“The first year”, “The year you were five”. Every moment lands in its chapter by date, with how old they were that day.
How you grew
Heights and weights from checkups become a gentle chart, in inches or centimetres. Every measurement is listed underneath with their age that day.
Every birthday
All the birthdays on one page, with a countdown to the next one.
Letters for later
Write to them tonight, about who they are right now. Pick the birthday it opens on. Until then the book shows a sealed envelope and a countdown, and not even you can open it from the book.
Years from now, on that morning, the envelope opens.
And the small things
Made for your phone
Add it to your home screen and upload straight from your camera roll.
On this day
The cover shows what happened this week in earlier years.
No location in photos
GPS details are removed on your phone, before anything leaves it.
Face ID to write
Only you can add or change pages. There’s no password to leak.
Kept out of search
Search engines are told to stay away, and photos need the family code.
One-command backup
Every word, photo and video, copied to your computer.
How it works
Get the template
One payment, no subscription.
Set it up once
Type one command on your computer and answer a few questions. The setup does the rest. Or pick the setup call and we do it together.
Start adding moments
From your phone, whenever something happens. Family reads along with the code.
Why not just use an app?
| Little Storybook | Baby-journal apps | Shared photo albums | Social media | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | $49 once | Monthly or yearly subscription | Free until storage fills | Free, with ads |
| Ads | Never | Often on free plans | No | Yes |
| Who holds it | You, on your own account | The app company | Google or Apple | The platform |
| Reads like | A story, in chapters by age | A timeline | Albums by date | A feed |
| Growth chart and birthdays | Yes | Sometimes | No | No |
| Letters sealed for later | Yes | Rare | No | No |
| If the company closes | Your book keeps running | Export, if you can | Usually fine | Not applicable |
| Printed book | Not yet | Often | Yes | No |
Apps are easier to start, with nothing to set up. That’s the trade: under an hour once, or our setup call, for a book that’s yours.
Pay once. Keep it for good.
No subscription, ever. It costs less than one year of the baby-journal app subscriptions we compared.
Easiest
Template and setup call
If you’d rather not do the setup alone
$129 once
- Everything in the template
- We do the setup with you on a video call
- No computer skills needed
- You finish with the book live, Face ID on your phone and a family code ready to send
It isn’t on sale yet. Joining the waitlist is free, and we’ll email you once when it is.
What you get when you buy
- A downloadThe complete book and the studio, ready for your photos.
- The setup guideThe same step-by-step guide you can read on this site today.
- One setup commandIt asks a few plain questions and builds the book on your own account.
- A backup commandCopies every word, photo and video to your computer whenever you like.
With the $129 plan we also email you to pick a time for the call.
What it costs after you buy
- $0a month for your first 10 GB, roughly 20,000 photos
- about 60¢a month if you reach 50 GB
- $0to us after you buy, ever
Cloudflare’s free plan covers most families. The first 10 GB of photos and video are free, then about 1.5¢ per GB a month, so 50 GB is about 60¢ a month. Cloudflare asks for a card before it turns on storage. Nothing goes to us after you buy.
Questions
Do I need to be technical?
No. You install one free app, then open the Terminal app on your computer, type one command and answer a few plain questions, like what to call your book. The setup does the rest and tells you what it’s doing at each step. If that still sounds like too much, the $129 plan means we do it together on a video call.
What will it cost after I buy it?
Usually nothing. Cloudflare’s free plan covers the pages, the database and sign-in. The first 10 GB of photos and video are free, then about 1.5¢ per GB a month. Nothing goes to us after you buy.
Who can see it?
Only people you give the family code to. Search engines are told to stay out, and photos won’t load without the code. Only you can add or change things.
Can grandparents add photos?
Not yet. One person writes and family reads. You can sign in to the studio from more than one phone.
iPhone or Android?
Both. It’s a website you add to your home screen, and it works on computers too.
What happens if Little Storybook disappears?
Nothing happens to your book. It runs on your own Cloudflare account, and one backup command downloads every word, photo and video to your computer.
How much video can I add?
As much as you like. Clips are shrunk on your phone before they upload, so a one-minute video is usually 20 to 60 MB.
More than one child?
Each book is for one child. Set up a second book the same way, at no extra cost.
Can I print it?
Not yet. It’s on the list.
Can I use my own web address?
Yes. A domain costs about $10 a year, and the guide shows how to connect it.
Join the waitlist
It isn’t on sale yet. Leave your email and we’ll write once, when it is. No payment now.