This is the quick, factual version of photo personalisation: what the feature actually needs from you, what it produces, and what happens to your photo afterwards. For the fuller explanation with more context, see the photo-to-storybook hub page.
In short: up to five photos in, a consistent illustrated character out, used only to generate your own child's pictures.
One clear, front-on photo is enough. Up to five, from different angles, improves accuracy — especially useful for a character who'll appear across several art styles.
An ordinary phone photo works; no professional photography or special lighting setup is required.
A style-agnostic written description of your child's stable identity — the input every illustration in every story is generated from, regardless of which of the eleven art styles you choose.
That description is what keeps your child recognisable from the cover to the last page, and consistent across separate stories too.
It's stored privately in your account, sent only to our AI providers to generate your own child's illustrations, and never used to train their models or sold or shared, under those providers' published API terms.
If you'd rather not upload a photo at all, a written description works as an alternative starting point instead.
No blank page, no writing or drawing skill needed — just a photo or a description, and a few simple choices.
Upload a photo for a true likeness, or describe your child, a toy or an invented character in words instead.
Choose a theme or type your own idea, set the reading age and writing style, and pick from eleven art styles.
A fully illustrated story appears in about a minute — read it, hear it read aloud, or print it as a keepsake.
The things a free chatbot won't do — the narration, the trust, and the keepsake.
The same lovable hero on every page, built from a single photo.
Soothing AI narration reads every story aloud, so they can listen and follow along on the iPad.
From 'read to me' to 'I can read', tuned to their age and ability.
Premium hardcovers and a growing library you'll keep for years.
Every story is moderated automatically and you see it before your child does. No ads, ever.
A point-and-click flow — magic without the wait or the work.
Free to preview — pick their look, their name, and watch it come to life in about a minute.
Photo to Storybook
Exactly how a photo becomes an illustrated hero at TurtleTime — multi-angle likeness, our safety approach, and examples across every art style.
Child as Main Character
The mechanics of how TurtleTime casts your child as the genuine protagonist — not a name insert, not a cameo. How it's built, step by step.
Personalised Children's Books
See how real personalisation works at TurtleTime — a genuine illustrated likeness of your child, not a preset avatar. Formats, pricing and FAQs, all in one place.
Custom Story Prompts
TurtleTime's free-text idea box lets you steer the story precisely — real names, real places, a specific ending. How to write a prompt that gets great results.
Personalised Audio Stories
Every TurtleTime storybook can be listened to, not just read — a warm, soothing narration of your child's own personalised story, hands-free.
Printed Storybooks
Turn any TurtleTime story into a real printed book — softcover or hardcover, five sizes, printed and shipped worldwide by our print partners.
Hardcover Storybooks
TurtleTime hardcovers are a genuine premium keepsake — durable covers, quality silk paper, sizes from pocket-sized to coffee-table scale.
Read-Aloud Storybooks
TurtleTime's read-aloud feature lets a child follow the words on screen while listening — a genuine support for building reading confidence, not just entertainment.
One is enough to start; up to five different angles are supported for the most accurate result.
No — an ordinary phone snapshot in reasonably good light works well; no professional photography is required.
No — it's used only to generate your own child's illustrations, never to train AI models, and never sold or shared, under our AI providers' published API terms.
You can describe your child in words instead, and a matching character will be designed from that description alone.
We built TurtleTimefor our own children first. Safety isn't a setting here — it's the whole point.
Create your child's first story free — in about a minute.
