at your own pace
Some stories need a gentler telling.
Tell us what your family is going through, in your own words. A person reads every one, and we shape the story with you, with your child as the one who is brave.
What families ask us for
Stories for the things that are hard to explain.
Adoption and foster care
The day you met, told the way your family tells it. Gotcha day, the first night home, or the family they came from.
Two homes
Two houses, two bedrooms, and one child who belongs in both. Nobody is the villain.
A new diagnosis
What changes, what stays the same, and who helps. In your words, with no promises we cannot keep.
Hearing aids, glasses, a chair
The new device, drawn exactly as it is, on a child who is the hero of the story.
A new sibling
For the big brother or big sister, before the baby arrives or after.
Saying goodbye
A grandparent, a parent or a pet. A quiet story about remembering them.
How we write them
Slowly, in your family’s own words.
We use the names you use: Mama and Mommy, gotcha day, the name of the hospital bear. You read the words before anything is painted, and you can change them twice.
Every family on this page is made up. We never show a customer’s photos, and yours are deleted 30 days after you approve your cast.
What these books are not
A story, not a treatment.
We are storytellers, not therapists, and these books are not therapy. They are a way to start a conversation. If your family works with a therapist, a social worker or a child life specialist, they are welcome to read the story before we paint it.
We do not write stories that
- blame or mock a parent, a co-parent or anyone else
- make medical claims, or promise to heal or treat anything
- include real people from outside your family
- include children who are not your own
Price
A gentle story is a custom story.
$129 plus $6.99 shipping, with the hardcover and the digital edition. What a custom story includes.
What happens to our photos?
They are used for your book and nothing else. We delete them 30 days after you approve your cast, or the day you ask. We never use them to train AI, and we never make face scans from them. We keep the drawn characters so a reprint is easy, and you can ask us to delete those too.
Are the gentle stories therapy?
No. They are picture books, not treatment. They are a way to start a conversation, with your child as the one who is brave. If your family is working with a therapist or a child life specialist, they are welcome to read the story before we paint it.
Is there anything you will not write?
We do not write stories that blame or mock a parent or anyone else, make medical claims, include real people outside your family, or include children who are not yours. If a request crosses one of those lines, we will tell you and suggest another way to tell it.