Use case
Tonight’s story, from tonight’s idea
Children want the story to be about the thing they thought of five minutes ago. PodThis takes that sentence and makes a calm, ten-minute bedtime story with a gentle narrator, in the language you read in at home.
A small dinosaur called Pip who is scared of the dark, until the fireflies show up
- Type the idea
Ask the child. “A dinosaur who is scared of the dark.” “Our cat goes to the moon.” One sentence is enough.
- Pick Bedtime Story
The style sets the pace: one gentle narrator, no jokes shouted, no cliffhanger. Short is the right length.
- Press play at lights-out
About ten minutes, ending quietly. Keep the MP3, so a favourite can be played again tomorrow, unchanged.
Why a bedtime style at all
A story that works at 20:00 is different from one that works at 15:00. The Bedtime Story style is written for a child of about three to eight, to be told by one gentle voice at the edge of the bed. The topic becomes a simple, warm tale with a lovable main character, a friendly animal or a small child, in a cozy world. There is a tiny problem, a lost mitten or a friend to find, that resolves softly. No danger, no scary creatures, nothing exciting. One short refrain comes back a few times, the way it does in the books they ask for again. The sentences are short and the words are ones a small child knows.
The story winds down rather than ending. The last chapter is the character getting cozy and drifting off, and the narrator is directed to grow softer and dreamier as it goes, nearly a whisper by the end. That is the point of it being its own style rather than a setting.
Their idea, every night
The best bedtime stories are the ones the child asked for. Type the sentence exactly as they said it. Names, pets, the school trip, the thing that worried them today: it all goes in and the story is built around it, not around facts about the subject. Because the same gentle narrator voice comes back each night, the stories feel like one series even though every plot is new.
In the language you read in
PodThis voices stories in 80 languages with native-quality voices, so a Swedish bedtime story sounds Swedish and an English one sounds English. PodThis makes its own bedtime series the same way; you can find them under Series, in Swedish and in English, to hear what the style sounds like before you make one.
What it costs
A Short episode is one credit. A new account has 5 credits and gets 3 more every month, so a few stories a month cost nothing. A story every night is about 30 credits a month, which fits the Creator plan at $9. Every story comes with an MP3 you keep, so the ones that work can be played again without spending anything. See pricing.
Good to know
- Every episode passes automated moderation before it is voiced. Stories are not reviewed by a person; listen once before it becomes a routine. The editorial policy has the details.
- Pick the visibility when you create it. The studio defaults to Public, which lists the story in Discover; choose Private for only you, or Unlisted so grandparents get a link and nobody else finds it.
- Cover art is generated to match the story, which children tend to care about more than adults expect.
Make yours
Every account starts with 5 credits and gets 3 more each month. A short episode costs one. Every feature is on every plan.