This evening I was "invited" to help babysit my grand-daughters. Trying to think of what to do with them, I decided I would find a website that helped make stories.

In my vision they would design a scene, choose characters, and pick actions. Laying the scene would mean p;acing grass, trees, flowers, houses, stores, rivers, bridges, train tracks. Perhaps two triangle for a butterfly, bird, or cat; maybe an oval for a bear or bunny, a stick figure for a person or frog, a square for a cow or horse, and many more. Each variant of a figure would have different little serifs. The actions would at least include walking, running, swimming, and flying. As the story unfolding, the figures would animate. Carrying things would move them along in a trailer.

Ideally the system is voice guided and follows the child's narration.

I have in mind my daughter playing with her dolls and narrating liong involved scenarios, moving the dolls appropriately. The while thing must be spontaneous and avoid the meta. Avoid the meta.  As items are mentioned, they pop up in the scene.

This morning (Nov 8 2105) the NYTimes arrived with an attached Google Cardboard. It is a cardboard wraparound for a smart phone with lenses so each eye sees a diffeent part of the image. Special apps present two views of an image, one to each eye, created so the pair creates a three-D image. This is the perfect platform for the iTell (a Story) app.

First step is to videograph children playing stories. Them create the images their stories would involve. Use these to sell the concept to CMU and Google.Need to include psychology and computer science. Need voice recognition, graphics, Brad Myers and his demonstrational approaches.

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StoryBird.com

Not even close to the vision. The stories are all in text and must be selected from a library; they cannot be drawn. The library does include a collection of great pictures.

www.readwritethink.org/

just hints as to how to boss around your child

http://pbskids.org/storyfactory

static, limited

https://plotagon.com/

now we're talking. create animation and speaking characters.  Even does lip synch!

but aimed at an older audience; much too realistic; seems to be mostly talking heads

http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/07/top-20-free-digital-stotytelling-apps.html

there seem to be a number of apps  (this page lists 17)

none of them reeally right