How the life story book works

Is it a gift, or for yourself?

  1. Step 1

    You choose the questions

    Pick from our questions or write your own, about their childhood, their work, love or a special summer. You also decide how often a question goes out, for example one a week.

    A question with an old photo, as your loved one receives it.

  2. Step 2

    They tell the answer

    The question arrives by WhatsApp or email. One tap on the link and they talk. No app, no account, no typing.

    An older man smiles at his tablet on the sofa.

  3. Step 3

    Add the photos

    After each story the page asks for a photo to go with it. They lay an old print on the table and take a picture of it with their phone. You can add photos yourself too, from your phone or computer.

    Annie takes a picture of an old wedding photo with her phone and adds it to her story.

  4. Step 4

    We write it down for you

    We turn each recording into a written story, in their own words. We take out the ums and repeats. Then you read it and change what you like.

  5. Step 5

    You get the book

    When you say the book is done, we print it as a hardcover with your photos. Scan the QR code next to a story and you hear and see them tell it.

    A grandfather reads the book with his grandson.

  6. Step 6

    Everything online too

    All stories and recordings stay online. The whole family can read and listen to them again.

    Someone scans the QR code in the book with a phone.

Talking is enough

Your loved one talks, and we write it down. We leave out the ums and repeats.

Two iPads and an iPhone with the recording app: Grandpa Henk talks about his first home and his words appear written out below.

Leaf through a sample book

This is what a book looks like when it is finished: their own words, with their own photos. Click the book to turn the page.

What families say

“We cried and laughed together when the book arrived. All those stories from years ago, finally on paper.”
Hans en Susanna
“My mum told me things I had never heard before. The loveliest gift I have ever given.”
Jennifer
“One question each week, and after a few months there was a real book. I had not expected it to be so easy.”
Diana
“My dad is no writer, but he can certainly talk. Now the grandchildren read his stories.”
Marja
“I thought my life was nothing special. Holding the book changed my mind.”
Truus
“With his photo on the cover. Now the whole family wants their own copy.”
Peter

More than a book

The book is what remains. This is what happens along the way.

A father and his young son stand with their backs to the camera at the edge of a field
Pieter ordered this book for his father Jan, to hear how he grew up himself.

What families ask us

Not at all. They get a WhatsApp message or email with one link. They tap it and talk. There's no app to download, no account to create and no password to remember. If you can answer a phone, you can do this.
That's what our questions are for. Each question is designed to bring back a specific memory, and they can answer in 30 seconds or 30 minutes. There's no wrong way.
As often as suits you. By default it's one question a week, but you choose: every day, a few times a week, every other week or once a month. The storyteller doesn't have to keep to a schedule. They can tell a story sooner when they feel like it, and skipping a week is fine too. You can change the pace at any time, or pause the messages for a while.
Whenever you like. You can collect a year of answers or go through the questions faster. The book contains all the chapters up to that point, each with a QR code to the recording.
Yes. Invite as many people as you like to ask questions, add answers of their own and read along on a private family page. That costs nothing extra.
The storyteller's, exactly as it was recorded. We write out the text and make it pleasant to read, but the recording behind every QR code is their real, unedited voice.
After a story, the storyteller can take a photo of the print with their phone. Or you can scan your photos yourself and upload them.

So many good stories. Ask the first question today.

Setting up takes about five minutes, and the first question goes out this week.

Buy nowGive as a gift
A My Life Tales book on a table.
Someone scans a QR code in a My Life Tales book.
Two My Life Tales hardcover books.
A wrapped gift with tags.
Order now£49