8 stories, 64 illustrations

From the start, we loved that our daughter could listen to the same stories in Polish and English. We do not turn it into a language lesson, we simply choose Polish one evening and English another. We were curious how she would respond to a story in a language she does not yet fully understand. Because she already knows the characters and plot in Polish, the English version does not frustrate her. She picks out individual words, sometimes repeats a whole sentence and sometimes simply listens. What we like most is that English appears naturally, without worksheets or the feeling that she now “has to learn”. Bedtime is still first and foremost about winding down and sharing a familiar ritual. The language is simply a lovely extra. After a few weeks, our daughter began asking whether tonight’s story would be “in Polish or English”. To us, that is the best sign that both versions have become completely normal for her.

We have only had NUMi for a short time and initially wondered whether it would hold our daughter’s interest. The first few days naturally had the novelty factor, but several weeks later she still chooses her own bedtime story. What I like most is that it gives us something between reading a book and watching a cartoon on a screen. It is calm, yet gives our child something to focus on. The first story series is lovely, the plots are not overcomplicated and the pace works well at bedtime. We do not like every story equally, there are already two our daughter chooses much more often than the others but that is probably true of any story collection. For us, NUMi works best as part of the bedtime ritual, not as another toy during the day.

With a six-year-old, we were slightly worried the projector might already feel “too young”. It did not. Our son quickly embraced the ritual of choosing a story, and what surprised me most was that he truly listens instead of asking about something else after a moment or getting out of bed. The stories in the first series are calmer than most content children encounter every day, which is a major plus for us. There is no constant stream of stimulation or pictures changing every few seconds. A few stories could be a little more developed for an older child, because our son sometimes asks, “Is that it already?”, but at bedtime their length actually works well. NUMi has not replaced books in our home; it has simply become a second option for the evening.

Our biggest success is that our three-year-old can simply lie still and listen for a while. Until now, evenings were quite restless: another drink, another toy, one more book. NUMi has helped bring a little structure to that moment. The first stories are simple and calm, so our son follows them easily. After listening a few times, he began recognising parts of the stories and now tells us which one he wants. Of course, sometimes he is more interested in the projector itself than in the story, especially when he is not yet tired, so I would not call it a magic way to make a child fall asleep. But when we use it after bath time and winding down, it genuinely helps us move from an active day into a calmer evening.

I am positively surprised by the quality of the product and how substantial the set is. It is thoughtfully made down to the details and worth its price.

And the stories are excellent: calm, yet funny and modern. My daughter’s favourite is “Crocodile and the cold water” and she cannot wait for new series.