The Bedtime Rebellion
How a Software Engineer Turned a Scary Statistic into Magic
It Started on a Rainy Tuesday
I am Pascal - a software engineer by trade. My circle of friends is full of parents. I’ve seen the transformation: my once-rested buddies now navigating the chaos of modern parenting. Between work, household, and family, finding quiet moments is their daily Everest.
One night, at a dinner with my friend Ben, the conversation turned serious. He shared a link that stopped the conversation cold. It was the latest study from Stiftung Lesen (the German Reading Foundation). The headline was a punch in the gut: "One in three children are rarely or never read to."
“One in three children are rarely or never read to.”
Stiftung Lesen — Vorlesemonitor 2024
The Reality Check
I dug deeper into the "Vorlesemonitor 2024" report and realized this wasn't just about "lazy parenting." It was about exhaustion. I looked at Ben and his wife, Sarah. They were exhausted. They loved books, but after a long day of work and household chaos, the energy just wasn't there. Ben confessed that he sometimes dreaded the bedtime battle. He was tired of reading the same book for the hundredth time. He felt guilty for handing over the iPad just to get 10 minutes of peace.
I realized they were part of the problem, but they didn't want to be. They were letting the magic of listening fade away because they were simply too tired to keep it alive.
The "Aha!" Moment
I asked myself: How can I help my friends fight this trend without adding more pressure to their lives?
The answer came from Ben's 4-year-old daughter, Mia.
Watching her play, I noticed she wasn't interested in the generic fairy tales on the bookshelf. She was whispering an elaborate adventure story to "Mr. Hops," her raggedy stuffed bunny. To her, Mr. Hops wasn't a toy; he was a hero.
That was the spark.
I realized that children don't just want a story; they want their story. They want to hear about their world, their pets, and their heroes. And I realized that technology shouldn't replace the imagination - it should fuel it.
But I knew good intentions weren't enough. I consulted with educators to understand exactly what makes a story valuable for a child's development.
Why I Built AudioFables
I founded AudioFables to be the antidote to the "zombie screen stare." I wanted to build a bridge between the digital world parents live in and the imaginative world children thrive in.
I built it for Ben and Sarah, who want to give Mia the developmental benefits of storytelling but need a helping hand after a long shift.
I built it for kids like Mia, who need to know that their dreams matter - that their stuffed penguin can go to the moon.
I built it to change the statistic. If we can make storytelling so magical, personalized, and easy that a child begs to listen instead of watch, we’ve won.
AudioFables isn't just an app. It’s an engineer's attempt to save his friends' evenings, one personalized adventure at a time.
The Founder
Pascal Pothmann
Founder & Software Engineer
Software engineer and founder who wants to make reading magical again.
Join the Rebellion
Turn screen time into dream time. Create your first personalized audio story today.