About Tale Tree
Tale Tree makes children the authors. They start by choosing a hero — a fox, robot, dragon, bunny, bear or cat — who then stars in every story. Three branching adventures (The Fallen Star, The Sandcastle Storm and The Space Picnic) each have two decision points and six endings, and the picture changes with every choice: pick the kite and a kite appears, call the aliens and they land. Each page can be read aloud with the sentence highlighted. Finding all 18 endings means going back and choosing differently, which is a natural way to talk about cause and effect. In the Story Builder, children choose a place, a special thing, a problem, how it gets fixed and how the hero feels. Tale Tree writes four illustrated pages, mixes them up, and the child puts them back in order — beginning, problem, middle, ending. They can then add their own sentence to each page, give the story a title, hear it read aloud and save it to My Stories.
What children learn
- Understand that stories have a beginning, a problem, a middle and an ending
- Put story events in a sensible order
- See how choices change what happens next (cause and effect)
- Build vocabulary through read-aloud stories with highlighted text
- Begin writing: add a sentence and a title to a story of their own
Tips for parents
- Before each choice, ask “what do you think will happen?” and check afterwards.
- Read the story aloud together, pointing to each word as the highlight moves.
- In the Story Builder, let your child dictate their extra sentence if writing is still hard.
- Ask your child to retell their favourite ending in their own words.
- Stories are saved only on this device — nothing your child writes leaves the browser.
Tips for teachers
- The Story Builder's page-ordering step practises narrative sequencing (Common Core W.1.3: recount events in order, with a sense of closure).
- Use a branching adventure for whole-class voting: what should the hero do, and why?
- Pupils can compare two endings to the same story and discuss which choice caused the difference.
- No accounts or sharing — stories stay in the browser, which suits shared classroom devices.
Tale Tree FAQ
Is what my child writes sent anywhere?
No. Titles and sentences are kept only in this browser's storage on your device. They aren't uploaded, shared or seen by anyone else, and children can delete stories from My Stories.
How many endings are there?
Eighteen — six in each of the three adventures. The game remembers which endings your child has found on this device.
What age is Tale Tree for?
Ages 5 to 9. Younger children enjoy the read-aloud adventures; the Story Builder and writing extra sentences suit six- to nine-year-olds.
Why is it called Tale Tree?
Every choice is a branch: the same start can grow into six different endings, just like branches on a tree.
Is it free and safe?
Yes. There's no sign-up, no chat, no public sharing and no personal information.