Interactive storytime.
A thousand stories,
one little box.
For the babysitter. For Grandma. For the nights you’re out of ideas.
A ready-made adventure for any grown-up to read aloud — set in your own house, with your kid’s name in the story. 15 minutes for the little ones. 30 for the older ones.
First batch · Ages 4 to 10 · Hand-assembled in Milwaukee · Ships November 2026
(try a real story, tonight)
(first-edition waitlist)
Hand it to anyone.
For the nights worth remembering.
The adventure is already written. Any grown-up who can read can lead it. That’s the point.
Friday nights
Instead of the same movie. A new adventure every week, made just for your family.
The babysitter
Hand them the script. Two hours of focused, screen-free play. The kids will ask for the sitter again.
When Grandma visits
Grandma reads the story. The kids run the adventure. A bond built on something better than a device.
The 7pm nights
You’re out of ideas. Dinner’s cleared. Open the app, tell it your kid’s name, and you have fifteen minutes of adventure ready to read.
Open the box.
Eight things to play with. Built to be used.
The app stays in your hands.
The kid never touches a screen.
Lantern uses AI to write the adventure. But the AI never talks to your child. It only helps the grown-up set the scene.
The kit gets played with. The adventures are always new.
Every kit is hand-assembled in Milwaukee — wood, paper, a few real-world finds. Nothing here is too precious to use. Crayon marks, grass stains, fingerprints: all welcome. That’s how stories happen.
The road ahead.
One kit today.
A whole world tomorrow.
Lantern is the beginning. Every kit you buy joins a growing ecosystem of stories, themes, and ways to play.
Coming 2027
Beacon
A sister kit for the stars. Transponders, alien specimens, star charts. Same engine, a galaxy of new stories.
Coming 2027
Custom Worlds
Adventures starring your child’s actual stuffed animals, Legos, dolls. Their toys, our stories. Every adventure personal.
Coming 2027
Companion Series
Quarterly add-on packs that expand your kit. Winter mysteries. Holiday editions. Author and musician collaborations.
I’m building Lantern because I couldn’t find what I wanted to send my niece for her seventh birthday. Heirloom things don’t have to feel old.
— Ryan, Milwaukee
Save me a kit.
I’ll email you once, when the November kits are ready. No other emails, no obligation — just a heads-up before they go.