1 He reads the Word aloud
Verses, psalms and full Bible stories, in language a four-year-old actually follows. Set a plan for the week or let him choose. Nothing is reduced to a cartoon.
Hand-made · South African · Screen-free
A bear that reads the Bible in your child's own language.
Mnr de Beer reads Scripture aloud, tells stories and sings — in Afrikaans and English. You choose every word he says. No screen. No microphone. No ads.
Launch price
R2 370
Regular price
R3 370
once off · no monthly fee
Tell me when he's back
Out of stock for now. He is made by hand, and the first bears are gone.
No screen
No microphone
You approve every word
Afrikaans and English · isiZulu coming
Why we built him
The twenty minutes before bed are the most important twenty minutes of his day.
You know that. You're also exhausted.
So the tablet takes those twenty minutes. It's quiet, it's easy, and it asks nothing of you. It also gives nothing back. He ends up knowing an algorithm's voice better than his grandmother's language.
We didn't build a better screen. We took the screen away and kept the voice.
Children remember what was read to them. Not what was shown to them.
What he does
Three things, and he does them well.
Press his paw. He starts talking. That's the whole interface — there is nothing here for a child to learn.
1 
2 He tells stories
120 stories you approved yourself, many of them written here at home. No violence, no frightening turns, nothing that is a bad idea at 8pm.
3 He sings and he prays
Psalms and songs they start singing along to, and a prayer before lights out. Ask for the same story a fortieth time and he plays it a fortieth time without sighing.
His languages
He speaks the language spoken at your table.
A child who learns their mother tongue from a screen learns it halfway. Mnr de Beer speaks it properly, with the right sounds and the right rhythm.
AF
Afrikaans
Available now
EN
English
Available now
ZU Coming soon
isiZulu
Coming soon
isiZulu is being recorded now. Every bear that ships today gets it free as an app update — you are not buying a second bear.
Our homes
Where he's going to be.
These are illustrations, not photographs from real homes — our first batch is still with the pilot families. Real photos go up as soon as they've sent their own and given permission.
Drag to see more
The app
You hold the key, not the child.
Everything Mnr de Beer says comes off a list you approved. The app is where you do that — two minutes on a Sunday night and the week is packed.
- 1
Choose his language
Afrikaans or English today, isiZulu when it lands. Switch any time, or let him move between two.
- 2
Pack the week
Pick a Bible plan, pick the stories, set bedtime. He stays inside what you chose and nowhere else.
- 3
Add Ouma's voice
Record a story in your own voice — or your mother's, over the phone, from another town. He tells it back exactly as it was recorded.
- 4
See what he did
Which stories, how long, how late the last one ran. Not a score to chase. Just what actually played.
Download for iPhone Comes with the bear
Download for Android Comes with the bear
19:12
Tonight
EN- Psalm 23 · English
- The lost sheep · 6 min
- Ouma's story · her voice
- Bedtime 7:30pm
Approved by you
What they said
From the test homes.
Our first batch is still with the pilot families. Nothing goes here until they've written it themselves and given permission — and we will never invent a quote.
Real homes
Parents who already have him.
Nothing here yet. The first bears have only just reached families, and their videos go up the day they send one and give permission — not before.
Honest comparison
Why not just a tablet?
We wrote it out, including the row where an ordinary teddy beats us.
| Mnr de Beer | Tablet or phone | Smart speaker | Ordinary teddy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No screen | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Works with no Wi-Fi | Yes | Partly | No | Yes |
| Parent approves every word | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Speaks Afrikaans properly | Yes | Partly | Partly | No |
| Scripture built in | Yes | No | No | No |
| No ads or algorithm | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| No microphone at all | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Records your own voice | Yes | Partly | No | No |
| Something to hold in the dark | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Hand-made in South Africa | Yes | No | No | Partly |
The offer
First batch.
We make him in batches, by hand. That is the only reason there is a list.
What's in the crate
- Mnr de Beer — hand-made mohair, machine-washable outer
- USB-C charging cable · 14 hours per charge
- The parent app for iOS and Android
- 120 stories and the full Bible library
- Every language update free, forever
- 24-month warranty
R2 370 R3 370 You save R1 000
once off · no monthly fee
Out of stock
Out of stock for now. He is made by hand, and the first bears are gone.
We'll let you know.
You're on the list. The moment he's available again you'll hear from us — not before, and not about anything else.
The first bear is built and he works. He reads, he tells stories and he sings — we just do not have enough of him yet.
Questions
What parents ask first.
Is he listening to my child?
No. There is no microphone in him. He cannot hear, so there is nothing to record and nothing to send anywhere. No camera either. He talks, reads and sings — that is all he does, and that is the whole point.
Why is he so expensive?
Because you pay once and he never goes out of date. The library lives in the cloud and keeps growing: new stories, new Bible plans, new voices and new languages come down through the app, free, for the life of the bear. No monthly fee, ever. Then he gets handed down — oldest to youngest, and after that to a cousin. R2 370 across three children and a 24-month warranty is less than a year of subscriptions to a children's app, and at the end of it you still have a hand-made bear.
Does he need to be online?
No. Everything you chose in the app sits on the bear. He works in the car, on the farm and through load-shedding. Wi-Fi is only needed when you download new stories or a new language.
What age is he for?
2 to 9 is the sweet spot. Under two he's a teddy that sings; by nine they're reading themselves and he becomes something that stays on the shelf. We find he gets handed down to a younger brother or sister.
Can he be washed?
The outer shell unzips at the back and goes in the machine on cold. The inside stays dry. It was the first thing we designed, because it is the first thing that happens.
When does isiZulu arrive?
It's being recorded now with first-language speakers, not a speech synthesiser. We won't name a date we can't keep. You'll get it free through the app when it's done.
Is this a subscription?
No. One price, once. The app, the Bible library and every language update are included for the life of the bear. We will never put a voice behind a monthly fee.
Children remember what was read to them. Not what was shown to them.
The first bear is built and he works. He reads, he tells stories and he sings — we just do not have enough of him yet.