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Telning Publishing House · The TADA way

TADA: Talk, Ask, Decide, Act

Our own way to turn a picture book into a real talk with your child.

TADA is Telning's own way to talk about a story. You talk with your child, you ask, your child decides how the story ends, and then you act: you take the story into real life. It works with every Telning book, in any language you speak at home.

By the Telning team of cognitive and behavioural scientists · Last updated

Where does TADA come from?

TADA is our own way to talk about a story. Our cognitive and behavioural scientists built it after a careful review of the research, including meta-analyses and trials on shared reading, wordless books and talking about feelings, and from our clinical and behavioural work with children and families.

  1. We read the research

    Meta-analyses and trials on shared reading, wordless books and talking about feelings.

  2. We added what we learned in our work

    What we see when we work with children and families, week after week.

  3. We made it four easy steps for home

    Talk, Ask, Decide, Act. Short enough to remember at bedtime.

What does the research say?

Five findings in plain words. Each card links to its source at the bottom of the page.

What is new in TADA?

  1. Decide is a step of its own.

    The story stops at a fork: two endings, side by side. Your child chooses and says why. There is no wrong answer.

  2. The child talks most.

    The grown-up asks, waits, and adds one word.

  3. Act takes the story into real life.

    "What would you do?" Then your child draws their own ending.

  4. The loop closes.

    You send the drawing. We send a story card and ideas for your next talk.

  5. Wordless, so it works in any language.

    The story belongs to you and your child, in the language you speak at home.

  6. Decision making at the centre.

    Your child sees the choices, thinks about what could happen, picks one and says why. Feelings, friends and new ways to act are woven in.

How do the four steps work?

Who does what, three things you can say, and one tip for a two-year-old and one for a six-year-old.

  1. Talk

    Your child

    Your child looks at the page and says what they see. You wait. Then you repeat their words and add one or two.

    Three things to say

    • "You see a cat."
    • "Yes, a cat on the wall."
    • "What else is there?"
    Ages 2–3
    Point and name things together. You do more of the talking, and that is fine.
    Ages 5–7
    Let your child tell the whole page before you say anything.

  2. Ask

    You

    One easy question first: who, what, where. Then one about feelings or why.

    Three things to say

    • "Who is there?"
    • "How does she feel?"
    • "Why do you think that?"
    Ages 2–3
    One question per page. Count to five in your head before you help.
    Ages 5–7
    Ask "What could happen next?" before you turn the page.

  3. Decide

    Your child

    At the fork, two endings sit side by side. Your child picks one and says why. There is no wrong answer.

    Three things to say

    • "Which ending do you choose?"
    • "Why that one?"
    • "What would the other one change?"
    Ages 2–3
    Your child points. You can colour that ending together.
    Ages 5–7
    Ask what each ending would change for the others in the story.

  4. Act

    Together

    Take the story into real life. Then your child draws their own ending, and you send it to Pim.

    Three things to say

    • "What would you do?"
    • "When did you feel like that?"
    • "Shall we try it today?"
    Ages 2–3
    Act it out with a toy. Keep it short.
    Ages 5–7
    Let your child draw the ending alone, then tell you the story of it.

What research shows, and what it does not show yet

Effects of shared reading are small to medium, and they fade without practice. So: short sessions, often, and read the same book again.

No study has tested choose-your-ending picture books yet. We use the fork to start a talk, and we are testing it with families.

Sources

The studies behind this page, from our research guideline. Links open the publisher's page.

  1. Grazzani, I. & Ornaghi, V. (2011). Journal of Child Language, 38(5), 1124–1139.
  2. Mol, S. E., Bus, A. G., de Jong, M. T. & Smeets, D. J. H. (2008). Early Education and Development, 19(1), 7–26.
  3. Dowdall, N. et al. (2020). Child Development, 91(2). Open: doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13225
  4. Noble, C. et al. (2019). Educational Research Review, 28, 100290.
  5. Barone, C., Chambuleyron, E., Vonnak, R. & Assirelli, G. (2019). Educational Research and Evaluation, 25(5–6), 270–298.
  6. Goriot, C., Jongstra, W. & Mensink, R. (2024). L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature, 24(1). Open: doi.org/10.21248/l1esll.2024.24.1.712
  7. Chaparro-Moreno, L. J., Reali, F. & Maldonado-Carreño, C. (2017). Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 40, 52–62.
  8. Petrie, A., Mayr, R., Zhao, F. & Montanari, S. (2023). Journal of Child Language, 50(1), 104–131.
  9. Murphy, K. A. et al. (2025). Journal of Child Language, 52(2), 399–424. Open: doi.org/10.1017/S0305000924000072
  10. Grolig, L., Cohrdes, C., Tiffin-Richards, S. P. & Schroeder, S. (2020). Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 51, 191–203.
  11. Ni, Y. (2026). Frontiers in Psychology, 17. Open: doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1853362
  12. Ornaghi, V., Grazzani, I., Cherubin, E., Conte, E. & Piralli, F. (2015). Social Development, 24, 166–183.
  13. Narrative review (2025). Frontiers in Psychology. Open: doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1622536
  14. Flack, Z. M. & Horst, J. S. (2018). Infant and Child Development, 27(1), e2047.
  15. Fisher, A. V., Godwin, K. E. & Seltman, H. (2014). Psychological Science, 25(7), 1362–1370.
  16. Tare, M., Chiong, C., Ganea, P. & DeLoache, J. (2010). Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 31, 395–400.

Ready to try it?

The parent guide has the short version: what to do before you start, questions that work, and tips by age.

Read the parent guideSend Pim your ending