Chinese story time.
A family ritual.

Storytime Bao helps families bring Mandarin into everyday reading. Short stories, warm illustrations, and familiar themes give children something to follow, enjoy, and talk about.

It is designed for bilingual families, families reconnecting with Chinese, and grown-ups introducing Mandarin for the first time. The stories are made for shared reading; a parent or caregiver can guide the pace and choose how much language support to show.

What we are building

An illustrated Mandarin story library

Who it is for

Children and families reading together; choose a language level and check each story's parent note

How to use it

In a web browser, on a phone, tablet, or computer

Available now

10 complete stories, 55 chapters, and Mandarin narration

Price

Every story and chapter is free. No account or card needed.

Founder

Leland Char

Choose a small adventure.

Browse ten stories, including Cinderella, Pinocchio, Mulan, and The Great Race. Every chapter is available to read and listen to for free. Stories include parent notes so a grown-up can choose what fits their child.

Try a story together.

Read Chinese text with optional Pinyin and English, or listen to the recorded Mandarin audio. The catalog's HSK 1–4 labels describe language difficulty, rather than a child's age or a promise that every word is at that level.

Take a word into your day.

Notice something in a picture, try a word together, or ask a small question. Families choose the pace and decide when to read again.

Explore the stories ↗

We use AI throughout story production: adapting and structuring familiar tales in Mandarin, preparing Pinyin and English support, generating illustrated scenes, and creating recorded character voices.

The stories and narration are prepared in advance. Automated transcript and timing checks help compare the recordings with the scripts. During story time, line timings connect the published text to the recorded narration so the reader can follow along and see who is speaking.

The whole launch library is free. We are starting with ten complete stories and a clear reading experience, then learning what families return to.

1. More stories to return to.

   We plan to expand the library with age-appropriate stories, recurring characters, and themes families can choose together.

2. Better reading on every screen.

   We plan to use family feedback to refine picture, text, and listening controls on computers, phones, and tablets.

3. Make the right story easier to find.

   We plan to develop more useful ways to browse by language difficulty, theme, and reading interests.

Storytime Bao is being built by Leland Char, a product builder with a background in engineering, machine learning, and consumer technology. Our team page shares his background and links to his public professional profiles.

Contact

For product questions, feedback, or to connect with Leland, write to leland@storytimebao.app.

The site has no child accounts, payments, or analytics tracking. Reading does not require a child's name, email, or voice recording. Our hosting provider processes ordinary connection data to deliver the site.