Illustrated social stories
Books that walk a child through one ordinary, demanding moment — the dentist, a new school, a haircut — from beginning to end, before the day arrives.
“Going to the Dentist” is free as a direct download — all four children, PDF and editable PowerPoint. No account needed.
How Inkwren stories are made
Same face, same clothes, same white canvas sneakers, and the same room from the first page to the last. For a reader building a mental model out of the pictures, a character who changes shirts between pages is noise, not variety.
Body text is Atkinson Hyperlegible, drawn so that similar letterforms stay distinguishable from one another. Short line lengths, high contrast, and a PDF that prints legibly on a tired classroom printer as well as it reads on a tablet.
First person, present and future tense, literally accurate, patient in tone, and weighted 4.2 to 1 toward describing rather than instructing. About half the sentences simply affirm the child.
Inkwren Studio is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or certified by Carol Gray or The Gray Center. Our scripts are written to follow Carol Gray’s Social Story™ criteria as a published framework.
The four children
Every story exists in all four. Buy one story and all four children come with it, so a reader can find themselves in the set — and siblings or classmates can each have their own.
Medium-brown skin, dark curly hair in a top bun.
Light skin, freckles, short copper-red hair.
Deep brown skin, short coily hair with a low fade.
Light skin, chin-length black bob with bangs.
Pack one
Free direct download · $5.99 on Etsy · all four children included
The whole visit, walked through before the day arrives: the waiting room, the chair that leans back, the bright light that doesn’t hurt, the little brush that spins and tickles. Every sound an office makes is named in advance, so none of them is a surprise.
$5.99 · all four children included
The first day from the front door to the ride home — a new teacher, a cubby, the parts of the day in order, and who to ask when you need help. It is honest that not knowing anyone yet is something that changes over days rather than minutes.
$5.99 · all four children included
The cape that snaps at the back of the neck, the cool spray of water, scissors that snip, clippers that buzz and tickle, hair falling that does not hurt. It also gives permission to ask for a break, and the words for asking.
$5.99 · all four children included
A routine checkup step by step: the scale, the cuff that squeezes and lets go, the stethoscope that is cold for a second, ears and eyes and throat. It deliberately does not describe a shot, so it stays literally accurate for appointments that don’t include one.
$5.99 · all four children included
The parking lot, the bright lights and beeping scanners, the freezer aisle that is genuinely cold, the list, and wanting something that isn’t on it. There is a page on asking for a break, and a treat page you can edit to match what your family actually does.
$5.99 · all four children included
A gift that is for someone else, arriving somewhere loud, games you may join or not join, and cake someone else blows the candles out on. The page about leaving early is there on purpose: a party a child can leave is a party a child can attend.
$5.99 · all four children included
Waiting at the stop, the doors folding open, the steps up, the driver whose job is to keep everyone safe, and finding a seat and staying in it. Drop a photo of the real bus stop into the editable file and it becomes your child’s book rather than a book.
$5.99 · all four children included
Waiting to be seated, the menu, choosing one thing, telling the server, and waiting for food — which is the longest part. The book never promises the food will be liked; it says what will happen.
$5.99 · all four children included
Packing and knowing everything comes home again, bags going away on a belt, security with shoes and bins, the narrow aisle, engines that get loud, ears that feel funny, landing. Start reading two or three weeks out — airports reward rehearsal more than almost anything else.
$5.99 · all four children included
What a library is for, why voices are quieter and what a quiet voice actually sounds like, choosing books, and the beep at the checkout desk. It ends with books being borrowed rather than kept, which is the part most first visits stumble over.
Pack two
Introduces Sam, a classmate who talks with an AAC device, and a teacher who uses a wheelchair — both part of an ordinary day, the way they are.
$5.99 · all four children included
What happens during a fire drill, from the loud alarm to walking back inside: leaving books at the desk, walking in the hallway, and standing in the class spot on the grass while the teacher counts everyone. My teacher, who uses a wheelchair, leads the line, and Sam, a classmate who talks with an AAC device, waits alongside.
$5.99 · all four children included
The day a different grown-up teaches the class: why the regular teacher is sometimes away, the plan she leaves, the picture schedule that stays in its usual order, and telling the substitute your name. Sam, a classmate who talks with an AAC device, says good morning, and the substitute says it back.
$5.99 · all four children included
The long tables, the noise, sliding a tray, saying a lunch number, and asking for help opening a carton. Ear defenders or the end of the table help when the room gets loud, and Sam, a classmate who talks with an AAC device, sits alongside and says, “I like apples.”
$5.99 · all four children included
Choosing what to do outside, asking “Can I play?”, taking turns on the swings, and finding the class line when the whistle blows. Sam, a classmate who talks with an AAC device, says “My turn,” and the two take turns on the slide.
$5.99 · all four children included
The note that comes home, the gym set up with a backdrop and two lights, waiting in line, the comb that’s a choice, the click and the flash, and the pictures coming home weeks later. It never promises a smile — only what will happen.
$5.99 · all four children included
The permission form, the bus ride, small groups with a grown-up helper, a big echoey museum, looking versus touching, and the ride back to school. Sam, a classmate who talks with an AAC device, is in the same group and says “Look” at the big gear wall.
$5.99 · all four children included
The whole school in the gym: where the class sits, why it’s loud, the lights and the microphone, clapping or keeping hands still, and asking for a quieter spot. Sam sits alongside in the same row, and the teacher who uses a wheelchair stays close by.
$5.99 · all four children included
Not being sure is part of learning: raising a hand, saying “Help, please,” holding up a help card, and waiting a turn while the teacher helps someone else first. Sam, a classmate who talks with an AAC device, asks for help with two taps, and the teacher, who uses a wheelchair, comes over.
$5.99 · all four children included
What a group is, how groups get picked, a louder room, holding on to an idea and when another one is picked instead, and cleaning up together at the end. Sam, a classmate who talks with an AAC device, says “I like the frog,” and it goes on the poster.
$5.99 · all four children included
Why a part of the day sometimes changes — rain, the gym in use, a visitor — and how the picture schedule moves to match it, plus the words for asking “What is next?” The teacher who uses a wheelchair moves the card so the schedule matches the new plan.
Pricing
Every purchase is an instant digital download — print-ready PDFs plus editable PowerPoint files, so you can put in the real names, the real school, the real dentist. Nothing ships.
One story
$5.99
One title, and every child in it.
Most bought
$24.99
All ten titles, one child, one download.
Pick a child to buy the pack direct. Also on Etsy.
Caseload edition
$49.99
Ten titles × four children — forty books.
Personal use plus one classroom or one clinician’s caseload. Full license terms.
For professionals
Built for BCBAs, SLPs, OTs, special education teachers, school counselors and child life specialists. Every script is written and checked in-house against the ten Social Story™ criteria, every book ships as an editable PowerPoint as well as a print-ready PDF, and the license covers one classroom or one clinician’s caseload.
The next pack
Pack 2 is being written now — more medical and dental visits, more school-day routines, more of the everyday transitions people ask us for. One short email when a set is ready. Nothing else, ever.
One email per pack. Unsubscribe any time.