GrandkinsHow to read picture books with your grandkids on a video call
How it works
- Start a video call with your grandchild.
- Tap Book on the call screen.
- Pick a book. You can filter by age: 2–5, 4–7 or 6–9.
- Read. Both of you see the same page, and when a page turns, it turns for both of you.
- Stop whenever you like. Next time, "Continue" opens the book where you left off.
Why reading works so well on a call
A small child on a video call has about two minutes of small talk in them. A story gives the call a shape: something to look at together, something to ask about ("what do you think the cat will do?"), and a reason to call again tomorrow for the next part. It also gives a grandparent a role that’s hard to play from far away, the one who reads the bedtime story.
Reading across two languages
Where a book has both languages, each person sees the words in their own. A grandmother can read the Malayalam or Hindi text aloud while the grandchild follows the English, and whatever you say about the story is translated live, like the rest of the call. How many of the 62 books have each language:
- English and Spanish: all 62
- Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil: 61
- Marathi and Telugu: 60
- Gujarati and Kannada: 58
- Bengali: 57 · Urdu: 55 · Punjabi: 53
Where the books come from
The library comes from StoryWeaver by Pratham Books, a collection of openly licensed children’s picture books written for young readers in many languages.
Common questions
Does reading together cost extra?
No. Read together is included in every plan. Starter is $9.99 a month or $99 a year with 100 translated minutes a month; Family is $14.99 a month or $149 a year with 200; Family Plus is $19.99 a month or $199 a year with 300. One plan covers up to 15 people, and every family starts with a free trial: 14 days or 60 translated minutes, whichever comes first.
Which ages are the books for?
Ages 2 to 9. You can filter the shelf by 2–5, 4–7 or 6–9.
Can we read if we speak different languages?
Yes. Where a book has both languages, each person sees the words in their own, and everything you say during the story is translated live.
What if we don’t finish the book?
Each phone remembers where you stopped, so next time you can continue from that page.
Try it with your own family
Setup takes a few minutes: add your family, pick each person's language, and send each of them a 6-letter code. Plans start at $9.99 a month for the whole family, and every family starts with a free trial of 14 days or 60 translated minutes.
Start your family's free trial