Elle's Stories for Kids

Hi, my name is Chantelle. I was a primary school teacher in South Africa, before moving to the Netherlands in 2016, where I am now a business owner and a mom.

Every night at bedtime, I tuck my daughter into bed and turn off the lights. I know what’s coming next. “Mom, can you tell me a story…” We’ve been making up and telling her stories since she was a few months old. But it was only when she began asking for repeats, that I considered writing them down.

This is how Lilly the Ladybug was created. I wrote a few more adventures for Lilly the Ladybug, knitting together sound effects and voice actors to create educational and engaging adventures for children. That’s when Elle’s Stories—and my passion for audio stories—began. Each story is fuelled by the joy of a moment shared telling stories with my daughter.

It feels great to create stuff for kids once again—stuff I know will educate and entertain them.

Lilly the Ladybug came into being one night while tucking my daughter into bed. She often gives us story prompts, like, “Tell me a story about a dragon who ate a dinosaur!” Well, one night she asked for a story about a Ladybug. We had just visited the zoo. And that’s how Lilly was created. I felt inspired to write the story down, and make it into a rhyming picture book (I have the manuscript ready for publishing).

But, then I remembered lying on the floor of my bedroom as a kid, listening to children’s radio programs. They were delightful. I loved them. So, I re-wrote the story for audio—just like I’d originally told it - along with sounds and background noises, that made my eyes twinkle. I then wrote five more stories about Lilly the Ladybug before jumping into the detail-intensive art of recording, editing and publishing. What a rewarding journey!

I made these stories for children aged 2–6. And produced them so that listeners would feel like they’re right there next to Lilly the Ladybug and Cyril the seagull—immersed in the environments the audio helps them imagine. They’ll feel engaged and entertained while learning about the different animals Lilly meets on her adventures.

There‘s something magical about a physical item that you intentionally choose, insert, and push play on. Kids don’t have tapes, CDs or even Blu-Ray. And they’ll very seldom own an a beautiful item that does just one thing. We purchased the Yoto for our daughter to encourage her to listen to stories and use her imagination while doing so. While she has quiet time in the afternoon, and often during family dinners, she listens to her Yoto. She immerses herself in the audio worlds and music. Using the Yoto has given her autonomy and independence.

Elle’s Stories for Kids aims to be one of the stories children can chose to listen to, imagine and immerse themselves in, just the way I did when I listened to children’s radio when I was younger, and the way my daughter does now with her Yoto.

I’m currently editing the next series of Elle’s Stories for Kids about a silly and excited little bunny called Bunny Boo. She helps her friends as she learns to love her body and ask for help when she gets frustrated. I’m hoping to publish this series before the end of 2024, so keep an eye on ellesstoriesforkids.com and @ellesstoriesforkids on socials for information on the release.