The family story kit
Shoebox to Storybook helps you ask about one photo at a time, write down what you hear, and turn it into a family storybook you print yourself.
Doing it with a parent? One of you asks, the other tells. How that works
How it works
That’s the whole method. Do it twelve times and you have the first edition of your family storybook, with a timeline and a who’s who at the back.
From the box, the album or the drawer. A cheerful, ordinary photo is the best place to start.
Who’s in it, where and when, what was going on, what’s outside the frame, and why it matters. Jot the answers on a Photo Story Sheet.
A short story with its photo and caption, written by hand on a template or laid out by the Story Page Maker.
One page usually takes a sitting of about an hour.
What’s inside
These are real pages from the kit. Select any page to look closer.
Start here. Your first page begins on page 5.
Print one page at a time, as often as you need.
No account and no internet needed. Nothing is uploaded.
Standard PDF files with bookmarks. Print at home at “Actual size” (100%). Letter for the US and Canada, A4 for most other countries.
A computer with a current web browser. Tested in the engines behind Chrome and Edge, Firefox and Safari. Not designed for phones or tablets.
Scans or phone pictures of your prints. JPEG files were tested. A home printer is enough; a print shop can bind the book.
A worked example
Claire asked her mother about an old lake photo, using the five questions. Her notes went on a Photo Story Sheet. Here’s the page they became.
Illustrative example. The Hale and Anders families are fictional, and the “photos” are illustrations.
Who it’s for
The kit is built for two people: one asks, one tells. The storyteller stays in charge. They can pass on any question, check each page before it goes in the book, and decide what stays private. The license covers your family, so everyone can print their own copy.
Starting the family tree itself? Fill In the Dots is a family history starter map and research log for beginners, also from Wren & Co.
It stays yours
The Story Page Maker runs on your computer, with no account and no internet connection. It’s built so it can’t make network requests.
Download them once and keep them. Gumroad also keeps them in your receipt link and your Gumroad library.
Every conversation starts with “you can skip anything.” There are Pass cards in the deck, and a gentle chapter on hard memories and memory loss.
Four simple marks keep what you know apart from what you think: ?, about, family story and two versions.
Mark each story Family book, Ask first or Private. Then print a family edition that leaves out anything not for sharing.
The Guide shows how to keep the teller’s own words, and what to watch for if you use transcription or AI tools.
How it compares
Each suits a different family. Here’s the honest difference.
| Compared | Shoebox to Storybook | Fill-in guided journal | Story subscription service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | US$29, one payment | About $15–30 each | About $69–199 a year |
| Built around | Your old photos and the stories behind them | Printed questions with blank lines | Weekly questions by email |
| Who writes | You, from a conversation, in the teller’s words | The storyteller, by hand | The storyteller, online or by phone |
| Account needed | No | No | Yes |
| The book | You print it, at home or at a print shop | The journal is the book | The service prints and ships it |
The complete kit
US$29one payment, in US dollars. No subscription.
At checkout, switch on “Give as a gift?” and add their email address and an optional message (how Gumroad gifts work). Or keep the kit yourself and share the files with relatives working on the same book: the license covers your family.
30-day refund. If the kit isn’t right for you, ask for a full refund within 30 days of purchase by replying to your Gumroad receipt email. You don’t need to explain or return anything.
Secure checkout by Gumroad. Your card details go to Gumroad, not to us. Gumroad may show the price in your local currency and adds any sales tax or VAT that applies where you live (Gumroad).
For personal and family use. Print as many copies as your family needs. Please don’t resell the kit or post the files publicly.
Gumroad, the store that sells the kit, takes the payment and acts as the merchant of record (Gumroad pricing).
Your receipt email has a “View content” link to the download page (Gumroad help). Save the files to your computer.
Read the “Start here” pages. Your first page begins on page 5.
Use the link in your receipt, or create a Gumroad account with the same email to see the kit in your library.
Why you can trust it
Wren & Co., which makes plain-language kits for everyday life. About Wren & Co.
The photo care, scanning and interviewing advice follows the Library of Congress, the National Archives, the Smithsonian and other official sources, listed in the Guide.
An automated check renders every PDF page in both paper sizes and fails if anything runs off a page. The Story Page Maker is tested in Chromium, Firefox and WebKit, the engines behind Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari.
Your printer, phones and tablets for the Page Maker, and screen readers with the PDFs. Tell us if something doesn’t work and we’ll help.
Not a subscription, not an app and not a service that writes for you. It isn’t medical or legal advice.
No accounts, and no cookies of our own. We count visits with Cloudflare Web Analytics, which uses no cookies and doesn’t identify you. If you ask for the free printable, Gumroad collects your email address to send it, and we send a few emails you can unsubscribe from. Gumroad’s checkout script loads on each page so you can buy here. Privacy
Reply to your Gumroad receipt email. Contact
Every page shown here is from the real kit, and the free Photo Story Starter lets you try the first step tonight.
Questions
No. It’s a digital kit: PDF files you print at home or at a print shop, and a Story Page Maker that runs in your web browser. Nothing is shipped. The book you make with it can be printed and bound however you like.
Yes. You’re collecting stories, not writing a novel. Each page is short, about what you’d say telling the story over dinner. The Guide walks you through a complete example before you start, and the Page Maker does the layout.
Most people can make one page in a sitting of about an hour. The Guide suggests twelve stories for a first edition. That’s a few weekends of work, spread over as long as you like.
For the PDFs, no: any device that opens a PDF will do, plus a printer for paper copies. The Story Page Maker needs a computer with a current web browser. It isn’t designed for phones or tablets.
No. The Story Page Maker works on your own computer, with no account and no internet connection. It is built so it can’t send anything over the network. Your work stays in your browser on that computer, and you can save a backup file whenever you like.
Often, yes. In dementia, older memories often last longer than recent ones, and photos can help bring them back (Alzheimer’s Association). The Guide has a short, gentle section on keeping visits short, not quizzing and following their lead. It isn’t medical advice; their care team may have ideas too.
Then you skip it. Every conversation starts with “you can pass on anything,” and the question deck has Pass cards. A Storyteller’s Wishes page records what they want shared, kept private or left out.
It works best as something you do together, not homework you hand over. One of you asks and the other tells. The license covers your family, so you can print copies for each other and share the files with relatives working on the same book.
That depends on how you print it. A home printer and a ring binder cost very little. A print shop or an online photo-book service charges per copy, so check their prices before you order. The Guide explains the three ways and what to ask for.
Free lists give you questions. This kit gives you a way to finish: one photo at a time, a simple way to keep track, printable pages and a tool that lays out finished pages. The questions are only one part of it.
If the kit isn’t right for you, ask for a full refund within 30 days of purchase by replying to your Gumroad receipt email. You don’t need to explain or return anything. Refunds go back to your original payment method through Gumroad.
Partly, and we’d rather say so. The instructions, questions and example pages were written and designed with the help of AI tools, then reviewed and edited. The example family is fictional. The Story Page Maker doesn’t use AI, and the stories you add stay yours.
Free to use
Plain guides, checked against official sources, and a free printable.
Questions that get stories, not one-word answers, with a gentle way to ask them.
What to write on the back of a photo, what to write with, and what never to use.
The settings to use, how to name the files, and how to keep them safe.
From a box of photos to a printed book, in plain steps.
A free 3-page printable: the five photo questions and a sheet to fill in.
Sort a box in an evening, name the faces, and store the prints safely.
Asking, recording and keeping a relative’s stories, with just a phone.
Free printable · 5 pages
A one-evening plan for a box of old photos. By bedtime you’ll know what you have, which faces still need names, and which photo to start with.
Who makes it
Wren & Co. began in 2026 with one aim: to make well-made helpers that bring order to everyday life. Life gets messy: bills arrive on the wrong days, plans scatter, memories slip away. Each thing we make takes one of those tangles and makes it tidy, clear and easy to come back to. No jargon, no clutter, just quiet, useful tools that do their job well.
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