Penwynn · Reading guides
Reading guides for parents
Reading with young children, and choosing books for them — every figure sourced, every limitation stated, and our own view labelled as ours.
Reading to young children and the developing brain
Paediatricians now recommend reading with children from birth. Here is what the evidence shows, what it does not, and why the ordinary nightly habit matters more than any particular book.
Read the guide →Why reading still matters when AI can answer anything
An assistant can summarize a book in a sentence. It cannot give a child the thing reading builds by doing it.
Read the guide →Reading to babies and young children: the advice in Canada, the US and the UK
Three countries, four organizations, one message: start reading with your baby from birth, and keep going. Here is what each one says, in its own words.
Read the guide →How to choose a personalized picture book
Personalized books range from a stock story with a name dropped in to a book written around one child. Here is how to tell them apart, and when not to buy one at all.
Read the guide →AI-made children's books: what to check before you buy
An AI can make a picture book in minutes. Whether it is a good one depends on what happens between the model and the printer. Here is what to look for.
Read the guide →Do personalized books actually help children?
A handful of small studies have looked at books made for one child. Here is what they found, what they did not, and what we take from them.
Read the guide →
A book they will ask you to read
Describe the people it is about, and we write and illustrate a picture book for them. It is free to make, and you read every word and see every page before you decide to print it.
Make a book