StoryBox on Speed Dial
A picture book, a familiar voice, and one more chapter. A preview of the story shelf we’re building for the home phone.
Updated
Put a picture book on the rug, gather a few listeners, and call a story. That is the experience we want StoryBox to bring to Doorman: a story shelf your child can reach through a familiar phone.
StoryBox and its store catalogue are coming soon. This article describes the experience we are planning, not a list of books available to buy today.
A story can fill the room—or just one ear
On speakerphone, siblings and friends could follow the pictures together. Held like a regular call, the handset could make the same story a quieter, personal listen. The planned controls would let a listener pause, continue, and move through the story using the keypad.
We want the phone to be easy enough for a younger child to use after an adult chooses the content and shows them how. The physical book can stay part of the experience: turning a page is still something to do with your hands.
Stories from the store and stories in your voice
The intended shelf includes purchased story and audiobook packs, alongside recordings families make themselves. A grandparent could tell an original bedtime story. A parent could record a familiar family adventure. The voice might be half the reason the child wants to hear it again.
Specific titles and licensed recordings will be announced as they become available. We are not promising that every favorite book will be in the catalogue. For recordings you plan to share or sell, use material you created or have permission to distribute.
Start with the book already on your shelf
We are planning an ISBN search so you can look up a physical book and see whether we have a matching recording. Different editions may have different pages, so a useful result needs to identify the edition as well as the title.
A camera scanner in a future native app is also on the list: point at the barcode instead of typing the number. That scanner and the search service are not available yet. A missing result could become a request for the catalogue, rather than a promise that the book can automatically be copied or recorded.
Some stories will invite you to listen. Others will ask what should happen next. Here is a peek at the interactive adventures we are planning.