Frequently asked questions about Child Fiction

Child Fiction is designed for kids ages 3 to 8: each story is written for ages 3–4, 5–6 and 7–8, with shorter sentences for the youngest. Older kids will likely find them too young. We don’t recommend it for children under 3: WHO advises no sedentary screen time before age 2, and French guidance rules out screens entirely before 3.

WHO advises no sedentary screen time for babies and 1-year-olds, and no more than one hour a day at age 2, adding that less is better. The AAP’s 2026 policy mentions limits of under an hour a day for toddlers and preschoolers, and stresses high-quality content watched with a caregiver. French guidance is stricter, with no screens at all before 3, and that’s the rule we follow. At that age, books, songs and stories told out loud are worth far more.

WHO advises no more than one hour a day for ages 2 to 4, and adds that less is better. The AAP’s 2026 policy says limits might range from under an hour a day for preschoolers to one to two hours or more of entertainment media for school-age kids, and puts just as much weight on what they watch and whether you watch together. On Child Fiction, each story runs about 4 to 8 minutes, depending on the age it’s written for, and you can set a daily limit in child mode. Our guide to low-stimulation shows goes further.

We don’t recommend it: the AAP advises no screens in the hour before bed. Watch the animated stories together earlier in the day, even the ones set at night. At bedtime, it’s time for reading: our free bedtime stories are short texts to read aloud.

Child Fiction is designed to be watched together: seeing familiar faces on screen and making choices gets kids talking. Child mode lets your child start their own stories without reaching your settings, but the AAP encourages watching together, especially with preschoolers. Older kids can watch on their own, within the limits you set.

Each story is written in advance by our team, with the help of artificial intelligence tools, then reviewed and watched before it joins our library. When you ask for one, Child Fiction fills it in with your child’s first name and a companion from their universe, without sending anything to an artificial intelligence to write it. The voices are then created with a speech synthesis tool, and the story is animated live in your browser. You pick the theme and the story among the ideas offered. These aren’t videos: each scene is played from the written story. See How it works for the details.

Yes. Each story is written for ages 3–4, 5–6 and 7–8, and its intensity never goes beyond the level you chose (gentle by default). For each child, you also set the allowed themes, stories with choices and a list of topics to avoid: a story that mentions one is never offered to them.

Delete it from your family space, then add the topic to your child’s list of topics to avoid, so stories that mention it are left out. Tell us what bothered you, too, at bonjour@childfiction.com: that’s how we improve our stories. Even carefully reviewed, a story can occasionally miss the mark.

Yes, if you keep stories with choices turned on (otherwise, the story follows its first path without asking). The story pauses on an illustrated question that is read aloud, and your child picks what happens next. Their universe remembers those decisions: friends they met, treasures they found and places they discovered stay on their map, and a friend can become the companion of a later adventure.

Yes. In a story with a choice, one of the two paths leaves a mystery, marked with a “?” on your child’s map. A sequel picks it up later: the friends met and the objects kept along the way come back, and the mystery finds its answer. You’ll find it at the top of the ideas in the story wizard (“What happens after…”) and under the mystery on your dashboard. Each sequel is told only once.

Yes. When you create a story, you can choose a value (sharing, being brave, patience…) or a big moment in your child’s life (a new baby, starting school, fear of the dark…). The story then becomes a starting point to talk about it together: it doesn’t lecture, it always stays gentle for a big moment, and it doesn’t replace a professional’s advice if a struggle lasts. Explore our values and big moments pages.

American English and French. You choose the story language for each child, and the family space is available in both languages.

No, photos are optional: without one, the character is drawn from your description. If you add one, with your consent, its metadata is stripped (including GPS location), it’s analyzed only to describe the person’s look, and it’s deleted as soon as the character is ready, unless you choose to keep it. It’s all explained in Safety and privacy.

No. No photo, first name, character description or story text is ever used to train artificial intelligence tools, not by us and not by the companies whose services we use: we never send anything about your family to a service that would train on what it receives. Our stories are written in advance, too: no first name is sent to an artificial intelligence to write them. We also collect the bare minimum: a first name or nickname and a birth year, never a last name, a school or an address. The details are on our safety page.

No, none: not for kids, not for parents, and no advertising cookies. No analytics tools load in the family space or in child mode.

A simplified space for your child, who doesn’t need an account: big buttons to continue their adventure, watch their stories again or explore their universe, with no access to settings or to the other children in the family. You can set a daily limit and decide whether they can start a new story. Leaving child mode takes your PIN.

From your settings, at any time. Deleting a character erases their images, voice, photos and the stories they appear in; deleting a child’s profile erases their universe and stories; deleting the account erases all of your family’s data within minutes, for good. Your rights are detailed in our privacy policy.

You start for free with the Discovery plan and its free stories. Then you have two options: the Family plan, monthly with no commitment or yearly, which gives credits every month, or credit packs bought once, with no end date. A story takes one credit, whatever its length. All prices, in euros and taxes included, are on the pricing page.

Yes. You cancel it in two clicks from “My plan & credits”: it ends at the end of the period already paid, your stories stay available and the credits you bought are still yours. Before a yearly plan renews, we send you a reminder by email.

No. Only a parent, who must be an adult, creates an account, with a confirmed email address. Your children have profiles in your family space, never an account or an email address.

Each child gets their own profile, universe, settings and stories; how many children you can add depends on your plan. The same character, like Grandma or the family dog, can join more than one child’s universe.

Any up-to-date web browser, on a computer, tablet or phone: there’s nothing to install. For watching together, a tablet or computer gives you a bigger screen. If the animation doesn’t show up, update your browser.