Dreamtale Cartoons

Each one drawn from a photo like these

personalized books for kids

Pick a story.Star your child in it.

Add one photo and see your child drawn into the book before you pay. The preview is free.

Before you pick one

How long does it take to arrive?

About eight 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 that time. Weekends and holidays do not count, so leave room before a birthday: the book page and your cart show the real delivery dates before you pay. Shipping is $6.99 inside the US, and free on orders from $50.

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 a photograph from the early nineties, scanned off film, and the character came straight from it.

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 them on the cover with their name, in about a minute, 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. You choose softcover or hardcover after the preview.

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 you can add a dedication page, 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.

How is this different from a name-only book?

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 book printed to order in the USA, from $34.99, and you see your child on the cover with their name before you pay anything.

What is the book physically?

A landscape book, 11 by 8.3 inches (280 by 210 mm), printed in the United States. After you see your preview you choose softcover (light and flexible) or hardcover. The hardcover has thirty pages on 170gsm coated silk paper, a matte laminated cover and glued binding.

Is it the same story for everyone?

Within one title, yes, and we think that is a feature. It means a real writer shaped the arc and a real person checked every page, instead of a machine improvising something odd about your family. What changes is who is in it.