Storytime Guru

THANK YOU

The beta is over. Thank you for reading with us.

Storytime Guru is live on the App Store and Google Play. If you took part in the beta, your permanent access code is in your email: install the store version, open Settings, tap Educator & Tester Access, and enter it. The beta build stops working on November 2 on iPhone, or as soon as your Android app updates.

Already read with us? The post-beta survey below takes five minutes, and it is how we learn what to build next.

Take the post-beta survey →

GET IT ON YOUR PHONE

Two-minute setup.

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iPhone

Download Storytime Guru from the App Store, then open it.

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Android

Download Storytime Guru from Google Play, then open it.

HOW TO USE THE APP

Four easy steps.

Browse books and fill your bookshelf

Your bookshelf starts empty. Tap Browse and explore books sorted into twelve theme buckets, you decide what you want to read about with your child. Read the descriptions, scan the questions, and add a few to your shelf.

Identity, Inclusion & Belonging

Emotional Awareness & Regulation

Kindness & Social Relationships

Courage & Facing Fear

Forgiveness & Repair

Responsibility & Accountability

Rules, Authority & Boundaries

Change & Uncertainty

Perseverance & Work Ethic

Curiosity, Discovery & Learning

Friendship

Avoidance Behaviors

Your shelf or the library

Start with books you already own — scan a few of your child’s favorites to see if they’re in the app. Want more variety? Check out 2–3 from your public library, or add whatever catches your child’s eye: more by the same authors, some nonfiction, anything they love.

Prefer to buy? Shop the library →

Get familiar with your Storytime books

You don’t need your phone in hand while you read (though you can). Just having the themes and a few questions in mind is all it takes. The app tells you everything you need to know, so you can ask questions and talk together about what the book is exploring.

Read with your child (1–2 a week)

In a normal week of reading together, maybe one or two books come from the Storytime library, and you talk about those a little more. The other 90% of reading is for bonding, for fun, and for the sheer benefit of reading to a kid. Storytime isn’t for every book, maybe one in ten. That’s all.

For our beta testers

A quick before and after.

To learn whether the app actually changes how families read together, we ask the same short survey twice, once before you start, once at the end. It takes a few minutes and it’s the single most useful thing you can do for us. Thank you.

IF YOU HAVE A RELUCTANT READER

Keep the habit alive with something silly.

If your child is having trouble staying engaged, here are some highly engaging, funny, cute reads. These aren’t in the app, they’re just great for keeping a reading habit going.

Stuck — Oliver Jeffers

Grumpy Monkey — Suzanne Lang

The Couch Potato — Jory John

The Book with No Pictures — B.J. Novak

Dragons Love Tacos — Adam Rubin

Elephant & Piggie — Mo Willems

Skippyjon Jones — Judy Schachner

Dog Man — Dav Pilkey

Captain Underpants — Dav Pilkey

The Bad Guys — Aaron Blabey

Aaaarrgghh! Spider! — Lydia Monks

The Book That Eats People — John Perry

Oh No, George! — Chris Haughton

Non-fiction: cars, dinosaurs, animals…

Several Mo Willems titles are in the app, a good bridge for reluctant readers.

♥

Thank you.

We hope you find real value in it, keep using it, and share it with friends and family. Modeling the joy of reading and talking about books at home makes an enormous difference, and you’re making that happen.