Personalized Children's Books

For a few years now I have considered the option of ordering personalized books for my children.  You know, the ones where there is a story in a real book but their names are added in as a character.  Every year I have passed up the idea because the cost was high or the books just weren't appealing enough to get me through the ordering process.

One day I was offered a Groupon for a personalized book from I See Me.  The picture that was featured was for the "My Very Own Pirate Tale".  My son LOVES pirates and his birthday was not far away so it really caught my attention!  After I checked out the website (http://www.iseeme.com/) I was convinced this was worth the time and money.  Well, I also got a great deal through Groupon which made it even more appealing.

I will start with the book I ordered for my son but I was most impressed with the option I found for my daughter.  So make sure you read this posting all the way through!

So, here is the book:

Each letter in his name coordinates with a sea creature so every story that is ordered can be different!  I decided to pay a little extra to have his middle name added too.  There are many kids that have the same first name but not any that we know who have the same first and middle names.  Plus, this added more to the story.

They provide a list of all the creatures in the back of the book so you don't miss out.

Now here is the book that I am really impressed by!  I ordered "The World According to Me" book for my daughter.  She is a little older than my son and I felt ready for this.  Plus, she's not really into princess and girly stuff so a lot of the girl books weren't a great fit for her.

Here's the process:  you order the book (can be done as a gift too) and pay for it.  The person getting the book will receive a package/kit in a really nice box.

What it looked like when we opened it.

The kit includes:  markers, a pre-paid return envelope, a questionnaire, some pages to draw on, and some extra pages incase there was a mistake.

You complete everything as asked and send it all in the return envelope.  The questionnaire will ask things like who their friends are, who do they love and why, and what do they want to be when they grow up.

You can also add a note that will be printed on the final page of the book from the person(s) who is gifting the book.

When you send in the package there is a form that allows you to order additional copies ($29.95 each plus shipping), order a keepsake book jacket to keep the book in ($5.95), or you can include a picture of your child (that you will get back later) to have added to the title page of the book (I paid $4.95).  The pricing is all based on what I was quoted during my purchase but of course may be different at the time that you place an order.

It took a few weeks but here is the final book.  I was very impressed!!!

One of the questions asked my daughter if she was a superhero, what power would she have?  Then she had to draw a picture of it.  There were a lot of cute opportunities like this that really showcased her at that specific age!

I didn't order a keepsake book jacket but I was very curious to know if the final book would fit in the very nice box that my kit came in.  It did!!  So that is how I have it stored.  

I can't wait to go through this process with my son when he turns six!

The only thing that I really didn't like with the process & final book:  My daughter was asked in the questionnaire how many people are in the world.  Her answer was 1 million.  When we got the final book that section seemed more like a true statement rather than her response to the question.  When I read it I was fine with it because I knew that was an answer she gave.  But, everyone else who has read it thinks it is a mistake that the book author did.