There is something very magical about receiving a personalised book. Both Holly and Lara get particularly excited about a book that bears their own name and even I still have a personalised book I received when I was about 4 or 5 years old! CreateMeBooks are personalised bedtime stories that feature your child's cartoon character and name to make a very special bedtime story to share together.
Creating your CreateMeBooks book is very simple, you choose whether it is for a girl or a boy, choose the skin colour, hair style and colour and facial features that you want your main character to have, and supply their first name. You can also provide a small piece of text to place on the fly page of the book as a message to your child. You use the online book designer and can preview your creation before you choose to buy.
I created two books - one each for Lara and Holly. On each book I chose a different coloured outfit, and different hair. In general though, the book is the same; as a small company it doesn't surprise me that Lisa, the owner, has only written one story (prince and princess versions) but as a parent buying for two children of the same sex, it would be preferable if there was a little more choice. And, while my two girls do very much enjoy pinks, purples and unicorns these days...it would be nice to be given the choice of unicorn vs dragon, and blues vs purples rather than having the decision made for you.
The story itself is a lovely bedtime story about your child settling down to sleep and drifting into a dream about animals, magical kingdoms and soft, bouncy clouds. It is a versed story which seems to rhyme at the start, but by the end is more descriptive and less about rhyme. Holly particularly enjoys the story and asks to hear both her story and her sisters in close succession. Lara's favourite parts are in the middle when a series of forest animals all refer the princess to one another for help finding the Land of Nod. For Holly it works very well as a bedtime story as it helps her wind down at the end of the day.
Each personalised bedtime story book from CreateMeBooks costs £17.99 plus postage. I think the book is of a better quality (nice thick pages and lots of them) and it has a more personal feel than the big-brand personalised story books. I felt the choice of skin colour, hair style and outfit colour really helped to pinpoint the appeal to each of my girls. And designing the book online at CreateMeBooks was a breeze.
