The book they never put down
Their face all through the book
Not just the cover. They are drawn into the story from the first spread to the last, and one of our artists checks every page before it goes to print.
Both of them, all through it
Everybody who is in this story is drawn from your own photos, on every page they appear, and adding them costs nothing.
See it before you pay
We draw your child free and show you the cover with their name on it. Nothing is charged until you say yes.
Built to survive a four year old
Hardcover with a matte laminated cover, thick coated pages, printed to order in the USA.
The page you write to them
You write the dedication and we print it word for word, on a page of its own. They hear it at four because you read it to them, and they read it again at twenty, when they are too old for the story and not too old for that.
personalized book with your own cat
The Cat Who Knew the Way
Ages 3 to 8 · Your child and your cat
- Who it's for:
- Kids who tell the cat everything.
- What happens:
- One night your cat leads your child through a door that was never there, into their own street after dark. When every corner looks the same, your cat already knows the way home.
For the child who tells the cat everything, and for the family who suspects the cat is the one really in charge. One night the house goes quiet too early and your child is still awake when the cat gets down off the bed, walks past the kitchen and stops at a wall where there has never been a door. On the other side is their own street at night, empty, lit green, with everything the day drops lying along the curb: one glove, one marble, and a goodnight that nobody got to say. Then every corner starts to look the same, and this is the part that matters: your child does not have to know the way, because somebody else already does. Your own cat is drawn on every page, from their markings, not from a stock drawing. Written in rhyme across thirteen spreads.
About half a minute. No account, no card.
About six business days, printing included
Every book is checked by a real artist
- Ages
- 3 to 8
- Who is in it
- The child · The cat
- All drawn from your photos. No extra charge.
- The book
- Hardcover, 30 pages, 11 × 8.3 in
Inside this book
A real page from The Cat Who Knew the Way
Thirteen spreads, all at 300 dpi.
Your photos
Two photos, and they are both in it
We draw them both once, then keep those same two faces on every spread they are in. Your child’s name goes under the title, next to the cat.
Made to be handled, not admired
It gets carried around the house, slept on, and read four hundred times. Thick coated pages, a matte laminated hardcover, and thirteen spreads printed at 300 dpi across both pages. Nothing is printed until you order it, so the only copy that exists is the one with your child on the cover.
Printed and bound in the United States
- Pages
- 30 pages, drawn at 4K and printed at 300 dpi
- Paper
- 170gsm coated silk
- Cover
- Matte laminated hardcover
- Binding
- Glued, square edges
- Dedication
- Its own page, after the story
- Delivery
- At your door in about six business days, printed just for you and tracked all the way
What families wrote back
4.9
3,000+ reviews from families across the studio, since 2020
My daughter couldn’t believe it when she saw herself in the story. She keeps saying, ‘That’s me!’ Every bedtime starts with this book now.
The quality is amazing. Thick pages, beautiful colors, and the personalization looks so natural. It truly feels like the story was written just for my son.
I thought it would just be a cute gift, but it quickly became my daughter’s favorite bedtime story.
We chose the story about overcoming the fear of the dark. After reading it together for a few nights, bedtime has become so much easier.
The shipping was much faster than I expected. The book arrived in perfect condition.
This is such a unique gift. Everyone in our family was amazed when they saw it.
The illustrations are absolutely beautiful, and seeing my son’s face throughout the story made us all smile.
Customer service was fantastic. They helped me make a small change before printing, and everything turned out perfectly.
My daughter actually asks to read instead of watching TV before bed now.
Before you decide
Our cat is a mix with odd markings. Will it actually look like her?
That is the part we work hardest on. A cat is not recognized by breed the way a dog is, it is recognized by the pattern: the bib that stops halfway, the one darker ear, the smudge over the eye. We work from one photograph where the markings show, and we draw those markings on every page. Send a photo taken from the side in daylight rather than a lovely portrait from the front.
Our cat died. Is this a good idea or a bad one?
It can be the right book either way, and we will not push you in either direction. What we can tell you is what it becomes: a book made now is the most detailed picture of that animal your child will still have at nine, and children who lose a pet at four remember remarkably little without one. That is a real reason, and it is a heavier one than a birthday.
Can I put more than one child in the book?
Yes, in one story: The One Who Goes First is written for two children, both drawn from your photos. Sixteen of the others have one child, and eight of them add grown ups or your pet: I Love You, Mom; I Love You, Dad; The House That Remembers; The Cat Who Knew the Way; One More Hour; Come and Find Me; The Unfinished One; and My Hero. Nobody in a book costs extra.
Can I preview it before paying?
That is the whole point of the free preview. Upload a photo and see your child drawn, then on the cover with their name, before you decide. No account, no card, nothing to cancel. One honest note: the preview is a first draft. Before anything is printed we check it page by page, and the printed book is sharper than what you see on screen.
Why $59, when a name-only book costs less?
A name-only book shows every family the same drawn child and drops in a name. Here your child is drawn from your photo, the same face on the cover and all through the story, and anyone else in it from their own photo at no extra charge. It is a thirty-page hardcover printed to order in the USA, and you see your child drawn, on the cover with their name, before you pay anything.
What is actually personalized?
Your child's face first: we draw them from your photo and keep that same face on the cover and all through the story, and anyone else in the book is drawn from their own photo. Their name goes under the title and into the verses, and the page after the story is yours to write, printed word for word. The story and the scenes around them are the same for everyone who picks this title, written and drawn before you arrive and approved page by page, so nothing strange can turn up in your child's book.
What is the book physically?
A landscape hardcover, 11 by 8.3 inches (280 by 210 mm), thirty pages on 170gsm coated silk paper, matte laminated cover, glued binding. Printed in the United States.
How long does it take to arrive?
About six business days. Your book does not exist until you order it, so it has to be printed, bound and shipped, and we count the printing inside those six days. Ordering on a Thursday means it lands the week after, so leave room before a birthday. Shipping is $6.99 inside the US, and free on orders from $88.
What kind of photo works?
For each person in the story, one clear shot of the face, looking roughly at the camera, in decent light. For a cat or dog, one daylight photo where their markings show. A phone photo is fine. A scan from an old album is fine too: the picture at the top of our home page is our founder in about 1992, scanned off film, and the character came straight from it.
What do you do with the photo?
We look at it once to build the character, and from then on the character is what travels through the book. Your photo is never printed on a page. Thirty days after your book ships it is deleted from our systems. Want it deleted sooner? Write to hello@dreamtalecartoons.com and we delete it, no reason needed.
What if it comes out wrong?
Write to hello@dreamtalecartoons.com before it prints and we fix it for free, or cancel and refund you in full: books go to the printer shortly after you order, so write quickly. If it arrives damaged, send us a photo and we reprint it, and you keep the damaged one. If we got something wrong (a misspelled name, the wrong dedication, a printing fault), send us a photo and we reprint it at our cost, or refund you in full if you would rather.
The character does not look like them.
You see the character before you pay, and that is the moment to tell us: write to hello@dreamtalecartoons.com and we redraw it. If you only notice once the book has arrived, write anyway and we will find a way to make it right. Likeness is the one thing we cannot get wrong, so we would rather you were fussy than polite.
Not here? See all the questions, or write to hello@dreamtalecartoons.com. A person answers.
