Once Upon Us Join early access

Picture books from your family's real days

Once upon today.

Pick a few photos from a day you loved, or dream one up. By bedtime it's a picture book starring your kids, painted in classic storybook styles and read aloud, with a gentle lesson tucked inside.

Join early access

First book free. Works on iPhone, iPad and Mac today.

Pip and Wren walk hand in hand up the steps of a grand old seaside aquarium, painted in soft watercolor.

Pip, Wren and the Very Gentle Octopus

For Pip and Wren, after our day at the aquarium.

Cover · Hedgerow A sample story about two made-up kids. Drag or tap the page to turn it.

How it works

From the camera roll to the bookshelf.

Three steps, a few minutes, and one very excited audience.

  1. Choose a few photos from the day: the aquarium, the octopus, the bus ride home. Say who's in it, add a line about what happened, and pick a lesson if there's one you're working on.

  2. Once Upon Us writes the story around your real day and paints each page, with your kids drawn the same way every time. It takes a few minutes, and you can close the app while it works.

  3. Tap read. The book narrates every page, turns by itself, and gets a little dimmer and calmer on the way to goodnight.

Recorded in the app

This is the real thing, start to finish.

The create flow as it works today, on a phone-sized screen: the day's photos and a line about it, who's in it, a little lesson, the look, and “Make it!”. The family is made up; the photos were made for this page.

  1. What did we do?
  2. Who's in it?
  3. Any little lesson?
  4. How should it look?
  5. Ready when you are

Your kids, in every style

Same kids. Every page. 10 ways to paint them.

From Edwardian watercolor to felt and wool, every style is a classic of the picture-book shelf. And whichever you choose, Pip still looks like Pip.

Pip and Wren share a basket of strawberries under an oak tree, painted in the Hedgerow style.

Hedgerow Edwardian watercolor and fine ink, like the little books of the English countryside.

How they stay recognizable

Before the first page, Once Upon Us draws each child from a few of your photos, once in every style, the way an illustrator sketches a character sheet. Every page is painted with those sheets in hand, so curls stay curly, cheeks stay rosy and skin tones stay true, on page one, on page ten, and in next month's book.

Sheets are made from your photos and stay private to your family. Pip and Wren here are made up, drawn from a description.

Character sheet: Pip, a curly-haired three-year-old in an orange t-shirt, drawn from the front and in three-quarter view.
Pip · character sheet
Character sheet: Wren, a two-year-old with strawberry-blonde curls and a yellow raincoat, drawn from the front and in three-quarter view.
Wren · character sheet

Or let every page choose

“A mix of styles” gives each page the art that suits it best: bright gouache for the big adventure, moonlit for goodnight. Here's the octopus book, page by page.

  1. Hedgerow
  2. Sunlit Gouache
  3. Paper Diorama
  4. Cozy Pencil
  5. Tissue Collage
  6. Felt & Wool
  7. Moonlit

Hands-free

Shout “again!” and it reads it again.

Little voices run the show. Anyone in the family can turn the page, hear the good part one more time, or pick tonight's story, just by asking.

  1. “Again!”The page starts over, pictures and all.
  2. “Next page!”The page turns.
  3. “Read the train one.”It finds the story on the shelf and opens it.

Also works:

  • “Go back”
  • “Start over”
  • “Stop” · “Keep going”
  • “Show me all the stories”
  • “The end”

Voice is off until you switch it on, and it only listens on the shelf and inside a book. The everyday commands act the instant they're heard. Once Upon Us never records or keeps the audio. The screen on the left is an animated re-creation; the captions are the app's own words.

Lessons, woven in

The lesson lives inside the story.

Working on gentle hands? Sharing? The potty? Pick a lesson, or write your own, and it becomes part of the plot, shown through what the characters do. Never a lecture tacked on at the end.

  • Gentle hands
  • Sharing
  • Kind to your sibling
  • Taking turns
  • Using words for big feelings
  • Saying sorry
  • Trying new foods
  • Bedtime routine
  • Potty time
  • Being brave
  • Listening ears
  • Cleaning up
  • Waiting patiently
  • Saying thank you
  • Or your own
Pip gently guides Wren's hand to stroke an orange starfish at the touch pool while a keeper smiles.

At the touch pool, Wren wanted to grab the starfish. Pip showed her how. Gentle hands, soft as a bunny.

Tissue-paper collage: a smiling starfish lifts one arm to Wren's fingertip.

The starfish felt so happy, it wiggled one little toe. Wren giggled. Gentle hands make friends!

  1. 1Shown, not told. The big brother does the gentle thing, so she can copy it.
  2. 2A little phrase to repeat. Kids pick it up and say it at the petting zoo.
  3. 3A happy ending for the good choice, so it sticks.

Made for bedtime

It gets sleepier as it goes.

After six, the whole app turns to lamplight. The book reads each page, turns by itself, and dims a little more with every page, all the way to goodnight.

  • Turns its own pages

    The narration ends, there's a breath, and the page turns. Nobody has to hold the phone.

  • Dims as it goes

    Each page is a little darker and warmer than the last, so the room winds down with the story.

  • “That's all for tonight”

    Set how many stories a night. When they're done, the book says goodnight so you don't have to.

  • Grown-up gates

    Settings and edits open with a press-and-hold, so small hands stay in the story.

  • Reads offline

    Any story you've opened once reads again in the car, on a plane, or at grandma's.

  • Screen stays awake

    While a story is reading, the screen stays on. No fumbling for the phone in the dark.

Change anything

Tell it what to change.

Every book stays editable. Ask for something new in plain words, redraw a single picture, or take the whole day to outer space. Nothing is lost: earlier versions are a tap away.

Theo and June fly a red kite on a windy hilltop meadow. Version 1

Change something

Add a little fox who wants a turn with the kite.
✦ Make the changePages you don't mention stay just as they are.

Remix · Where to this time?

🚀 Outer space🐠 Under the sea🦕 Dinosaur land🏔️ Snowy mountain🍄 Enchanted forest

History

  • Revise with a sentence

    “Add a page where Wren feeds the fish.” Pages you don't mention stay exactly as they are.

  • Redo one page

    A new picture, new narration, or both, for just the page that needs it.

  • Remix the day

    Same stars, a whole new adventure: outer space, under the sea, dinosaur land.

  • Nothing gets lost

    Restore any earlier version, or bring back a story you deleted.

Privacy & safety

Their pictures stay in the family.

Here's what happens to what you share, in plain words.

  • Private to your family

    Photos, character sheets, pages and narration sit in private storage and are only shown to your signed-in family. Nothing is public.

  • Never used to train AI

    We don't train models on your family, and the AI services we use don't train on what we send them through their business APIs.

  • Voice is heard, not kept

    The mic is off until you switch it on, and it only listens on the shelf and in a book. Once Upon Us never records or stores the audio.

  • Delete it for good

    Remove any photo, person or story whenever you like. Deleting a story for good removes its pictures and narration too. “Delete everything” in Family settings wipes every photo, drawing, story and recording at once.

  • Honest about AI

    Stories are written, illustrated and narrated with AI, and we'd rather say so plainly. Claude, by Anthropic, writes them. OpenAI's models paint and narrate.

  • Gentle by design

    Every picture is asked to be warm and safe for a two-year-old: kids always fully dressed, no bath or bathroom scenes, nothing scary.

Early access pricing

Start with a free book.

This is the plan for early access. We'll confirm it with you before you pay a thing.

Your first book

Free

A whole book, painted and read aloud. No card needed.

Most families

Monthly

$9.99/ month

  • 8 new books every month
  • Read them as often as you like
  • Revisions and remixes count as half a book
  • Voice, bedtime mode and offline reading

Yearly

$79/ year

Everything in monthly, for about $6.58 a month.

Printed hardcovers

Coming soon

Order any story as a real printed hardcover. Grandparents tend to like these.

Planned prices in US dollars, and they may change before launch. We'll always remind you before anything renews.

Questions

Good questions.

A mouse in a nightcap holds a candle beside an empty bookshelf.
What does it work on?

iPhone, iPad and Mac, today. It runs in the browser and can be added to your home screen like an app. Native apps for iPhone, iPad and Mac are being built.

How long does a book take to make?

A few minutes. You can close the app while it paints; the book lands on your shelf when it's ready.

How long are the stories?

Short (6 pages), medium (10) or long (14). They're written for little listeners, with short sentences, sound words and phrases worth repeating.

Do I have to use photos?

No. Choose make-believe and describe any adventure you like. Photos just make it feel like your day.

What ages is it for?

It's written for toddlers and preschoolers, roughly two to six. Older siblings tend to want in anyway.

Who's in the stories?

The kids you choose, plus any grown-ups you add. Everyone else is made up: friendly animals, helpful trucks, the odd gentle octopus.

Is it made with AI?

Yes. Claude, by Anthropic, writes each story from your photos and notes. OpenAI's image and voice models paint the pages and read them aloud. We never train AI on your family.

Can grandparents see the books?

Not yet. A read-only link for grandparents and printed hardcovers are both on the way.

What happens to our photos?

They're stored privately for your family and used to make your books. You can delete them whenever you like, including once the character sheets are made. More on privacy.

When can we start?

Join the list below. We're letting families in a few at a time and will email you when your spot is ready.

A rabbit and a hedgehog read a picture book together under an old tree at sunset.

Early access

Be one of the first families.

We're opening a few families at a time. Your first book is free.

Kids' ages optional

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