Little Heroes: Children's Personalized Books

Lately when it comes to gifts we tend to lean toward books. Our kids and kids we know seem to receive so many toys as gifts that receiving a great book is usually a welcome change.

At this year's Word on the Street Book and Magazine festival I discovered an interesting book idea: personalized stories. I know what you're thinking 'that's not so new.' You're right. However, most of the books I've seen are aimed at really young kids and infants and they tend to be personalized by including a photo. Little Heroes enables you to tailor the main character's image and personalize the story with your child in mind.

Personalized story in 3 easy steps

1) Choose your adventure. There are four different stories to choose from depending on your child's interest.
2) Customize your main character. Enter your child's name and gender, then choose a hair style and colour, eye colour (with the option to add glasses), skin tone. The customization may vary from each story. In one story I was even able to choose the shape of the eyes.
3) Personalize the story. Depending on the story, you may be asked to provide a friend's name or relatives name. These will be characters in your story and adds to the whole personalized experience. You can also choose to add a dedication to the front of the book if you desire.

Book options

Your personalized book is available in hardcover ($23.99-24.99), a softcover ($16.9-17.99) and more recently an ebook version ($8.99). The ebook is emailed to you in a pdf format that you can view on your computer or on a mobile devise such as an iPhone. I should point out that since these are pdf pages, you don't get fancy page turning features like on other digital books.

I was very impressed with the softcover version we received. The illustrations looked great and I loved that some pages combined images and text together. The customized image of the hero appears in the story just like it's been selected on the computer and it's great to read your child's name and friend's names write in the story. A real treat.

When you finish customizing your character and enter the personal name information you do get to view a pdf sample to give you an idea of what the copy and images will look like. I recommend you do this. The main character in The Birthday Blob story wore a pink shirt and this didn't change depending on gender. It was the first thing my son noticed in the story (he has a real issue with pink). You also don't get to preview the whole story, but on the site you can get a brief synopsis of what each story is about.

Your book is ready

It takes up to two weeks to prepare your book. Unless you order an ebook, than you will receive an email which will enable you to download your book right away. Delivery of printed books in Canada usually takes two business days and you're given a shipping quote before hand so there are no surprises. Books can be delivered to the US and Internationally but shipping costs and timing may be higher. You can find more information on shipping and other questions on the Little Heroes help page

Next time you're looking for a unique gift, maybe a personalized book from Little Heroes is the way to go.

* Product provided for review.

 

About the Author With a background in advertising, Carrie Anne left the agency life to spend more time with her three energetic and active kids (age 7, 5, & 2). She continues to work with marketing agencies testing online programs and has been working with Today's Parent magazine for the last three years testing toys for their annual toy issue. As a Mom Influencer and the Review Editor at Everythingmom.com , Carrie Anne plans to share her thoughts on products that might be of interest to you and your family. She will put them to the test so you don't have to. Profile | Blog | Her Main Site | Follow Her on Twitter