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A finished sample story

The Call Across the Water

Dad went back to his first trip to the sea and became Danny again, four years old. The story is for his daughter Junie, ages 3-5. Read it, listen to it, and keep it – exactly as your family would.

  • 14 pages
  • 12 illustrated pages
  • 14 narrated pages
Start reading Listen to the narrated story
Watercolor illustration of Danny, a small boy in a green coat, standing at the water’s edge beside a grey seal pup under a gold evening sky
From a dad’s first trip to the seato a story his daughter can keep

Where it began

9 sentences in. A keepsake out.

Dad’s memory, as typed
“When I was 4, my parents took me to the ocean for the first time. I saw the seal–he was a bit scared at first, watching me from the shallows. Little by little, curiosity won. He waddled closer, his dark eyes bright with hesitation. We played with balls and sand, his flippers tossing pebbles as I giggled. The sun began to set, painting the waves in gold, and the sea grew louder. Then, from far out, the deep growls of his parents echoed across the water. It was their call: time for him to go home. And just like that, it was time for me, too.”
Danny kneeling face to face with the seal pup on the wet sandDanny running and laughing as the seal pup flips pebbles into the airDanny waving goodbye to the sea, walking home with his parents at sunset

A 14-page story with one consistent hero, a dedication, and a narrator reading every page.

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Turn the pages

Use the arrows, swipe, or your keyboard. Press play to hear each page read aloud.

Complete story · 14 units
Cover illustration for The Call Across the Water

A story for a child you love

The Call Across the Water

A story for Junie, from Dad's childhood.

Page 1 of 14 – Cover

Yours to keep

Every story comes three ways

The narrated moving story

Loading the moving story…

The web storybook

The reader above – on a phone, a tablet, or a big screen at bedtime.

Back to the reader

The keepsake PDF

A landscape 14-page edition with every illustration, ready to print.

Download the PDF

How it was made

Every choice stayed with Dad

  1. 01

    A hero

    Dad as a child, called Danny on every page and drawn the same in every picture.

  2. 02

    Three tellings

    • The Seal Who Came CloseWarm and unhurried, like a hand held on a slow walk to the water.
    • Pebbles and Gold WaterBright and counting, like a small boy filling his pockets with treasures.
    • The Call Across the WaterQuiet and listening, like a story told with your ear close to a shell.
  3. 03

    Three looks

    • Watercolor
    • Ink
    • Digital Painting
  4. 04

    The keepsake

    Cover, dedication, and twelve pages, painted in Watercolor and narrated page by page.

Your turn

What little story do you never want your family to lose?

Junie’s story began with a few sentences. Yours can too.

Begin your story See plans

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