The Story Behind Lulaby

It Started with Missing Bedtime Stories

I'm a dad. I work in the office two weeks every month, far from home, far from my 5-year-old daughter Alula. Those nights away, I'd call and ask her about her day — but phone calls with a five-year-old are... short. She'd say "good" and run back to playing.

I missed so much. The silly things that happened at school. The games she invented. The elaborate stories she made up about her stuffed animals having tea parties on the moon.

So I Built Something

I built a simple app where Alula could tell me her stories. She'd describe her day — or make up an adventure — and the app would turn it into a little illustrated book I could read from anywhere. It was like having a window into her world, even when I was hundreds of miles away.

Then Something Amazing Happened

Alula started reading her own stories back to herself. The words were hers. The characters looked like her. And because she had created the story, she wanted to read it. She was learning to read through her own words, and she didn't even realize it.

Now It's Her Favorite Thing

Now she creates books about everything. Her day at school. Adventures with Bluey and Cinderella. Completely wild stories where dinosaurs bake cupcakes and cats drive race cars. Each one is a little piece of her that I get to keep forever.

Why I'm Sharing It

Every child has stories worth keeping. And every parent deserves to hear them — whether they're sitting on the couch together or reading from a hotel room across the country.

I'm sharing Lulaby with other families for free because I believe this little app can do for your family what it's done for mine: bring you a little closer together, one story at a time.

— The Dad Behind Lulaby 💜