STORY-BASED SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING + EARLY LITERACY
Magical stories and immersive storytelling experiences that help children explore emotions, relationships, values and the world around them through interactive reading, meaningful conversation and play.
One story. One value. One meaningful experience.
Ages 3–7 · Available in French and English.
Intentional Storytime uses stories to create opportunities for children to practice language, explore emotions, consider different perspectives, discover meaningful values and build a positive relationship with books.
Early Literacy
Language • Books • Interactive Reading • Vocabulary • Imagination
Social-Emotional Learning
Emotions • Relationships • Empathy • Perspective-Taking • Resilience
Values Through Story
Kindness • Courage • Gratitude • Honesty • Belonging • Responsibility • Love
The setting creates wonder. The story creates connection. The method gives the experience meaning.
One story. One value. One meaningful experience.
For preschools, childcare centres, schools, libraries, bookstores, family spaces and community events.
Storytime Experience
Ages 3–7 | 30–40 minutes. A warm, immersive storytime built around one magical story and one meaningful value. Interactive shared reading, participation, gentle conversation and a signature closing ritual.
Storytime Workshop
Ages 3–7 | 45–60 minutes. A deeper story-based experience centered on one emotional or values-based theme. Story → Talk → Create → Carry. Themes include kindness, courage, belonging, gratitude, friendship, empathy and resilience.
Storytime Series
4–8 sessions | Ages 3–7. A recurring early-years program where each session explores a different value, emotion or relationship theme through story, conversation and creative experience.
Intentional Storytime is designed to create meaningful opportunities for children to build language, explore emotions and relationships, consider different perspectives and develop a positive relationship with books. Through story, conversation and participation, children are invited not only to listen, but to wonder, respond, connect and carry the experience beyond the page.
Stories first. Meaning underneath.
Tales of Sofia is an original bilingual French–English picture-book series created by Hassania Benbrahim. Every night, Sofia enters Le Monde Enchanté, where her beloved stuffed animals come alive and magical adventures begin.
The story ends. The conversation becomes yours.
Every Tales of Sofia book invites families to finish storytime with the same simple bedtime ritual: What made you happy today? Was anything hard today? What do you want to thank God for today? A few quiet minutes to talk, listen and connect before sleep.
Children are developing language, relationships, imagination, emotional understanding and some of their earliest ideas about themselves and the world. Intentional Storytime exists to bring more attention and intention to these years through one of childhood’s most timeless experiences: a shared story.
Our approach is informed by established research in shared reading, interactive reading, early literacy and responsive adult-child conversation.
Hassania Benbrahim is a children’s author, storyteller and founder of Intentional Storytime. I created Intentional Storytime because I believe the stories we repeat in childhood matter. The words children hear, the characters they meet, the values they experience and the conversations we make space for slowly become part of how they understand themselves and the world. My goal is to make storytime culturally important again — the magic comes from imagination, language, characters, ideas and the world a story opens inside them.
For childcare centres, preschools, libraries, children’s spaces, community organizations and private events.