In the late 1970s, New York-based entrepreneur Zephyrus White and his siblings lived for one kind of mail: packages from “Grandma Goose.” Inside would be a children’s book and a cassette tape of their grandmother reading it aloud. “The moment that tape played,” White recalls, “distance disappeared. Her voice turned the pages with us on the living room rug.”
A Heartbreaking Discovery
Decades later, in 2017, White wanted his niece to hear that same voice. The family dug out the old cassettes, only to find the recordings had degraded beyond repair. Grandma Goose was gone a second time.
“That loss hit harder than I expected,” White says. “I realized voices are fragile. Tapes crumble, files corrupt, technology marches on, but a child’s need to hear a loved one never expires.”
Pandemic-Era Urgency
The idea lingered until 2020, when pandemic lockdowns shattered routines and magnified what mattered most: connection. Reading over video calls to his niece and nephew, White kept thinking, “There has to be a better way.”
He shared the concept with his partner, Arden Ariel, a former Navy engineer who was wrestling with the same fear—her own son growing up while deployments loomed. Within weeks, Ariel had a working prototype: a sleek, screen-free module with 21 recordable buttons and over 10 minutes of storage that magnetically attaches to any picture book.
From Prototype to Proof
They filed patents, battled global supply-chain chaos, and hand-packaged the first units themselves. The breakthrough moment came in 2022 when Ariel’s grandparents recorded The Three Billy Goats Gruff for her son, Alexander.
“He laughed so hard at Great-Grandpa’s troll voice he demanded encore after encore,” White says. Watching Ariel tear up, “we knew we weren’t building a gadget, we were building a bridge.”
Retail Breakthrough and Independent Bookstore Love
By 2023, the Recordable Book Buddy was on shelves in more than 135 independent bookstores nationwide, a rare feat for an early-stage children’s product. Today, in addition to their website RecordableBookBuddy.com it’s also carried by Books-A-Million and Uncommon Goods, with global distribution growing.
Version 2.0 and a Screen-Free Future
In September 2025, Read To Me launched Version 2.0: clearer audio, the same intuitive simplicity, and zero screens, apps, or subscriptions. While competitors chase animated avatars and monthly fees, White and Ariel remain obsessed with one thing: keeping the human voice at the center of the story.
A Lifeline for Military and Long-Distance Families
The emotional resonance runs deepest with military families, traveling parents, and grandparents separated by oceans. “Deployment orders don’t pause childhood,” White notes. “A Book Buddy lets a parent record Goodnight Moon before leaving and know their child will fall asleep to their voice for the next nine months.”
What Sets Read To Me Apart
Unlike most “kids tech,” the Recordable Book Buddy was born from real loss, not market research. It’s deliberately timeless, designed to work decades from now without becoming obsolete. White admires Folkmanis Puppets for the same reason: simple, high-quality tools that only come alive when a human pours imagination (and voice) into them.
One Voice, One Book, One Child at a Time
“Our mission hasn’t changed,” White says. “We’re here to help families stay connected through the power of storytelling, one voice, one book, one child at a time.”
In a season overflowing with stocking stuffers and unique gifts, few promise to outlast the wrapping paper. This screen-free wonder just might be because long after the batteries in every other toy die, a loved one’s “I love you” will still be waiting on the final page.
