Show HN: Custom illustrated kids' book, generated and printed (StoryStarling)

7 points by storystarling 92 days ago | 2 comments

Hi HN, I built StoryStarling. You describe a story idea and it generates a complete illustrated children's book, then prints and ships it.

Every story, character, and illustration is generated from scratch, not a template with a name swapped in. Most books are about a new character your child can identify with: a raccoon starting kindergarten, a knight rescuing the Internet Connection, a superhero with an insulin pump. You can upload a photo and the system will convert your child into the chosen illustration style as a character, but more often it's the story itself that makes it personal.

A few examples from our showcase (storystarling.com/en/showcase):

- A boy obsessed with elevators visiting magical floors: candy floor, dinosaur floor, space floor

- A girl with hearing aids who can hear animals' thoughts, bilingual Polish/English

- Vim vs Emacs, but they're two wizards casting spells. "Choose your weapon wisely."

Bilingual books in 38 languages. Pick a main language and an optional translation and the full book renders in both. We handle RTL scripts like Arabic and Hebrew (right-to-left text, but left-to-right page order so bilingual layouts work naturally) and CJK typesetting. We also support less common languages like Estonian, Maltese, Irish, and Low German where children's book options are limited.

How it works: Type anything from a two-word idea ("dinosaurs soccer") to a detailed storyline, pick a style (~20 styles), choose languages, optionally upload reference photos, and hit generate. You get a free preview with the cover and synopsis, no payment required. If you like it, the full 28-page book generates and you review it in a flipbook viewer. Edit text and regenerate pages before approving, then it goes to print. Booklet (~20 EUR) or hardcover (~40 EUR), shipping included, 3-7 days in the EU.

I'd love to hear what stories you'd make.

https://storystarling.com

Free printed book including shipping (EU only, booklet format, in-house printing in Germany): voucher HN022026, 1 per person, valid February 2026.

gus_massa 91 days ago |

Hi from Argentina! I got the webpage in Spanish, but the examples were in EN, FR, DE x2, i.e. no sample in Spanish.

I read one of the books in DE, and the idea was writen in English instead of German.

Once a (sample?) book is generated in one language, is it cheaper for you to use the AI to translate it?

There are "samples" at the top and "ideas" at the bottom. I found it confusing. I think it's better to have only "samples".

storystarling 91 days ago | |

Hi from Germany! Thanks for the feedback.

You're right - the showcase sorting prioritizes "Real Books" (from customers who opted in to share theirs) over "Inspiration" (demo books we generated), which pushes the Spanish example further down. We'll fix the sorting so your language appears first regardless of type.

Good catch on the German book with the English idea - that's the customer's original input, which we didn't translate for the showcase. Will fix.

On "samples" vs "ideas": agreed it's confusing. We'll either make the distinction clearer or merge them into one gallery.

Thanks for the thoughtful feedback!