Book 1
2 min 15 s
Ages 2–7
Horan spends every day helping — carrying rice cakes, chasing a runaway chicken, rescuing Mei's kite. But when the lanterns glow at night, who will help Horan?
Bedtime picture books, read aloud
Gentle stories from a little house on a hill.
At the edge of a little village lives a little ronin named Horan. Every book is a short, cosy story about helping, sharing and finding your family — narrated and set to soft village music.
The bookshelf
Pick a book. Each one is about two minutes long — just right for bedtime.
Around the village
The places you'll visit in Horan's stories.
Meet the village
The friends you'll find in Horan's stories.
Horan
A little ronin in a patched blue kimono who always has a hand to lend.
Granny Ume
Tiny, kind and never without her walking stick — or a rice cake.
Mei
A little girl with two short pigtails and a big imagination.
The chicken
Round, fluffy and a little bit silly. Horan's sidekick. Cluck.
Mochi
A fluffy ginger kitten with big green eyes, and Horan's newest family.
Suggest a story
Is there something Horan should help with next? A lost toy, a first day at school, a new baby in the house? Tell us your idea and it might become the next book.
Every idea is read by a real person (and occasionally sniffed by Mochi). If we turn your idea into a book, we'll let you know first.
For grown-ups
Made for winding down
Slow page turns, a warm storyteller's voice and soft music that never gets loud. Each book is a 16-page picture book, about two minutes long.
Original village music
A gentle five-note tune on koto, flute and glockenspiel opens every book and plays it out as a lullaby.
Honest about how it's made
Stories, illustrations and music by Little Ronin. The narration voice is created with AI.