Four ways a book can show your child
- Your child’s name in a ready-made story. The story and the pictures are made once for every buyer, and your child’s name goes into the text, the title and often the cover. Some books build the story around the letters of the name. Often you can also pick the hero’s look from a few options. No photo and quick to order, but the child in the pictures is a stand-in, and the story is the one every other child gets.
- A character you build from a menu. You choose skin tone, hair style and colour, glasses and sometimes clothes from a set of options, and that character stars in a ready-made story. No photo, and the main features can match, as far as the menu goes.
- A photo of your child. You upload a photo, and your child’s face is placed into the pictures or turned into a drawing. The face can come closest to the real one. You need a clear, recent photo, and a picture of your child goes to the company that makes the book: check who handles it and when it is deleted.
- A drawing from your own description. You write what your child looks like, and an illustrator or AI draws them from your words. No photo, and no menu to fit into: long braids with purple beads, a favourite rocket T-shirt, a toy rabbit. It is an illustration, not a portrait. Some of these services also write a new story for each child.
At a glance
| Kind of book | What you give | How close to your child | The story | A photo of your child |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name in a ready-made story | The name, sometimes a look from a few options | A stand-in | The same for every child | No |
| Character from a menu | The name and choices from a menu | Close on the features the menu offers | Usually the same for every child | No |
| Photo | The name and a photo | Closest to the real face | Ready-made or new, depending on the service | Yes |
| Description | The name and a few sentences | Close on what you describe | Ready-made or new, depending on the service | No |
Which kind to choose
- If the real face matters most, a photo book comes closest. Pick one that says plainly what happens to the photo.
- If you would rather not share a photo, any of the other three. A description gets closest to your child without one.
- If the story should be about their life, a new baby sister, the first day at school, the dog, look for a service that writes the story from what you tell it, not only a name in a fixed plot.
- If you are a grandparent or a friend, you may not have a recent photo, or the parents may prefer you didn’t share one. A few lines from the parents are enough for a description.
How to describe your child so the drawing looks like them
Whoever draws from a description can only draw what the words say. These tips come from the books made on our form, and they work for any book of this kind.
- Start with their age. A one-year-old and a six-year-old are drawn very differently.
- Hair first. Colour, length and style: “short black curls”, “wavy strawberry-blonde hair in two low pigtails”, “long black braids with purple beads”. It is the first thing you notice on a page.
- Skin tone, in plain words. “Fair with rosy cheeks”, “light olive”, “dark brown”.
- What makes them recognisable. Glasses, freckles, chubby cheeks.
- One outfit they love. The hero usually wears the same clothes on every page, so describe something they often wear: “a yellow T-shirt with a small rocket, blue dungarees and green sneakers”.
- Eye colour, if it matters. Anything you leave out is the artist’s choice. One of our sample descriptions never mentioned the eyes, and the girl was drawn with blue ones.
- Keep it to what you can see. What they love, what they are brave about, what makes them laugh: that belongs in the story, not in the description of their looks. One or two sentences are enough.
- Pets and family too. Describe them the same way: “a small fluffy white dog with a red collar”.
Our way: a book drawn from your description
Questions
- Will it look exactly like my child?
- No book drawn from words is a portrait. The hair, skin tone, glasses and clothes you describe will match; the face is the artist’s. If you need the real face, choose a photo book.
- Is it safer not to send a photo?
- It means one less thing about your child leaves your home: no picture of their face is uploaded or stored. Whichever kind you choose, read how long the company keeps what you send.
- What if the drawing comes out wrong?
- With a description you can usually fix it with words: say what is wrong and ask for a redraw. If the hero looks wrong on every page, the description is the problem: make it clearer and start again.
- Can brothers, sisters and pets be in it?
- In books drawn from a description, usually yes, each described like your child. Check how many characters a service allows.