Pip, Wren and the Very Gentle Octopus
For Pip and Wren, after our day at the aquarium.
Picture books from your family's real days
Once upon our day.
Describe a day you loved, or dream up an adventure. By bedtime it's a picture book starring your kids, painted in classic storybook styles and read aloud, with a gentle lesson tucked inside.
Free early access in your browser. iPhone beta by invitation. Get the app.
Preview features below include photos and hands-free voice, which are not available to early-access families yet.
How it works
From the camera roll to the bookshelf.
Three steps, a few minutes, and one very excited audience.
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Describe the day: the aquarium, the octopus, the bus ride home. Photo input is shown here as a preview. Say who's in it, add a line about what happened, and pick a lesson if there's one you're working on.
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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.
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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.
A preview of the create flow, 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.
- What did we do?
- Who's in it?
- Any little lesson?
- How should it look?
- 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.
How they stay recognizable
Photo-based characters are a preview. Early-access families currently start from text.
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.
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.
Hedgerow
Sunlit Gouache
Paper Diorama
Cozy Pencil
Tissue Collage
Felt & Wool
Moonlit
Hands-free · feature preview
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. Hands-free voice is not available to early-access families yet.
- “Again!”The page starts over, pictures and all.
- “Next page!”The page turns.
- “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
At the touch pool, Wren wanted to grab the starfish. Pip showed her how.1 Gentle hands, soft as a bunny.2
The starfish felt so happy, it wiggled one little toe. Wren giggled. Gentle hands make friends!3
- 1Shown, not told. The big brother does the gentle thing, so she can copy it.
- 2A little phrase to repeat. Kids pick it up and say it at the petting zoo.
- 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.
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Turns its own pages
The narration ends, there's a breath, and the page turns. Nobody has to hold the phone.
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Dims as it goes
Each page is a little darker and warmer than the last, so the room winds down with the story.
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“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.
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Grown-up gates
Settings and edits open with a press-and-hold, so small hands stay in the story.
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Before a trip
Offline support is still being tested. Try your book with the connection off before leaving. Reading help.
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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.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
The details, in plain words: Privacy policy · Terms
Early access pricing
A few stories, on us.
We're inviting families a few at a time to help shape what comes next.
Available now · by invitation
Free early access
$0
- 4 new books per family each calendar month
- 12 changes per month
- Read completed books again and again
- No payment card required
A small beginning
Start with text or an imagined adventure. Photos and hands-free voice are not available to early-access families yet.
Premium is coming
Paid plans are being prepared and are not on sale yet. Joining the list does not start a subscription.
New stories and remixes use a book allowance; revisions and repaints use a change. Allowances reset monthly in UTC.
Questions
Good questions.
What does it work on?
The web app works on phones, tablets and computers for invited families. The iPhone app is in a private TestFlight beta and the Mac app is in development. Find your app and setup instructions.
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. Early access currently starts from text. Choose make-believe and describe an adventure; photos remain unavailable while privacy work is completed.
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 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. Read-only sharing and printed books are ideas we are exploring; neither has a launch date.
What happens to our photos?
Photos are currently disabled for early-access families. The photo demos on this site use fictional children. Read the privacy policy for storage and deletion details.
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.
Early access
Be one of the first families.
We're opening a few families at a time. Early access is free.
You're on the list.
We'll write when your spot opens. Sweet dreams until then.