Personalized storybook gift ideas for every occasion

The best personalized gifts aren’t the ones with a name printed on them. They’re the ones that could only have been made for one person. A storybook made from your family’s own story is that kind of gift: it remembers something real, and it gets read again and again.

Here are a few moments worth a book, with a starting idea for each. An idea can be a single sentence. We write the rest.

Birthdays

A birthday book works best when it’s about the year they’ve just had, or the one they’re stepping into. Think about what made this year theirs. The bike they finally rode without training wheels. The swimming lesson they were sure they couldn’t do. The best friend they made at the park.

Idea: “Leo turns six and the whole family goes on a hunt for the birthday cake, which Grandpa has hidden somewhere in the garden.”

The holidays

Holiday books become part of the season. Make one about your own traditions: the cookies that always burn, the cousin who opens presents early, the snowy walk to see the lights. Because it’s about your holidays, it comes out of the box every year with the decorations.

Each book is printed just for you. Allow about 2 to 3 weeks after you send it to print, and a little extra in December. The illustrated PDF is ready right away. If the book is still on its way, print a page and tuck it in a card.

A new baby, or a new big brother or sister

A new sibling is one of the biggest changes a small child goes through. Give them a story where they are the hero. They teach the baby to wave. They share a favorite toy. Their new job becomes something to be proud of.

Idea: “Ava becomes a big sister. She shows baby Sam everything in the house, starting with her very best rock.”

First days and big milestones

First day of school, moving to a new house, the first night in a big-kid bed. Reading about it beforehand, with themselves in the story, can make a nervous day feel familiar. Our sample book A Brave First Day began this way. Amara is nervous about kindergarten, so her big brother gives her his lucky bottle cap.

For grandparents, and from them

Some of the best stories belong to grandparents: Sunday pancakes, the fishing trip, the song they always sing. A grandparent can make a book for a grandchild, or a parent can make one about a grandparent to give back to them.

• Live far away? Make that the story: the same moon over two windows, or the summer they came to stay.
• No typing needed. Tap the microphone and tell the story out loud.
• One for every house. Order extra copies at the same price, so every shelf has one.

Just because

Not every book needs an occasion. Some of the most loved ones are about an ordinary Sunday, a family joke, or the dog who steals socks. Those are the stories that are easiest to forget, and the ones they’ll be gladdest you kept.

Making it feel like a gift

A few touches turn a good book into a keepsake:

• The dedication. Every book opens with one, in your words.
• The note at the back. Each book ends with a lined page left blank for a grown-up to write on by hand. Photos keep what they looked like; this is where you write down who they were.
• Everyone they love. Add up to five characters, including brothers and sisters, grandparents and pets. Mention a blanky, a favorite toy or even the family house, and we draw it in too.

How to start

Tell us who it’s for and what happens. You’ll see the story, the characters, the cover, and the first pages before you pay anything. You can change any word along the way. If it isn’t right, simply don’t order.

Start a story for someone