Our story
Hideaway Tales was founded by Jon McTavish, an artist and designer in Hamilton, Ontario. It is a one-person studio. Jon invented the product, illustrated the book, and runs every part of the business himself. His sister Rebecca co-wrote the Drift story and inspired the whole idea, and the company itself is Jon's alone.
It started with a phone he could never reach
When his sister Rebecca had her first baby, she started keeping her phone out of sight. She did not want her daughter growing up thinking a screen was the most interesting thing in the room, so the phone went away whenever the baby was near. Jon admired that about her. The trouble was that he could no longer get hold of her. He would try to reach her to arrange a visit, to plan a time to come and see them, and the phone was tucked away in a drawer somewhere, unheard.
That was the thought that started everything. There had to be a way for Rebecca to stay reachable, connected to the people who wanted to see her, without the phone sitting out in front of her daughter all day. What if the phone could look like something else. What if it could live inside a book.
The idea arrived all at once, while Jon was brushing his teeth one morning. He made the first prototype that same day, a children's book from a thrift store with the pages glued shut and a slot cut into the middle. It was ugly. It worked. He handed it to Rebecca to test, and that rough little book became Hideaway Tales.
What we believe
Babies learn what is normal from the actions they see repeated. If they see phones again and again, phones start to matter. If they see books again and again, books start to matter.
Most of us already want to be on our phones less. We are not here to tell you to give up your phone, you have a job, a life, and messages that have to be answered. But a lot of parents are working to be more intentional with their screen time, to pick it up less often and be present a little more. The Hideaway Book is a tool for that effort. It helps you set the example you want to set while you work on your own habits, so in the years your child is learning what matters by watching you, more of what they see is a parent reaching for a book.
The Drift Hideaway Book Set
Our first product is a two-book set. Drift: Journey to Mount Chilly is a board book for your child, about a sleepy little dragon and the friends who keep track of him on the way to ice cream at the top of Mount Chilly. The Hideaway Book is for you. It has a hidden, foam-lined compartment, so when a call or message has to happen, your child simply sees you with a book.
It will not replace the time you spend truly present with your child, and it is not meant to. It turns the unavoidable phone moments into book moments. That is the whole idea.
Who makes all this
Everything here comes from one person. Jon McTavish founded Hideaway Tales, illustrated Drift, designed and engineered the Hideaway Book, and brings a fifteen-year career as an artist and designer to the work, from comic-style illustration to twelve-foot dragon sculptures. He works from a studio at The Cotton Factory in Hamilton, Ontario, and he is building Hideaway Tales into a wider world of characters and stories. You can read more about him on the author page.
Start here
Make books visible. Keep phones hidden. Raise readers from the start.