Our Mission
Making The Book Buddy
WHEN IT ALL BEGAN
1978-ish
In a small house in Kansas, my siblings and I would gather on the shag rug and listen to our parents read to us. Those books transported us to new worlds, stretching our minds with ideas, cultures, philosophies, and possibilities. Our grandmother, who lived far away, also read to us by recording her voice on cassette tapes and sending them along with books. We called her Grandma Goose- like Mother Goose the fabled storyteller. We were always so excited when a package from Grandma Goose would arrive. We’d snuggle on the reading rug, listening to her voice as we turned the pages. We cherished those wonderful moments.
A SAD DISCOVERY
2017
When I wanted my little niece to experience the same magic, hearing her great-grandmother read to her, my sister and I unpacked the books and cassettes from storage. We soon discovered that those old tapes had degraded, and Grandma Goose's voice was lost along with them. It was an incredibly sad moment. This sparked the idea for the Book Buddy, a device that could record and preserve a loved one's reading without becoming obsolete.
THE IDEA
2020
During the pandemic I spent hours reading to my little niece and nephew. One day I heard my partner Arden reading one of my favorite children’s books to her son. She had her own set of silly voices which made "Shh, We Have A Plan" seem like a completely different book than when I read it. It was a vivid reminder how personal the act of reading to a child is.
DESIGN & MANUFACTURING
2021
I remembered my idea, and shared it with Arden, who had an engineering background from her time in the Navy. Excited, she began designing the Book Buddy. Within a month, she had created a simple, elegant solution: a self-contained device that easily attaches to books, records voices, and is durable enough for children. Two prototypes and a patent application later, our first batch of Book Buddies arrived from the factory- despite global supply chain disruptions and a microprocessor shortage!
THE REAL TEST
2022
We tested the Book Buddy by sending it to Arden's grandparents, who returned it with a recording of "Three Billy Goats Gruff." When Alexander, Arden's son, heard his great-grandpa's voice, he laughed himself silly. I could also see nostalgia and memories from Arden’s own childhood on her face as she listened. We knew we had something special, and couldn't wait to share it with the world.