I really wish I could have captured the smile, and the laugh that Holly made when she first opened her personalised story book from Kidstoria. She laughed a proper, grown-up laugh when she realised that there was a book in existence which featured her own face... and what's more... a teddy bear!
Kidstoria make personalised books and cards for children from 1-4 years old. They have a small range of stories on offer which you can personalise with a photo of a child to make a beautiful gift. The books start at £14.95 plus postage and each one is made to order (so can take a couple of weeks for delivery)
Holly & the Picnic is a really fun story, made all the more fun by the fact that it features Holly! Our book is a hardcover book and it is really good quality - it sits proudly alongside the other books in our bookcase. I was really impressed that it was a real story, not just a quick couple of pages but a good length of story for me to read to Holly and Lara at bedtime.
Creating my book with Kidstoria was very easy. I uploaded a photo of Holly's face and was able to use their nifty editing tool to trim around the sides of her face. I found the tool easy to use but I suspect that someone who doesn't spend all day in front of a computer might struggle a little to get it just right - for this reason, Kidstoria also offer the option for you to email a photo to them and they will trim it down. I could have spent longer smoothing the edges of Holly's face but actually I'm quite happy with the overall result.
Holly's face appears on most pages. For such a long picture book, it might be nice to be able to upload more than one photo. I also would have liked to be able to drop in a friend or family member's name, or a hobby or family favourite of some sort to add an extra personalised touch.
Our Kidstoria book arrived from overseas within a few days (well, well within their 14 day guideline) and it was an instant hit with both Lara and Holly - the fascination of a personalised book will always bring a smile to their faces.
