We are building the greatest language learning tool, ever (for children).
When I tell people I read children’s books for a living, I usually get a little laugh out of them.
“Haha, are you serious?” is the typical reply.
But then I go on to explain myself. Really what I’m doing is building the greatest language learning tool ever, using the magic of children’s books. I know the odds of success are slim, but that’s not going to stop my team or myself from trying. We truly believe that what we are doing is going to have a substantial impact on the future success of children all around the world, and that is why I have no doubt that we will at least make a dent. We have a hell of a lot of passion and that this is what makes us different. But even though we have the undying drive, ambition, and passion it takes to be successful, we are still playing a game. In order to beat everyone else and get past level one, we need to create the future that people actually need. No filters, no binge watching, no more complacency, just being different and focusing on what’s important. I say this because society is creating a future that illustrates humans being in constant motion, hidden behind our devices all the time. If that’s the case, let’s create a future of good behaviors and habits that children can be born into, and not the ones most people are currently accustomed to. I’m guilty of these bad habits myself. All too often I find I’ve watched 5 episodes on Netflix in rapid succession without really knowing it, or I go back to check Instagram even though I just checked it 5 minutes ago. It happens. I blame it on not having a good tech foundation as a kid. But I really couldn’t develop even that! The only computer that I had access to as a kid was an old Dell Dimension in my parents’ office. Times are much different now. At The Storybook Factory, we envision a future where instead of parents giving their child an iPad to get them out of their hair and play Angry Birds, they will give them the iPad knowing that their child is exploring new worlds, learning how to read and have their creativity jump-started in an educational and fun way.
I started my company with the goal of making reading easier and more accessible in hopes that more children would acquire a new passion for it. As my team and I continue to grow towards the grander vision, we’ve realized all these new opportunities that we overlooked in the beginning. One major aspect being language learning. Like I said, we started by making it easier to read, but by making it easier to read, we’ve actually developed a tool that helps children learn to read. In fact, we’ve created what I would say is the greatest language learning tool, ever. Words are now easier to understand and comprehend, ideas are easier to communicate, and most importantly, a child’s confidence drastically excels when reading. No longer is reading a daunting or stressful task.
After doing plenty of beta testing, the results were resoundingly successful and the feedback has helped us tremendously. Ultimately, the site needs to be designed with the ideals of a young user in mind and include the core fundamentals of an engaging platform that keeps kids attracted and excited. I thoroughly covered this in another blog, but it was the beta feedback that helped shaped this, as well as many other major points of the site. If you are interesting in getting on board early, I highly suggest signing up for a free beta account here using the codeword: ‘pineapple’ 🍍.
We’ve tweaked, tested, and polished every feature of the site and are proud to say that The Storybook Factory is just about ready for launch! On May 24th, we plan to release our service to the entire world and we could not be more excited. Although, it really couldn’t of been done without our dedicated team members who have all stayed up until the early morning of the next day more than once to finish a part of the site. I’m truly humbled by all the ridiculously impressive work we’ve been able to accomplish since our early beginnings as a YouTube channel. I speak for the team as well as myself when I say this, but there is no other product like us out there and I think the future would be better with us in it. Pretty soon the world will tell us if we’re right.
