- November 4, 2019
15 Personalized Kids Books
While kids are immensely curious, it’s not always easy to direct this curiosity towards something useful, or to keep it there long enough for the child to actually benefit from the experience.
Personalized children’s books provide you with a practical and elegant way to do just that.
These simple but engaging stories won’t only help your child learn the alphabet, they are also full of little lessons on kindness, sharing, honesty, friendship, manners, and everything else your little one should be getting introduced to.
By buying personalized kids books with your child’s name, gender, skin color, etc. you are bringing them right into the story and giving them an extra reason to care about it.
If you are wondering where to start from, we have selected 15 personalized books for kids that have been warmly received by parents and kids alike.
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Be The Change Book - I Can Change the World
One of the ways to describe growing up could be to say that it is a process of finding your place in the world around you. As they get older, children are slowly being pulled out of the microcosm that they are the center of, and have to start empathizing, cooperating and sharing with other people.
I Can Change The World can help your child recognize the beauty and importance of improving the world in small, but still essential ways.
The protagonist (whose first and last name can be personalized, along with the color of their hair and skin) learns about the importance of kindness, responsibility and manners, helping your child adopt those values along the way.
Benefits:
- Teaches about more than just letters
- Beautiful illustrations
- Boosts the child’s confidence
The Little Digger Story
It’s impossible to overstate how important it is for your child to learn about the value of friendship as soon as possible, and that is exactly what this book is meant to help with.
Its colorfully illustrated pages tell us a story of a little digger and his two friends – a truck and a tractor. As you may have guessed, aside from personalizing the digger with your kid’s name and gender, you can also add two of their friends to the story, making it even more engaging.
While on a quest to build a new school, this industrious trio explores topics like teamwork, friendship and perseverance, all the while keeping your child immersed and entertained.
Benefits:
- Very durable
- Promotes teamwork
- Teaches the value of responsibility
My Very Own Name
Even though children have an amazingly broad range of interests, it can be safely said that animals seem to be capable of fascinating young minds to a greater extent than most of the other subjects.
Perfect for a birthday present, the book can be personalized to include your kid’s first and last name, the date of their birth and their gender. If you are buying the book as a gift, your name can also be printed on the dedication page.
The book introduces us to a group of animals, each of them carrying a letter of your little one’s name, and finally combining them together. The animals are not randomly chosen – the letter M will be carried by a monkey, letter R by a rabbit, and so on.
While this might be more than enough for younger children, the older ones will be thrilled to find out that the book also contains beautiful illustrations of no less than 61 animals, bound to hold their attention for quite a while.
Benefits:
- Potential for hours of fun
- Extensive coverage of the subject matter
- Engaging artwork
My Very Own Truck
Conceptually similar to the previous item in the list, this book takes the same approach, but it deals with a different subject matter.
It can also be personalized to include the name of your kid, their birthday and gender, only this time, it won’t be animals spelling out the name, but heavy-duty construction vehicles.
My Very Own Truck also comes with an extensive encyclopedic segment, containing illustrations of 62 vehicles, each of them accompanied by relevant fun facts. While the subject matter may be seen as typically more appealing to boys, girls can have just as much fun with this book. As a matter of fact, with so many vehicles listed, even the parents might learn something new.
Benefits:
- Sturdy, hardcover book
- Abundance of information and illustrations
- Children who can’t read yet can also enjoy it
My Magic Name Personalized Children's Story Book
Whether we like admitting it or not, children, especially younger ones, can be rather self-absorbed. Since the book can be customized to include their favorite topic – themselves, you already have a solid basis for a story, but which other subject matters could hope to elicit a comparable interest?
How about magic, wizards and circus? My Magic Name combines these elements into a cute narrative, where each of the letters of the kid’s name is granted special magical powers and given the task of helping with the circus show.
While enjoying the beautiful illustrations, your kid will also get to learn about the value of teamwork as well as work on their reading skills.
Benefits:
- Completely unique stories for different names
- Highly engaging
- Promotes noble values
The Mermaid
While each of the personalized kids books we’ve listed so far would make an equally suitable gift for a child of either gender, The Mermaid is primarily intended for girls. Since you cannot personalize the protagonist’s hair or skin color either, the only thing you need to provide when ordering the book is the name of your little one.
Even though this might seem capable of impairing your daughter’s immersion or enjoyment, the engaging story, combined with the unbounded imagination typical for children in this age group will more than make up for the lack of options.
The narrative is light and engaging, but that is not to say that it doesn’t also manage to convey important lessons meant to help your little princess develop self-confidence and respect for the people around her.
Benefits:
- Teaches important life lessons
- Provides hours of fun
- Stunning illustrations
My Very Own Fairy Tale
Another book intended primarily for girls, My Own Fairy Tale might still be very interesting to boys showing any kind of interest in flowers and colorful images.
The only kind of available personalization is the option of providing your daughter’s name, which is gradually spelled out by delicate flower fairies.
The little protagonist has the honor of being crowned the queen of the magical realm by fairies who are not just there to carry the letters of her name, but also to list the qualities that a proper queen needs to have if she is to be worthy of the role.
Meant to promote the highest moral values in an unimposing way, the story is equal parts entertaining and educational.
Benefits:
- Fun facts about flowers and berries
- Captivating artwork
- Boosts self-confidence
Your Child Visits The Zoo
While personalized children’s story books are praised for a number of different benefits, including their educational potential, entertainment value and the like, there is something else that makes them an ideal gift.
Of course, we are talking about the fact that reading them to or with your child is an amazing bonding opportunity. This book goes even further in this direction, by actually including one of the parents in the story.
Once you provide the name and gender of the story’s little protagonist, all you have to do is to state if you want them to be accompanied by the mother or the father, and the adventure can begin.
You’ll get to see different animals, learn about their origin and habits, but what’s most important, you’ll get a chance to join your kid in their fantasy world, if only as a tourist.
Benefits:
- Very informative
- Storyline includes a parent
- Durable materials used
The Magic Shoes
Even though a child’s creativity is usually enough to transport them wherever it is that they want to be, sometimes, even imagination needs a bit of help.
Find out what happens when your little girl gets a package from their favorite relative (one that you can specify yourself, just like the girl’s name), and opens it to find a pair of beautiful red shoes.
Join your little explorer as she visits sceneries full of serenity, friendship and adventure, while finding ways to make the trip just as educational as it is fun.
Even though it is a softcover book, the quality of the paper ensures durability and guarantees that you will spend many a happy hour exploring its pages with your daughter.
Benefits:
- Makes a great gift
- Includes other family members
- Engaging story
Your Child Is A Superkid
Of course, you already know this, but what better way to make it official than by getting them a book that asserts this fact in big, bold letters right on its cover?
Equally suitable as a gift for boys as it would be for girls, Your Child Is A Superkid can be personalized to include your kid’s name, birthday, hair color and skin tone, but that is not all. You can also have up to three family members make an appearance in the story, and help the little one on their journey to becoming a real superhero like Superman or Batman.
Of course, seeing how with great power comes great responsibility, the book is not only meant to help improve your child’s confidence, but also to teach them how that confidence should and should not be used.
Benefits:
- Durable, hardcover book
- Amazing illustrations
- Educational and engaging story
Personalized ABC Alphabet Letters Book
While every parent would all too happily take on all of the burdens that await their children on themselves, even if this was possible, it could have a terrible effect on the child’s ability to cope on their own later in life. That’s why the parent’s job, for the most part, is simply helping the child make up their own mind regarding how they want to go through life.
This award-winning book provides you with a way to do just that, as well as to share some laughs with your kid along the way.
All you have to do is provide the child’s name, gender and state of residence, and you’ll get a beautiful personalized book meant to familiarize them with all the career paths they might want to pursue once they are a bit older. Keeping an eye out for occupations they seem to be drawn to will give you a better idea of your child’s proclivities, and help you nurture the ones that seem to have the greatest appeal to them.
Benefits:
- Winner of several awards
- Extremely durable
- Helps you identify your kids interests
Personalized Children’s Zoo Adventure Book
Another book about an eventful trip to the zoo, but this time the little one is not accompanied by one of the parents, but instead undertakes the adventure with one of the friends.
Both kids can be personalized to resemble your child and their friend, including the names, hair color and gender.
As is usually the case when parents are not around, this story includes a bit more mischief and excitement than one would expect from a typical visit to the zoo; but it never stops emphasizing the importance of friendship – between children themselves as well as between children on one and the animals on the other side.
Benefits:
- Two protagonists
- Amazing artwork
- Promotes love of animals
Personalized Bedtime Story Book
Illustrated by the same award-winning artist who worked on the US editions of Harry Potter books, Mary GrandPré, this book captivates the imagination even before you open it.
Once you eventually do so, you and your child will be greeted by 20 pages filled with beautiful bedtime stories, surreal artwork and an entire menagerie intent on helping your little one go to sleep with a smile on their face.
This work of art can be personalized with your kid’s full name, date of birth, date that the child received it, and the name of the gift-giver.
Your child will be escorted to the Dreamland by the soothing, lilting rhymes of friendly animals, including the wise owls, dancing bears, and fluffy, cloud-like sheep.
Benefits:
- Exceptional and soothing artwork
- Only high-quality materials used
- Memorable, gentle rhymes
Farm Friends
Life on the farm can be difficult, but only if you don’t have the right friends. Luckily, this book is chock-full of cute animals, eager to get to know your little one and to teach them everything they can.
Farm Friends can be personalized with your child’s name, gender, skin tone and hair color, and if you so desire, the name of the person who bought the book for them.
The friendly farm animals that you’ll find inside will help your child learn their individual languages, but aside from Baa’s, Moo’s and Cock-a-doodle-doo’s, they will also help your child learn something about their habits and character.
Benefits:
- Sturdy cover and pages
- Cute, colorful illustrations
- Makes a great gift
The Dinosaur
Kids’ fascination with dinosaurs is powerful enough on its own, but when you combine it with a story that a child can identify with, you get something really special.
This skillfully illustrated book tells a tale of a young dinosaur who, despite doing everything right, simply stopped growing at one point, much to the concern and even ridicule of other dinosaurs. However, when the diminutive size of our hero turns out to be the only thing that can save all of them from a cave they got trapped in, the teasing stops, and our little friend learns an important lesson.
Aside from the main role, filled by your boy or girl, two more characters can be personalized. One is the protagonist’s friend and the other an older male figure – father or a close relative.
Benefits:
- Improves the child’s confidence
- Provides hours of fun
- Has beautiful illustrations
How to Choose Good Personalized Books for Kids
While there are some general rules you also need to think about when assessing personalized children’s books, we’ll deal with them in the following section. For now, let’s focus on the considerations which need to be made on a case-per-case basis.
The first of them are, obviously, your kid’s interests. Depending on their age, children can get extremely enthusiastic about different subjects, only to become as intensely bored with them the next moment. While these books are not so expensive that it would be a tragedy if your kid got bored with one soon after getting it, buying those that cater to the child’s permanent interests instead of to passing ones will make the difference between the book being seen as an amusing trinket or something cherished for a long time to come.
Another thing you also have to consider, and which is strongly related to the mentioned interests, is the child’s age. Some of these books are a great baby shower gift. Aside from having some influence on the choice of the subject that a book deals with, it also has a bearing on how complex that book has to be. In other words, while a three-year-old might be thrilled simply to see their own name spelled out, a seven-year-old would probably prefer it included in an actual story.
Criteria We Used
Personalized children’s books often follow similar patterns, sometimes only differing in slight nuances. When you combine this with the fact that there are just so many of them to choose from, it becomes clear that certain standards have to be followed when trying to identify the best ones. In our case, we focused on two such standards.
Educational Value
Finding ways to ensure that as much of your child’s playtime is somehow instructive and educational is one of the primary concerns that parents have. Since even the majority of toys are supposed to live up to this standard, it would be absurd not to expect the same from these books, regardless of what age group they are intended for.
Entertainment Potential
It might sound strange, especially when discussing books, but their potential to capture your child’s interest might even be more important than how educational they are. Not because you should prefer your child having fun to them actually learning something (at least not all of the time), but because them having fun is actually a prerequisite for that learning. In other words, it doesn’t matter how educational a book can be if the child never picks it up.
FAQ
How much should I pay for a book of this kind?
Naturally, this depends on the overall quality of the book, number of pages and the attention paid to the illustrations. Almost all of the books listed here range between $15 to $30, so be extra careful when asked to pay more than that.
Do these books have their downsides?
Like everything else, they do, especially without moderation. Since younger children are still in the process of learning and accepting that they are not the center of the world, supporting that kind of attitude with books featuring them as protagonists can be detrimental. Naturally, this only applies in extreme situations, i.e. unless you make personalized books for kids the only reading material they have available, it shouldn’t be an issue.
Conclusion
When chosen with care and attention, personalized children’s story books make amazing gifts that have the potential to become cherished mementos of childhood.
While they would be worth the price just for the excitement and joy they can bring to the face of a child who just realized they are the protagonist of the story, the educational potential of these books makes them a great investment.
Catherine is a writer from Canada who simply loves toys, collectibles and superhero figurines. Writing is her passion, but she also loves reading, enjoying her “me time” and finding new ways to improve her work and ways to entertain the readers.
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