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Creative Stories

This step-by-step guide will help you tailor every story to any kiddo! 🪄

Malak Abdelghaffar avatar
Written by Malak Abdelghaffar
Updated over 3 weeks ago

Personalizing a story on Nookly is where the learning magic begins! Whether you're a parent hoping to spark your child’s imagination or a professional supporting playful learning, Creative Stories are your go-to for turning big ideas into joyful, personal adventures. You can tailor every detail to help children feel seen, heard, and excited about reading! 💫

Step 1: Pick a Topic 📖

The very first step is choosing what kind of journey you want your story to take. You might want to craft a lighthearted tale about friendship and laughter, or maybe you’d prefer a gentle, imaginative story about learning something new, like patience or teamwork.

Nookly interface showing Step 1 of creating a Creative Story: 'Pick a Topic.' Users can enter a topic or choose from suggested themes like Sharing with Others, Birthdays, Gratitude, or Bravery. Creative Stories support social-emotional learning and help children build imagination, empathy, and confidence through personalized storytelling.

🪄 Need ideas or looking for inspiration? Check out the Community Library to explore fun, creative prompts created by our team and that others have used!

Step 2: Personalize Your Story 🎨

Once you’ve selected your topic, it’s time to shape the story to match your learner’s world.

If you already have a child profile saved, you can simply select it from the list. If not, creating a new child profile is easy and can be done manually by filling in your child’s details, or you can upload a photo to automatically generate an avatar that reflects their look!

👉 Need help creating a child profile? Check out this guide for a step-by-step walkthrough.

Nookly interface showing two options for creating a child's character profile: 'Enter Child Details' with a blonde child avatar playing with blocks, and 'Upload a Photo' with a dark-haired child holding a camera. Users can manually enter traits or upload a photo to generate a personalized avatar for use in customized stories.

👉 In this same step, you’ll also be able to customize your story's:

  • Length, choosing anywhere from 8 to 24 pages, depending on how long you’d like the story to be.

  • Generation Mode, where you can pick between Express (faster, more flexible) and Enhanced Consistency (for stronger image cohesion across pages).

  • Audio Settings, which allow you to turn on the read-aloud feature for an added layer of accessibility and engagement during storytime.

Nookly story customization interface showing options for setting story length, generation mode, and story audio. Users can adjust the number of pages, choose between 'Express' and 'Enhanced Consistency' modes, and toggle on the read-aloud feature for accessibility and engagement. Example shown is a story about Bravery.

Step 3: Personalize Story Captions ✏️

After your story is generated, you’ll be able to review and personalize each caption to ensure the language, tone, and pacing feel just right for your reader.

This step is where you can really add your personal touch—whether it’s swapping a word for something your child often says, adjusting a sentence to better reflect your family traditions, or even expanding a moment to make it more emotionally resonant. ✨

💡 You’ll see each story card displayed with editable text, along with tools to delete, rewrite, or insert new captions as needed. If the storyline doesn’t quite hit the mark, you can click “Regenerate” to get a completely new version of the story.

Nookly story editor interface showing editable story captions for a child named Maryam. Users can add, delete, or modify text on each story card and click 'Regenerate' for a new version. Sources for content include research-based articles like 'Courage in Young Children' and '15 Courage-Boosting Activities for Kids.' Designed to support flexible storytelling and evidence-backed learning.

📖 Need help with editing? Here's a step-by-step guide.

Step 4: Edit Your Story's Images & Captions 🖼

Once your captions are in place, you’ll move into Edit Mode, which opens up more control over your story's visual and text presentation. This is where you can fine-tune everything from the layout and formatting to the image expressions, background, and character actions.

👉 With Edit Mode, you'll be able to:

  1. Edit your story title

  2. Update any character names

  3. Move the text around (placing it at the top, bottom, center, or directly over the image)

  4. Change the font style or size to suit your visual preferences

  5. Regenerate and edit images

Nookly editing interface showing the story 'Tim and the Special Pencil Case.' The screen displays three illustrated story cards with editable captions and image regeneration options. Users can toggle editing, change font size, and regenerate visuals. This tool supports personalization and visual learning for young readers, including those with diverse educational needs.

You have up to 20 image regenerations per story, giving you the freedom to experiment until everything looks just right. ✨

🎨 Want to learn how to edit images? Here's a more detailed guide.

Step 5: View & Read your Story 📖

Voila! Your story is ready and you can flip through your story to enjoy the magic you’ve created!

🎧 If you enabled the read-aloud feature, you’ll be able to listen to the narration while your kiddo follows along visually, making it perfect for cozy bedtime moments or independent reading practice.

Nookly story viewer showing the read-aloud feature enabled. A smiling boy named Tim is pictured with the caption: 'Tim really liked it. He wished it was his.' Read-aloud narration supports early literacy, bedtime reading, and independent practice by letting children follow along visually while listening to the story.

👉 You can always find your story again later by clicking “Leave Child View” and heading to your Reading Nook, where all your saved and edited stories live. From there, you can revisit your story anytime, make changes, and print it! 📚

📚 Love Your Story? Put It on Your Bookshelf!

If your child keeps asking to read their story just one more time—why not turn it into a keepsake they can treasure forever?

With just a few clicks, you can print your story as a beautifully bound, high-quality physical book delivered straight to your doorstep in under a week!

Nookly interface with buttons to 'Go to Reading Nook,' 'New Print Book,' and 'Expand Story.' The Print Book feature allows users to turn personalized stories into professionally printed hardcover books delivered within a week—ideal for gifts, keepsakes, and building a home library for children.

✨ Want to share the magic with others?
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You can:

  • Copy a shareable link to post on social platforms or send directly to friends and family

  • Invite a colleague or co-parent to collaborate on the story right inside Nookly

  • If you're on a Premium plan, download the story as a printable PDF to use offline, in sessions, or at home anytime

Nookly sharing interface with options to share a personalized story via public link, Facebook, WhatsApp, or email. Users can invite others to view or collaborate and download the story as a PDF. Ideal for co-parenting, educator collaboration, and sharing children’s stories on social media or offline.

💌 Have a story you're especially proud of? We’d love to see it!


Send it to us via email, and it might be featured in our next newsletter to inspire other families and professionals in the Nookly community! ✨

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