An alternative to Epic for children aged four to nine
Epic is a library of books that already exist. TaleTykes writes a new one for your child, at the level they are reading right now, then reads it along with them one word at a time.
How the two approaches differ
The right-hand column describes what a library of published books is, rather than any one product. We do not audit anybody else’s app, and a comparison that guesses at the details of one goes out of date without telling you.
| What | TaleTykes | A library of books that already exist |
|---|---|---|
| Where the story comes from | Written and illustrated for your child, after they pick who is in it and where it happens. Nothing is taken off a shelf of stories written earlier. | Chosen from books that have already been written, illustrated and published. |
| How it is matched to the reader | Sentence length and word familiarity are measured on every book before it is illustrated, and a draft that misses the level it was written for is rewritten. | Matched by the level a book was published at, and by what the child picks from the shelf. |
| Who has read it before your child | A person reads every book before it becomes visible to anyone outside your family. Books your child keeps to themselves are checked automatically. | An editor and a publisher, before it was printed. |
| Reading along with the words | The word being spoken lights up and is underlined. Tapping any word says it aloud, shows the sounds it is built from, and gives a short meaning. | Where a title has an audio edition of its own. |
Why a new book rather than a shelf of them
A child who will not read is usually stuck on one of two things: a book that is too hard, and a book about nothing they care about. A library solves the second if the right book happens to be in it. Writing the book solves both, because the subject is what your child chose and the level is measured before a single picture is drawn.
We cannot promise a child will want to read. We can promise nothing is pushing them, because a child reading to keep a number alive is not the habit worth building. Re-reading the same book is encouraged, because re-reading genuinely helps a child read it better, and it is not counted towards anything.
The longer version is on how the reading works.
What TaleTykes holds about a child
A first name or whatever you choose to call them, an age band rather than a date of birth, an avatar they picked, a hashed way of signing in, the books they made and read, and the choices they made from the picture menus. There is no email address, no surname, no date of birth, no location and no photograph. There is no field for a surname anywhere, so there is nothing to leak.
Nothing about a child is collected until an adult has been verified, and that check is enforced where the record would be written rather than by hiding a page. What your child does is never used to train anything outside this product, never sold, and never shared. Learning from what they enjoy, inside the product, is off until you turn it on.
What TaleTykes does not do
- There is no app to download. It runs in a browser and can be saved to a home screen, and it is not in either app store.
- Books cannot be read offline. A book needs a connection to open.
- No check of this kind is perfect, which is why a person reviews everything that becomes public and every shared book has a report button that reaches one.
- There are no streaks, no adverts and no notifications, and nothing is advertised to children.
What it costs
Every new family gets 7 days free with 2 books included. Starting the trial is also how we check that a grown-up set the account up. Cancel before the end and nothing is charged.
Sprout
$12.99 a month
For one or two young readers.
Grove
$24.99 a month
For a houseful.
Questions
Is TaleTykes a library?
No. There is no shelf of stories waiting to be read. A book is written and illustrated when your child asks for one, which is why they can be the character in it and why no two books come out the same.
Can we use both?
Nothing here stops you, and they are not really the same thing. A library has the book somebody else wanted to write. This has the one your child asked for, at the level they can read it.
Which ages is it for?
Books are written for four age bands, from two to twelve. The product is aimed squarely at four to nine, which is where reading is being learned and where reading along and words a child can sound out do the most work.
Start tonight
A grown-up sets up the account. Children never give an email address.
Also worth reading: An AI reading app with phonics built in, A reading app with no streaks.
How we describe Epic was checked against its own website on 11 September 2026, and is deliberately limited to the kind of product it is. Tell us at support@taletykes.com if it has gone out of date. Epic is a trademark of its owner, and TaleTykes is not affiliated with it.