Leo Yu @leoyu.mp4 TikTok

Reading picture books to adults: a month of 1.7K views, then 1.8M on the second book

Leo Yu spent his first month on TikTok talking about his twenties to almost no one. On December 10, 2025 he read The Very Hungry Caterpillar to the camera; the next day If You Give a Mouse a Cookie reached 1.8M views. The same format has carried the account to 240K followers, and he says 100K came about three months later.

Report: v1
Data as of: 2026-11-09
Sample: 182 videos

December 11, 2025, the second book he read: 1.8M views View source

At a glance

What it is: Children’s picture books read aloud, for adults, at bedtime.
Who watches: Mostly 18 to 25, by his account.
How it earns: One publisher sponsorship so far; Creator Rewards if enrolled.
How it broke out: Switched from talking about his twenties to reading books; the second book did 1.8M.

TikTok followers Fact

240K

flat for the last 30 days

Median after vs before Derived

48×

82.9K against 1.7K

Days to 100K Self-reported

Dec 11 → his Mar 5 thank-you

Est. Creator Rewards Estimate

$24K–60K

if enrolled, $0.4–1 per 1,000

Summary

The play

Open on your face with one line that calls the viewer out, then cut to the book on a table and read the whole thing. Same opening, a new book every day, books picked from viewers’ requests.

Can you copy it? Our read

A clean format switch: a month of nothing, then a children’s book on day 36 and a median that rose 48×. What you can copy is the shape: one opening line, one fixed shot, a new book every day. What you cannot check is the follower story, which is his own and published by his employer.

What it takes: Comfortable reading aloud on camera; the face is on screen for only three seconds.
Startup cost: A phone over a table and a supply of books; a library card works.
Time to a verdict: His own run: 30 days of daily posts before the format, then about one a day for three months.
Window: Nostalgia formats keep working, but this exact one is now visible. Pick a different childhood object rather than another book channel.

Key findings

The switch, not the streak, moved the median
28 talking-head posts in the first month had a median of 1.7K. The 154 posts from the first book on have a median of 82.9K, 48 times higher. See play 2.1 (subscribers)
Same opening line, every book
The Very Hungry Caterpillar (165K), If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (1.8M) and I Want My Hat Back (12.0M) all open on his face and the same caption, “if you’re seeing this video”. See play 2.2 (subscribers)
Off-format posts went cold
After the turn, 21 posts under 45 seconds (fit checks, life updates) had a median of 10.7K; 130 readings of a minute or more had 109K. See play 3.1 (subscribers)

What this channel is

Platform: TikTok, same handle on Instagram
Format: Picture books read aloud
On camera: Face for 3 seconds, then hands and book
Team: Just him (self-described)
First upload: Nov 5, 2025
Length: Median about 1 minute 40

Every number is tagged

Fact straight from public data
Derived calculated from facts
Estimate from published pay ranges
Self-reported what the creator says
Our read our judgement

01How it happened

How the follower count grew

Followers 239.9K
Fact
Self-reported

Hollow dots are Leo’s own milestones from his write-up, which does not say which platform they count. The two solid dots are TikTok, measured, and the count has not moved in the last 30 days. On TikTok he posted “Thank u for 100k” on March 5, five days before the date in his write-up.

Colour = views against the channel median

under 1×
1–3×
3–10×
10× and up

Each bar is one video in the order posted. Gaps are breaks in posting.

Phase	Dates	Videos	Format	Median views
1	Nov 5 – Dec 9, 2025	28	“Figuring out my 20s”: career, money, rankings, jokes, to camera; one Red Bull story reached 254K	1.7K
2	Dec 10, 2025 – Jan 31	42	Picture books read aloud: The Very Hungry Caterpillar (165K), then If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (1.8M)	37.5K
3	Feb – Mar 2026	47	Same format, close to one a day; I Want My Hat Back reached 12.0M	71K
4	Apr – Nov 4, 2026	65	About two a week, longer readings, a one-hour bedtime compilation	105K

Hottest and coldest

Top 5 by views

I want my hat back #edutok #tiktoklearningcampaign2026-02-1912M
ten little lady bugs !2026-07-274.8M
Seuss time2026-01-203.3M
today I will fly2026-02-242.9M
this one was highly requested2025-12-152.7M

Bottom 5 by views

figuring out my 20s from scratch #buildinginpublic2025-11-05711
I haven’t read a book in 10 years. Let’s rank them #buildinginpublic...2025-11-18713
comment below what I should rank next. Thanks all #buildinginpublic ...2025-11-25842
not to name names but @Bella #buildinginpublic2025-11-231.02K
Replying to @pube_rty hope this helps!2025-11-211.21K

The five hottest are all books: I Want My Hat Back (12.0M), Ten Little Ladybugs (4.8M), a Dr. Seuss reading (3.3M), Today I Will Fly (2.9M) and a requested book on December 15 (2.7M). The coldest after the turn are all off-format, among them “surfing the web” (2.8K), a 2025 recap (2.8K), a nine-second brag (3.3K), “car therapy” (4.1K) and “cat therapy” (4.4K). Our read

Reading the numbers

Fact

1.8M

views on the second book

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Dec 11. The first book the day before had 165K.

Self-reported

250 → 100K

followers from day 30 to March 10

His own milestones; the platform is not stated.

In the creator’s words Self-reported
It’s cringe until it’s not.
Leo Yu, on the Stan blog · View source