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The gift of a life story

Their stories. Their voice. A book to keep.

Every week Storyvelle asks your mother, father or grandparent one question – on the phone, by voice message or by email. After a year, their answers become a beautiful printed book, with a QR code under every story that plays their own voice.

Give a life bookTry it for free
  • No smartphone needed
  • Printed hardcover, shipped worldwide
  • From £129

Listen to Grandad Arthur

Born 1938 in Whitby, Yorkshire · answering “What do you remember about your father coming home from the sea?”

Fictional narrator · synthetic demo voice

See it in 76 seconds

Sit back for a moment and see how one question a week becomes a book full of stories – in their own voice.

How it works

Three steps to a book that speaks

  1. Give it in five minutes

    Choose who it is for and how they like to talk. You can start right away or on a date of your choice – they receive a lovely card, printable or animated.

  2. One question a week

    A friendly interviewer calls, or they answer by voice message, email or on printed question cards. The family can add questions, photos and little messages.

  3. A book with their voice

    Answers become gently edited stories – nothing invented, the original recording is always kept. The book is laid out by chapters of life, with photos and a QR code under every story.

No smartphone needed

Just a phone call – even on the landline

At a time that suits them, a calm interviewer rings. It says clearly that it is an AI voice, asks the question of the week, listens patiently and asks one or two curious follow-up questions. It can also read out messages from the family. Or they call a local number whenever they feel like it.

  • Always introduced as an AI voice – never a cloned voice
  • Slow and clear, with adjustable volume and pace
  • Recorded only with consent – pause or stop at any time
  • Up to 20 minutes per call, no rush

Phone interviews are included in Life Book Plus.

Fictional narrator · synthetic demo voice

Sample book

Leaf through a real life book

Every story is placed in its chapter of life – childhood, love, work, family – with photos and captions, a dedication and a table of contents. Scan the QR code under a story and you hear it in their own voice.

Chapter 1 · Childhood

The question

What were summers like when you were a child?

Crab Lines off the West Pier

Summers was the best. We lived down by the harbour, so the whole of Whitby was our playground. Me and my pal Dennis Harker, we'd be off the minute we'd had our porridge. Crab lines off the West Pier, a bit of bacon rind on a string, and a bucket. We'd catch twenty, thirty crabs and then tip them all back in at teatime.

Then the visitors came, from Leeds and Bradford, on the train, pale as milk, and they'd sit in deckchairs with knotted hankies on their heads. We thought they were daft. Funny, I ended up living in Leeds meself.

Tap the QR code to listen

Scan to hear Grandad Arthur tell this story

Fictional narrator · synthetic demo voice

Deckchairs, buckets and knotted hankies: summer on the sands
Deckchairs, buckets and knotted hankies: summer on the sands · 1951
Open the whole sample book

For families with more than one language

Told in one language, read in another

Grandmother tells her stories in Greek, the grandchildren read them in English? Storyvelle writes down every answer in the original language and adds a translation – clearly marked and easy to correct. Print the book side by side, in sections or in one language.

Original · Greek

Ένα αστέρι πάνω από τον σταθμό

Μετακόμισες ποτέ μακριά – σε άλλη πόλη ή σε άλλη χώρα; Πώς ήταν να ξεκινάς από την αρχή;

Τρεις μέρες με το τρένο από τη Θεσσαλονίκη, καθισμένες στα ξύλινα καθίσματα. Εγώ με μια χάρτινη βαλίτσα, δεμένη με σπάγκο, μην ανοίξει. Μέσα δυο φορέματα, μια εικόνα της Παναγίας κι ένα βάζο γλυκό κυδώνι από τη μάνα μου. Φτάσαμε στη Στουτγάρδη Οκτώβριο του 1965, πρωί. Βγήκα από τον σταθμό και είδα έναν ψηλό πύργο, και πάνω του ένα αστέρι που γύριζε. Της Μερσεντές, το έμαθα μετά. Εγώ νόμιζα ότι ήταν εκκλησία! Μας πήγαν στο χάιμ, τέσσερα κορίτσια σε κάθε δωμάτιο. Το πρώτο βράδυ καμία δεν μίλησε. Μετά η Ρούλα, από το χωριό μας, έφερε κουλουράκια, και κλάψαμε όλες μαζί, και μετά γελάσαμε.

Listen to the original

Fictional narrator · synthetic demo voice

Translation · English

A Star Above the Station

Did you ever move far away – to another town or another country? What was it like to start all over again?

Three days on the train from Thessaloniki, sitting on wooden seats. Me with a cardboard suitcase, tied up with string so it wouldn’t come open. Inside, two dresses, an icon of the Virgin Mary and a jar of quince preserve from my mother. We arrived in Stuttgart one morning in October 1965. I walked out of the station and saw a tall tower, and on top of it a star that turned. The Mercedes star, I found out later. I thought it was a church! They took us to the workers’ hostel, four girls to a room. That first night, not one of us said a word. Then Roula, from our village, brought some biscuits, and we all cried together, and then we laughed.

Machine translation, checked by the family

Stories can be told in 18 languages:

  • English
  • Deutsch
  • Français
  • Italiano
  • Español
  • Nederlands
  • Dansk
  • Svenska
  • Polski
  • Türkçe
  • Português
  • Ελληνικά
  • Hrvatski
  • Română
  • Русский
  • العربية
  • Norsk bokmål
  • Українська

Try it yourself

Answer one question – see it as a book page

Record a short answer or type it, and a moment later you see it laid out as a page of a real book. Free, without an account, deleted automatically after 24 hours.

Answer a question now

Today's question

What was your favourite game, and who did you play it with?

A gift that grows every week

For birthdays, Mother's Day, Christmas – or just because

Give it now and decide when it starts: the first question can arrive on their birthday. The gift card is ready the moment you have paid – as a PDF to print or as an animated card for their inbox.

Choose a giftClub together with the family

Coming up

  • Christmas

    in 75 days

    Friday, December 25

    Gift card: instantly, even at the last minute.

    Extra printed copies: order by December 14 for delivery in time.

  • Mother’s Day

    in 147 days

    Sunday, March 7

    Gift card: instantly, even at the last minute.

    Extra printed copies: order by February 23 for delivery in time.

  • Father’s Day

    in 252 days

    Sunday, June 20

    Gift card: instantly, even at the last minute.

    Extra printed copies: order by June 8 for delivery in time.

For care homes, residences and hospices

Life stories that enrich everyday care

Biographical work builds trust and conversation – and relatives treasure the result. Staff interview residents on a tablet, or the phone interviewer calls. One account for many residents, digital consent records and one invoice a month.

Information for institutions
  • Interviews on site on a tablet, or by phone
  • Consent documented digitally, relatives invited by email
  • From £13 per resident and month, one consolidated invoice

Pricing

One price, a whole year, a finished book

Life Book

For storytellers who like to record a voice message or write

£129one-time

  • 52 weekly questions from a library of more than 300 – or your own
  • Answer by voice message link, email, on the web or on printed question cards
  • Gently edited stories, with the original recording always kept
  • Hardcover book with up to 160 pages and photos, including standard shipping
  • A QR code to the original voice under every story
  • Unlimited family members, comments and reactions
  • Digital book (PDF) and complete data download
  • Phone interviews: up to 60 minutes per month, maximum 20 minutes per call – Not included
  • Translations and a bilingual book – Not included
  • Audiobook from the original recordings – Not included
Choose Life Book

Most chosen

Life Book Plus

With phone interviews, a bilingual book and an audiobook

£199one-time

  • 52 weekly questions from a library of more than 300 – or your own
  • Answer by voice message link, email, on the web or on printed question cards
  • Gently edited stories, with the original recording always kept
  • Hardcover book with up to 160 pages and photos, including standard shipping
  • A QR code to the original voice under every story
  • Unlimited family members, comments and reactions
  • Digital book (PDF) and complete data download
  • Phone interviews: up to 60 minutes per month, maximum 20 minutes per call – Included
  • Translations and a bilingual book – Included
  • Audiobook from the original recordings – Included
Choose Life Book Plus

All prices include VAT.

Compare all details

Questions and answers

Good to know

All questions and answers
Does my mother need a smartphone or a computer?

No. With Life Book Plus our interviewer simply calls – on a landline or a mobile. With every plan she can also answer by email, through a simple voice message link that needs no account or app, or on printed question cards that a family member photographs.

Is the interviewer a real person?

No – and it says so at the start of every call. It is a standard AI voice; we never clone anyone's voice. It asks the question of the week, listens patiently and asks one or two follow-up questions.

Do you change what they said?

Every answer is transcribed and gently smoothed: filler words and repetitions go, punctuation and paragraphs come in. Nothing is added or invented. You can always compare the smoothed text with the original transcript and listen to the recording.

What happens to the recordings?

They are stored encrypted in the EU, never used to train AI and never used for advertising. Stories marked as private stay out of the book. You can download or delete everything at any time.

What does the book look like?

A hardcover of about 19 × 25 cm (7 × 10 inches in North America) with four designs to choose from, large print on request, photos with captions, a dedication, a table of contents and a QR code under every story. You can leaf through every page before it is printed.

Can other family members order copies?

Yes. Every family member can order additional copies for £69 each, delivered to their own address.

Their voice, kept for the grandchildren of their grandchildren.

Start today – the first question can arrive this week.

Give a life book

All people on this page are fictional. The recordings are synthetic demo voices.