MirthTale by age
What a book looks like at two, at five, and at nine, and how the age setting changes the same idea.
Ages 2 to 3
Six to eight pages, one or two words each, a picture that fills the page. The child's idea is often a single word: splash, dog, moon. MirthTale builds a book around it with heavy repetition, because repetition is what this age loves and learns from.
Best packs: Garden, Farm, Meadow, Woodland.
Ages 4 to 5
Ten to twelve pages with a short sentence per page and a clear problem in the middle. Children this age usually name a hero and a problem but rarely an ending, so MirthTale writes the ending gently. Titles start getting long and wonderful.
Best packs: Woodland, Ocean, Night, Snow, Long Ago.
Ages 6 to 7
Sixteen pages, two or three sentences each, and a story arc with a setback before the ending. Children begin to specify endings and to argue with them afterwards, which is exactly the conversation we want.
Best packs: Town, Jungle, Island, Mountain, Castle.
Ages 8 to 9
Twenty pages, short paragraphs, chapters if the child asks for them. Many children this age start reading the book to a younger sibling, and MirthTale can print the same story at the sibling's age too.
Best packs: Space, Castle, Desert, Town.
How the age setting works
The age setting on the device is a small dial, not a menu. Move it and the next book is generated for that age. Everything the child said is kept exactly. What changes is the number of pages, sentence length, vocabulary, and how much of the story is carried by pictures rather than words.
Two children, one idea
If a five-year-old and a two-year-old invent a story together, print it twice: once at five, once at two. The older child gets the full arc; the younger gets the same hero, the same problem, and eight big pictures. Both books share a cover and both carry both names.
When a child is between ages
Go by attention, not birthdays. If your child sits through a twelve-page book, set the dial to five even if they are four. If they wander off at page six, drop it. There is no wrong setting.