Thanks for being one of the earliest friends and supporters of StoryBots.  Since we have launched, you have watched over 7 million StoryBots videos, put your faces into 500K personalized videos, read more than 3 million personalized iPad books, and given over 500,000 Beeps and Boops. It’s been very, very busy here!

Today, we are excited to announce two changes that make everything in the StoryBots universe easier to use and even more affordable.

First, the characters you create and faces you upload to StoryBots.com or using any of our apps are now accessible to you in all of our other apps.  For example, if you create kid characters in our StoryBooks app, you can simply log into Beep & Boop and the same faces will be there, too.  Hooray for more fun and learning and less time uploading photos!

Second, StoryBots now has a new and improved pricing plan.  Today, for only $4.99 a month, our All-Access Family Pass gets you everything in the StoryBots universe — including 7 apps, 26 books, 36 videos and 124 activity sheets, with new goodies added every month.

Why did we go with a simple one-price plan instead of charging for every little thing?  A subscription approach lets us keep in-app payments far away from kids — and keeps our products 100% free of advertising.  It’s the kind of peace of mind we want as parents for our families, and we think you deserve the same.

Thank you again for all your support and friendliness.  We invented StoryBots for our own families and nothing could make us happier than the fact that so many of you have invited us into your homes.  If there is ANYTHING we can do make your experience with StoryBots more fun or more pleasant, please email us here.

Happy Parenting,

Evan & Gregg Spiridellis
Brothers, Co-Founders, Dads

A year and a half ago, my brother and I took our first plunge into creating something for our families –- an iPad book app called JibJab Jr. that ultimately evolved into StoryBots StoryBooks.  Many of you have been around since those early days and we thank you for it!

Today, we are excited to announce an upcoming change that we believe will result in a lot more of our books being read to a lot more kids.

Instead of charging $3.99 or $7.99 per book, in March 2013 we will switch to a simple $4.99/month membership that gives you unlimited access to all of the books in the library.  In other words, instead of buying individual books, it will be more like Netflix, where you pay one set fee to access everything for a period of time.  

If you are an existing StoryBooks customer or monthly book subscriber, rest assured:

• All of the books you purchase up until the date we make the switch will be available to you forever.

• You will NOT be charged automatically once the new app update is released.  We will voluntarily shut down all your current monthly payments so that you are not being moved into a plan that you did not explicitly tell us you want.

We anticipate the changes described above will take place by the end of March 2013, but depending on some factors outside of our control, it could happen as late as April 2013.  We will keep you posted as the date is set.

Finally, we want you to know that this upcoming change is part of a broader effort to give you more for your money.  Not only will the $4.99/month membership unlock all of the books in our app, it will unlock EVERYTHING across the entire StoryBots universe.  Members will get exclusive access to dozens of Starring You® Videos we have in the works as well as a host of new apps that we will be releasing throughout 2013.  You can learn more about what a StoryBots membership will get you here.

Thank you for your past and ongoing support of StoryBots.   My brother and I — along with the entire team here — are so grateful you’ve invited the StoryBots into your homes. We promise to work hard to deliver you quality content that thoroughly entertains not only your kids, but also you!

Happy Parenting,

Evan & Gregg Spiridellis
Co-Founders, Brothers, Husbands, and Dads

So, you have a 2-to-6 year old in your life? How are you holding up? Could you use a little less stress and a lot more fun in your parenting routine? We thought so.

My brother and I created StoryBots to lend parents a hand with high-quality content you can feel great about giving your kids — as well as tools that make parenting more fun.

When we first started looking at apps for our own kids, we were shocked by the large number of low-quality, spammy apps out there. What’s worse, many of them showed inappropriate, unsafe ads to kids or tricked them into buying things.

We chose a different path for StoryBots.

Our vision? For a simple monthly subscription of $4.99, parents could unlock an entire universe of learning and fun across the web, iPhone, and iPad.  That way, kids could have a blast without hitting roadblocks (e.g., pay $.99 to get to the next level) and parents could rest easy knowing their kids were exploring in a high quality, safe, commerce-free environment.

Today, a StoryBots membership unlocks all 10 of our Starring You® Videos on StoryBots.com.  Over the next 3 months, we will be rolling out a host of new apps and web experiences that will make your StoryBots membership the lowest-cost, highest-value arrow in your parenting quiver!

By the end of March 2013, members will have access to:

• ‘Starring You® Videos’ on the web – with a new video added every month
• ‘Starring You^® Books’ for iPad – with a new book added every month
• ‘ABC Videos’ apps for both iPhone and iPad
• ‘Tap & Sing’ musical app for iPad
• ‘Printables’ activity sheet downloads on the web
• ‘Beep & Boop’ for iPhone
• A new parent app that’s too secret to tell you about yet!

Plus, we have even more apps and videos planned for later this year.  We will keep you posted about them on this blog, via our newsletter, and also on Facebook and Twitter.  As always, if you have any questions about StoryBots, please visit our help center or feel free to email us.

Thanks for inviting the StoryBots into your home.  We promise to work hard to keep delivering new, fresh, and fun products that make your kid(s) – and YOU – smile!

Happy Parenting,

Evan & Gregg Spiridellis
Co-Founders, Brothers, Husbands, and Dads

We are so sorry but we noticed that we made an error when we published our latest book, “Snowball Fight,” that caused one of the generic characters we use to animate the book to appear on page 9 in a spot that should feature your child. We understand that this is a big mistake and we are very sorry for the error. As of right now, the only way we know to correct this error is to delete the app and re-install it, which is a horrible solution since it requires you to re-install all of the books, which takes a lot of time, and you lose all your photo faces. We are researching to see if there is any way to enable you to just delete the book itself but we have not found anything yet.  We will keep you posted if we do.  In the meantime, if you want to go through with the re-install, we have provided detailed instructions below. We can’t tell you how sorry we are for this error.  We know from reading these books to our own kids that there is a certain magic that happens when they see themselves in the book, and that spell is broken when we make an error like this. In fact, it was our own kids who spotted the error the first night we read it to them!  We promise you, like we promised them, that the mistake that caused this issue will never happen again. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns in the comments or by emailing us at support@storybots.zendesk.com.

1. Delete & reinstall the app.

-To delete, go to the home screen, tap and hold Starring You StoryBooks. You will see an (x) on the corner of the shaking app icon. Click the (x) and confirm deletion.

-To reinstall open the iTunes app store & download Starring You StoryBooks.

2. Open the app and  restore previous purchases.

-The “Restore Previous Purchase” button is in the center of the bottom of the home screen. You can also find a “Restore” button if you click on the “i” for info in the lower right corner of the app, then go to My Books. Below any books listed, it will say “Have previous purchases?” and a “Restore” button.

3. Enjoy personalizing the stories without a hitch!

We are very sorry for the inconvenience. Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns by emailing our friendly support team at support@storybots.zendesk.com.

Make like a bunny and hop over there to update JibJab Jr. Books and enjoy all the goodies StoryBooks has to offer, including all the books your kids have grown to love, super-fast loading times, an improved home screen, and animations at the end of each book. Our kids love it. We think your kids will, too!

Lastly, the StoryBots world isn’t limited to the iPad. At StoryBots.com, your child can star in videos set to classic songs, learn the alphabet with the ABC Jamboree, or go offline with printable activity sheets. Cool, huh?

Happy learning!

Evan & Gregg Spiridellis
StoryBots Co-founders, Brothers & Dads

Start your engines for the release of our next book, The Big Race!  In our September release, your child is the driver of car number 1 and speeds along the race track to be the first to cross the finish line, but trouble arises with Skeeter the Cheater. Will your child win the big race?

Check out the full book preview and a few of the animated pages here. To download “The Big Race,” visit the JibJab Jr.Books app on iTunes.

About the Artists

Alex Chechik grew up in Toronto, Canada and studied animation at Sheridan College in Ontario. His favorite book as a kid was The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Suess, and his favorite artist today is Gustav Klimt. As a kid he would wander off to explore the city by myself and not tell anyone. The worry turned his parents’ hair grey. Alex’s work can also be found at www.alexchechik.com.

Nate Swinehart rode in from the rugged wilds of Columbus, Ohio with a tablet pen in his left hand and a Rock Band mic in his right. He was raised by a family of athletes but studied animation, illustration and theater. After sampling the living conditions of Japan, Alaska and the marshes of Savannah, he happily acclimated to JibJab headquarters in Venice Beach. Nate enjoys video games, playing piano and singing, loudly. He’s the proud uncle of four, and excited to make cool stories for them.

Greetings JibJab Jr. fans!

The rumors are true!  JibJab Jr. Books will soon become Starring You StoryBooks. Don’t worry…it will still have all the books your kids love, but it will look different and load a ton faster.  

My brother and I are thrilled to give you this behind the scenes look into the update we submitted to Apple recently and that we hope to have approved and available to you in September.

Here’s what’s changing (and what’s not)…

BOOKS: The books your kids love will not change one iota. You will have all of the books you currently have access to and we will continue to roll out a new book every month. Our pipeline of new books looks amazing and we can’t wait to share them with you!

BRAND: While no one loves the JibJab brand more than us (heck, we invented it) we have decided to roll JibJab Jr. into our new children’s initiative called StoryBots. After the update, the name of the app will change to “Starring You StoryBooks” (which we think better describes the product).

SPEED: Our technology team spent weeks digging into the initial code that was written for the app and have optimized the heck out of it. The result? The app is blazing fast compared to the current version. A lot of the pauses that used to happen in the experience while you were waiting for things to load now happen in the background so the app, overall, is more responsive.

LOADING SCREEN: After the app loads, a super fun intro animation will ease you and your kids into the StoryBots world. Check it out!

ENDING ANIMATION:  Last, but certainly not least, one of the things that always bugged my brother and I about the existing app was how suddenly the books ended. It was jarring and unpleasant and did nothing to ease us into the inevitable shut down of the iPad and telling our kids it’s time to go to sleep. In the app update, which you will all have soon, we take a much softer approach with a beautifully animated transition from the last page of each book back to the home screen. Hopefully the little guy will get your kids yawning just like it gets our kids yawning – and us too!

As always, thank you for your support and feedback – and if you have any questions or comments please let us know in the comments below or email us at jibjabjrhelp@jibjab.net. You can also reach us on our new StoryBots Facebook page.

Evan & Gregg Spiridellis
Co-founders, Brothers & Dads

Greetings JibJab Jr. fans!

First of all, my brother and I want to thank you for using JibJab Jr. Books. Since launching the product a year ago, we have been floored by the positive response from kids and parents alike. In fact, that reaction — combined with the fact that we like creating stuff for our own kids — inspired us to create an entire universe of fun and learning called StoryBots™.

The StoryBots are brightly-colored, perpetually positive little creatures who live beneath our screens and make learning fun for kids — and easy for parents!

Today, we are pleased to announce four FREE StoryBots products including:

• Starring You® Videos - Create free personalized videos set to classic songs and share it with Grandma, Grandpa, or anyone else you’d like! If your kids like starring in our books, they’ll LOVE starring in StoryBots music videos! Create Videos »

• Activity Sheets - Choose from 100+ free printable activity sheets, add crayons, and get your child to put down the iPad for a little while. You might just get a half-hour to yourself! You can thank us later. Print Activities »

• ABC Videos - Join the StoryBots as they sing about each letter of the alphabet in the ABC Jamboree series! Warning: Expect delightful giggles as your child learns the shapes and sounds of the letters with these catchy tunes. Learn ABCs »

• Beep & Boop™ - Implement this StoryBots reward program and return sanity to your home! This simple, free iPhone app turns learning good behavior into a game that is fun for both kids AND parents. Seriously! Download App »

Last, but certainly not least, we want you to know that next month we’re releasing an update to our JibJab Jr. Books app that brings it into the StoryBots world. After the update, the app will still have all the books your kids love, but it will just look different and load a ton faster. Click here for a sneak peek at the new app and more information on the transition.

Thank you for your support. It’s given us the courage to build more products that help kids and parents laugh and learn together. We hope you enjoy this free bundle of family fun as a small token of our appreciation for your support!

Sincerely,

Evan & Gregg Spiridellis
Co-Founders, Brothers & Dads

In our animated children’s book, The Pet Grockle, your child meets a cute, friendly Grockle on the playground and decides to take it home.  We were so in love with the illustrations created by the super talented Nate Wragg, that our in house puppet maker, Mike, got to work bringing this little monster to life!  After finding the right materials to create this furry red guy, Mike spent the next 2 weeks cutting, gluing and sewing to create the real life Grockle.

In the story, the Grockle is known for bouncing off the walls and causing ruckus around town, but putting him in puppet form may have calmed him down a bit.

The Grockle and Mike.

For a full preview of this book and a few of the animated pages, click here. To download “Pet Grockle,” visit the JibJab Jr. Books app on iTunes.

Our featured book for August is Camping Adventures, the story of a young explorer and a little feathered friend who set out together for a fun-filled overnight stay in the great outdoors!

Check out the full book preview and a few of the animated pages here. To download “Camping Adventures,” visit the JibJab Jr.Books app on iTunes.

About the Artists

Ashlyn Anstee  grew up in a rainy city, moved to a snowy city, and now lives in a sunny city. She writes and illustrates books for JibJab. When she grows up, she would like very much to eat cake, wear dresses, and raise monsters in her backyard. You can also see some more of her art at ashlyna.blogspot.com.

Jacob Streilein is from Durham, North Carolina where he grew up drawing cartoons for his school newspaper and screen printing thousands of T-Shirts in his friends’ kitchen every weekend. He is studying animation at CalArts, but he occasionally misses the deep fried goodness of the dirty South. He listens to rap and despises country music.