A reading app with no streaks
Your child collects stickers, and we count the days they read in a row. They can't lose either. A broken run starts again at one, nothing turns gray, and we keep a note of their longest run. We send nothing to your child, because the book itself should be the reason to open the app.
Things we decided against
We left each of these out on purpose, and we don’t plan to add them later. They are also written down in our promise about children.
A count your child can't lose
We count the days read in a row. If a run breaks, the count starts again at one, and we keep a record of your child's longest run. Nothing turns gray, and none of it is set as a target. Reading a book again helps, so we encourage it, and it earns a sticker of its own.
No notifications
We never send a message saying your child is falling behind, and we send nothing to your child. Our emails go to grown-ups: if nobody has read for 10 days we write once, and news from us comes if you said yes to it, and not otherwise.
No ads
We do not advertise to children, and we never sell what your child reads. To make a book, we pass it to the companies that write, draw and check it. None of them is allowed to train on it, and the privacy notice names each one.
No score
The questions at the end of a book ask what happened, why it happened and how it felt. We explain the answer whether your child got it right or not, and we never give a mark.
What happens when the daily limit is reached
Pip says it is time for a rest and offers no way to extend it. No countdown warns your child beforehand, there is no last chance, and they can’t earn more time. The limit stays where you set it.
Why twenty minutes a day is the part that matters
These findings are about reading in general and don’t come from TaleTykes. They are why we tried to build something your child wants to open without being reminded.
1.8m
A child will encounter about 1.8 million words per year by reading twenty minutes a day outside of school.
Anderson, Wilson and Fielding, 1988
3×
To what extent are children who take pleasure in reading more likely to read above the level appropriate for their age?
National Literacy Trust
4×
The amount of reading for pleasure that a child did at ten had a greater effect on their progress by sixteen than having a parent who had a university degree.
Sullivan and Brown, UCL Institute of Education, 2013
What gets a child there is a book they want to open again tomorrow. For a child who pushes every book away, there is more on when a child says they hate reading.
What a parent sees instead
We show you how many books were made, how many words were read, the measured level of each book on one chart, and the reading from the last two weeks. That is enough to tell whether the books are still the right size for your child.
Reading time is recorded when a book is closed, so no timer runs while your child reads. The levels are estimates of how hard the text is, and they don’t measure your child’s ability. Your child never sees that page, and none of it is set as a target.
Other things we don’t do
Learning from what your child enjoys is off until you turn it on, and turning it off again deletes what we learned. Pip speaks once when a screen opens and then stops, and never claims to be a friend, a pet or a person. One of us reads every book before it is put in front of another child, and nothing in the shared library starts for your child until you have agreed to the notice to parents that describes it. Offering books stays off for a reader unless you turn it on. The whole list is on how we keep it safe.
Questions
Then what brings a child back?
The book itself does. It is about what your child chose and written at the level they can actually read. When a book gets either of those wrong, that is usually what puts a child off. We can't promise your child will want to read, and a counter wouldn't make them want to either.
Is there anything to stop them reading all evening?
You can set a daily limit. When your child reaches it, Pip says it is time for a rest and offers no way to extend it. There is no way for a child to earn more time.
Do you track how much they read?
Yes, once a book is closed. We don't leave a timer running while they read. You see the total and your child doesn't, and none of it is a target.
Also worth reading
Last checked on September 25, 2026.
Product and company names on this page belong to their owners and are used to say which product is meant. TaleTykes is not affiliated with any of them, none of them has endorsed TaleTykes, and this page is not an endorsement of any product. Prices and offers change: any quoted here are as of the month shown, and the company’s own site has the current ones. If anything here has gone out of date, tell us at support@taletykes.com and we will correct it.
Make your first book tonight
You set up the account, and your child never gives an email address.