For families new to Sweden

Read Swedish stories together, even before you speak Swedish.

Your child is learning Swedish at förskola. Tale Stories reads short Swedish stories aloud, one word lit at a time, and shows what every word means in your language: English, Bahasa Indonesia or Arabic.

Join the waitlist Not in the App Store yet. We will email you once, when it is.

A sleeping lion in tall grass with a small grey mouse on his nose, painted in soft watercolour. — Try it: tap a word, or press Read to me.

Show meanings in English Bahasa Indonesia العربية

The meaning of the word you tap shows here.

Why families in Sweden use it

You don't need to read Swedish. The app reads every page aloud, so you can sit with your child and follow the pictures and the lit-up words.
Every word, in your language. Tap a word to hear it and see its meaning. Tap the speech bubble to see the whole page translated.
The Swedish your child hears at förskola. Short, simple sentences with everyday words, read slowly and clearly.

Inside the app

The Tale Stories bookshelf: painted book covers with Swedish titles and their English translations. Three are marked Free, the others show a small lock. — Eight Swedish fables to start. The first three are free.

A story page: the hare and the tortoise, with the sentence Haren var mycket snabb. The word snabb is highlighted in yellow while it is read aloud. — The word being read lights up, so your child can follow along with a finger.

A story page about a sleeping lion. The voice has stopped and the last word, nos, has a dashed outline. A card at the bottom says: Your turn! Can you say the last word? — Your turn: the voice stops before the last word, so your child can say it.

Made for reading together

The app reads the Swedish aloud. These parts are there to get you and your child talking.

The last page of the story about the lion and the mouse. Under the words Slut and The end, a card called Talk about it lists three questions, such as Why did the lion let the mouse go?

Your turn. The voice stops before the last word of each page. Your child says it, then taps the word to hear it.
Talk about it. Every story ends with questions to ask in your language, so the talking can happen at home in the language you know best.
Your own voice. Record yourself, or a grandparent far away, reading each page. The recordings stay on your phone and are left out of iCloud Backup.
Bedtime limit. Choose one, two or three stories in the evening. After that the bookshelf says good night until the morning. Daytime reading does not count.
Family Sharing. One subscription works on every iPhone and iPad in your family.

Made to be put down

Many apps for small children are built to keep them watching. Tale Stories is built for ten quiet minutes with a grown-up, and then bed.

Nothing plays by itself. A page turns only when someone taps.
Each story ends on a quiet last page, not on the next story.
No ads, no points, no streaks, no prizes.
The voice reads slowly by default, and every word can be heard again on its own.
Calm mode stops the moving pictures. So does the Reduce Motion setting on your phone.
Purchases and settings sit behind a sum that only a grown-up can answer.
No account to make and no tracking inside the app.

The first eight stories

Short retellings of Aesop's fables in simple Swedish, five to seven pages each.

Price

Three stories are free, with no account and no time limit.

Tale Stories Premium unlocks every story, including new ones as we add them:

$7.99 a month. New subscribers pay $4.99 for the first month.
$49.99 a year. About $4.17 a month.

These are the planned prices in US dollars; the App Store sets the price in Swedish kronor. One subscription covers your whole family with Family Sharing. You can cancel any time in your Apple ID settings.

Questions parents ask

Do I need to speak Swedish?

No. The app reads the Swedish aloud for you, and every word and every page has its meaning in your language.

Which languages are the meanings in?

English and Bahasa Indonesia today. Arabic is being added before launch. If you would like another language, choose "Another language" when you join the waitlist, and tell us which one by email.

Will this help my child at förskola?

Tale Stories is a calm way to hear and repeat simple Swedish at home, with you. It does not replace förskola or your child's teachers, and it is not a language course.

Can Tale Stories help with my child's speech?

Tale Stories is not therapy, and we make no medical claims. It is made for reading together: a slow voice, words you can point at, and nothing that plays by itself. If you are worried about your child's speech, talk to BVC or a speech therapist (logoped).

What age is it for?

Toddlers and preschoolers, reading with a grown-up. The sentences are short and the pages are calm on purpose.

Does it work without internet?

Yes. The stories and pictures are inside the app, and it reads aloud with the Swedish voice built into your iPhone or iPad. If that voice is not installed yet, the app shows you how to add it.

Is there an Android version?

Not yet. Tale Stories is being made for iPhone and iPad first.

When does it launch?

We do not have a date yet. Join the waitlist and we will email you once, when it is in the App Store.

Join the waitlist

One email when Tale Stories is in the App Store. Nothing else.

Privacy

If you join the waitlist, we store your email address, the language you chose, which page you joined from, the country your request came from, and the date. They are kept on Cloudflare, which hosts this site and stores them on our behalf. Tale Stories is run by Primawan Satrio, who is responsible for this data. We use them only to send one email when Tale Stories launches, and we delete the list after that. We do not share or sell them. To see or remove your email at any time, write to hi@talestories.app.

This page uses no cookies and no analytics. Read the full privacy policy, which also covers the app.