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Your words Β· Our illustrations

The story you tell at bedtime,
made into a real book.

Paste in a tale you made up, a family story, or the one grandpa always tells. You choose how much our editor may touch it and see every change side by side. Then we illustrate every page β€” to read on screen or printed as a hardcover. Your words stay yours.

Turn Your Story Into a BookHow does it work?

Free to paste, edit, and preview page by page. You only pay when you're ready for illustrations.

Kai finding his lost hamster Pebbles in a cave by flashlight, comic book style
Marcus reaching the mountain summit with arms wide open, Pixar 3D style
Grandma Rose bringing a basket of seeds to the garden, watercolor illustration
Ezra opening the puzzle box as golden light spills out, vintage illustration

Real pages from real StoryBuilder books ✦

  • Your words stay yours
  • See every edit side by side
  • Free to edit & preview
  • 8.5β€³ Γ— 8.5β€³ hardcover

How it works

You bring the story.
We bring it to life.

From your first paragraph to a finished book β€” here's exactly what happens, and what's free.

  1. You, a few minutesFree

    Paste your story

    A bedtime tale you made up, a family story, the one grandpa always tells. A few paragraphs is plenty β€” type it or paste it in, and tell us the reader's age.

  2. You pickFree

    Choose how much we may touch it

    From fixing typos only to a full rhyming retelling β€” you set the limit. Our editor works inside it.

    • Preserve my words β€” Fixes typos, spelling, and punctuation only. Your voice, sentence by sentence.
    • Gentle polish β€” Keeps your story and voice, smooths awkward phrasing and grammar like a copy editor would.
    • Storybook voice β€” Reshapes your text into warm read-aloud picture-book prose while keeping every plot point.
    • Rhyming verse β€” Retells your story in rhythmic rhyming verse, keeping characters and events intact.
    • Simplify for age β€” Shortens sentences and simplifies vocabulary so the target age can follow along.
  3. You reviewFree

    See every change, side by side

    Your original next to the edited version, with a plain list of what changed. Not quite right? Try another editing style.

  4. You previewFree

    See it laid out, page by page

    We split your story into picture-book pages and plan the scene for each one. Then you pick one of 10 art styles.

  5. About 30–45 min

    We illustrate every page

    Once you're happy with the words and the layout, we illustrate every page in the style you chose. We'll email you when your book is ready to read.

  6. 7–10 business days

    A hardcover, if you want one

    Order a printed 8.5β€³ Γ— 8.5β€³ hardcover and our print partner ships it to your door, or straight to the person it's for. Delivery typically takes 7–10 business days after printing starts; the exact estimate depends on the shipping option you pick.

Pasting, editing, and page layout: free. Illustration: about 30–45 minutes once you've paid.
Hardcovers typically arrive 7–10 business days after printing starts.

Start With Your Story

103 illustrations from 5 sample books

Every Page, Every Style

Scroll through every illustrated page of our sample books β€” 5 stories in 5 different art styles.

Kai and the Hidden Cave

CourageComic Book
Kai and the Hidden Cave, page 1
Kai and the Hidden Cave, page 3
Kai and the Hidden Cave, page 4
Kai and the Hidden Cave, page 5
Kai and the Hidden Cave, page 6
Kai and the Hidden Cave, page 7
Kai and the Hidden Cave, page 8
Kai and the Hidden Cave, page 9
Kai and the Hidden Cave, page 10
Kai and the Hidden Cave, page 11
Kai and the Hidden Cave, page 12
Kai and the Hidden Cave, page 13
Kai and the Hidden Cave, page 14
Kai and the Hidden Cave, page 15
Kai and the Hidden Cave, page 16
Kai and the Hidden Cave, page 17
Kai and the Hidden Cave, page 18
Kai and the Hidden Cave, page 19
Kai and the Hidden Cave, page 20
Kai and the Hidden Cave, page 21
Kai and the Hidden Cave, page 22

Suki and the Quiet Garden

PeaceMinimalist
Suki and the Quiet Garden, page 1
Suki and the Quiet Garden, page 3
Suki and the Quiet Garden, page 4
Suki and the Quiet Garden, page 5
Suki and the Quiet Garden, page 6
Suki and the Quiet Garden, page 7
Suki and the Quiet Garden, page 8
Suki and the Quiet Garden, page 9
Suki and the Quiet Garden, page 10
Suki and the Quiet Garden, page 11
Suki and the Quiet Garden, page 12
Suki and the Quiet Garden, page 13
Suki and the Quiet Garden, page 14
Suki and the Quiet Garden, page 15
Suki and the Quiet Garden, page 16
Suki and the Quiet Garden, page 17
Suki and the Quiet Garden, page 18
Suki and the Quiet Garden, page 19
Suki and the Quiet Garden, page 20
Suki and the Quiet Garden, page 21
Suki and the Quiet Garden, page 22

Marcus and the Mountain Trail

ResiliencePixar-style 3D
Marcus and the Mountain Trail, page 1
Marcus and the Mountain Trail, page 3
Marcus and the Mountain Trail, page 4
Marcus and the Mountain Trail, page 5
Marcus and the Mountain Trail, page 6
Marcus and the Mountain Trail, page 7
Marcus and the Mountain Trail, page 8
Marcus and the Mountain Trail, page 9
Marcus and the Mountain Trail, page 10
Marcus and the Mountain Trail, page 11
Marcus and the Mountain Trail, page 12
Marcus and the Mountain Trail, page 13
Marcus and the Mountain Trail, page 14
Marcus and the Mountain Trail, page 15
Marcus and the Mountain Trail, page 16
Marcus and the Mountain Trail, page 17
Marcus and the Mountain Trail, page 18
Marcus and the Mountain Trail, page 19
Marcus and the Mountain Trail, page 20
Marcus and the Mountain Trail, page 21
Marcus and the Mountain Trail, page 22

Lily and the Broken Music Box

ForgivenessWatercolor
Lily and the Broken Music Box, page 1
Lily and the Broken Music Box, page 3
Lily and the Broken Music Box, page 4
Lily and the Broken Music Box, page 5
Lily and the Broken Music Box, page 6
Lily and the Broken Music Box, page 7
Lily and the Broken Music Box, page 8
Lily and the Broken Music Box, page 9
Lily and the Broken Music Box, page 10
Lily and the Broken Music Box, page 11
Lily and the Broken Music Box, page 12
Lily and the Broken Music Box, page 13
Lily and the Broken Music Box, page 14
Lily and the Broken Music Box, page 15
Lily and the Broken Music Box, page 16
Lily and the Broken Music Box, page 17
Lily and the Broken Music Box, page 18
Lily and the Broken Music Box, page 19
Lily and the Broken Music Box, page 20

Ezra and the Garden of Questions

WisdomVintage
Ezra and the Garden of Questions, page 1
Ezra and the Garden of Questions, page 3
Ezra and the Garden of Questions, page 4
Ezra and the Garden of Questions, page 5
Ezra and the Garden of Questions, page 6
Ezra and the Garden of Questions, page 7
Ezra and the Garden of Questions, page 8
Ezra and the Garden of Questions, page 9
Ezra and the Garden of Questions, page 10
Ezra and the Garden of Questions, page 11
Ezra and the Garden of Questions, page 12
Ezra and the Garden of Questions, page 13
Ezra and the Garden of Questions, page 14
Ezra and the Garden of Questions, page 15
Ezra and the Garden of Questions, page 16
Ezra and the Garden of Questions, page 17
Ezra and the Garden of Questions, page 18
Ezra and the Garden of Questions, page 19
Ezra and the Garden of Questions, page 20
Ezra and the Garden of Questions, page 21
Ezra and the Garden of Questions, page 22

No story written yet?

Make your child the hero instead

Tell us about your child and pick a value you'd like the story to carry β€” courage, kindness, forgiveness β€” and we'll write an original story around them. You see the story concept (title, characters, page-by-page outline) free before you pay. The sample books above were made this way.

Make a personalized book

β€œWhy do I pay before seeing the finished book?”

You see almost everything first. Pasting your story, choosing an editing style, reviewing every change, and seeing it laid out page by page are all free β€” you've approved the words and the layout before you pay anything.

Illustration is the part that costs us real money: every page is drawn from scratch for your story, which takes about 30–45 minutes of work. So that's the one step we ask you to pay for up front. (Making a personalized book instead? Its story concept is free to see before you pay, too.)

Simple, up-front pricing

Pasting, editing, and laying out your book costs nothing. You only pay when you're ready for us to illustrate it.

  • Your story, in the words you approved
  • An illustration for every page of your story, in the art style you pick
  • Free editing and a page-by-page layout preview before you pay
  • A digital edition (PDF) of the finished book
  • Optional 8.5β€³ Γ— 8.5β€³ hardcover, professionally printed
  • Ship it to your door β€” or straight to the person it’s for

Digital edition

from $2.99

The fully illustrated book to read online and download as a PDF.

Digital + hardcover

from $34.99

Everything in the digital edition, plus a printed hardcover. Already bought the digital edition? What you paid counts toward the upgrade.

Start With Your Story

Price depends on your book's page count. You'll see the exact total β€” including any shipping or tax β€” before you pay.

A note from us

StoryBuilder is new, and you're one of the first people to see it. We built it because so many of the best family stories never get written down β€” the made-up bedtime ones, the β€œwhen your grandpa was little” ones β€” and we think they deserve a place on the shelf.

We don't have reviews to show you yet, so we won't pretend to. If you make a book, we'd genuinely love to hear how it went β€” what worked, what didn't, what confused you. hello@story-builder.ai reaches us directly.

Every family has a story worth keeping.

Paste in the one you already tell, and see it edited your way and laid out page by page β€” before you spend a cent.

Start With Your Story

Free account Β· No credit card needed until illustration