A Popbook is an interactive pop-up book that runs in the browser and teaches a value such as courage, sharing or patience. Children decide what happens next by typing or pressing buttons, and the story ends with a question for the family or class to talk about. You create it in Yeşilçam Studios from a single sentence and share it by link, so a class can open it on any device.

This guide shows how to create a Popbook, how to write a good prompt, and how teachers and parents can use it in a lesson or at home.

What a Popbook is and is not

A Popbook is a book, not a video. Pages open and pop up in the browser, and the reader takes part: at certain moments the child chooses what the character should do, either by typing an answer or by pressing one of the offered buttons. Because the text is the content, there is no voiced dialogue and no Speech selector. What makes it useful for teaching is the shape of the story: a value at its heart, choices that make children think about that value, and a closing question that turns reading into conversation.

You can open a sample from the Animation studios hub with Open the sample book, or browse all styles on the Animation page.

Creating a Popbook, step by step

  1. Go to Animation and choose the Popbook card.
  2. In What should the story teach? write the value and a one-line situation. The app’s own example is a good model: “Courage — a little robot is afraid of the dark, but a friend helps.”
  3. Set the Language your readers use.
  4. Check the estimated cost and press Create.
  5. When the book is ready, open it and read it through once yourself, trying different choices.
  6. Set Visibility and press Share, then Copy link.

Writing a prompt that teaches

The prompt is short, so every word counts. Three ingredients make the difference:

  • Name the value first. Courage, sharing, patience, honesty, kindness, responsibility. One value per book keeps the lesson clear.
  • Give the character a concrete problem. “A squirrel who does not want to share her acorns when winter comes” is better than “a story about sharing”.
  • Hint at the turning point. “…until a friend helps”, “…until she sees her neighbour is hungry”. The choices in the book will cluster around this moment.

Match the setting to your readers: a classroom, a playground, a ship, a forest. Young children connect fastest to situations they know; older children enjoy fantasy as long as the dilemma is real.

Using a Popbook in the classroom

  • Read together on the board. Project the book, read aloud, and let the class vote at each choice. Ask a child to explain the class’s reasoning before you press the button.
  • Small groups on tablets. Groups read independently, make their own choices, and report back which path they took and why.
  • End with the question. Every Popbook finishes with a question for the class. Use it as the opening line of a short discussion or as a prompt for a drawing or a few written sentences.
  • Revisit a choice. Read the book a second time and deliberately choose differently. Comparing paths shows that choices have consequences, which is the heart of values education.
  • Build a series. One book per week, one value per book, gives a simple values curriculum across a term.

Using a Popbook at home

For families, a Popbook is a bedtime story with a conversation built in. Let the child do the typing or pressing; ask “why did you choose that?” rather than correcting the choice. The closing question works well at dinner the next day. If a child is facing something specific, such as a new sibling, the first day at school or fear of the dark, a book written around that situation can open a gentle conversation.

Sharing the link safely

Popbooks are shared by link. Under Visibility you choose Private (only you can see this book) or Public (anyone with the link can read it without signing in). Pupils and parents therefore do not need an account. Paste the link into your class messaging group, learning platform or a QR code on a worksheet. When the lesson is over, Stop sharing closes the link; anyone who opens it afterwards sees that the link is no longer open.

Plans and cost

Animation, including Popbook, is available on the Free plan, so a teacher can try it without paying. Every production shows its token price before you start, and the estimate is a ceiling: if the book costs less to make, the difference is refunded automatically. See animation cost and refunds. For a lab that teaches one concept instead of a value, look at Labmation interactive labs, and for more style options read choosing an animation style.

Frequently asked questions

Do children need an account to read a Popbook? No. If the book is set to Public, anyone with the link can read it without signing in.

How do children interact with the book? They choose what happens by typing an answer or pressing one of the buttons offered.

Which values can a Popbook teach? Any value you name in the prompt, such as courage, sharing, patience or honesty. One value per book works best.

Can I stop a shared Popbook from being opened? Yes. Press Stop sharing and the link closes.

Does a Popbook have voiced dialogue? No. In Popbook the text is the content, so there is no dialogue setting.