✦ Personalised children's books

Give them Their Own Story.

A picture book about your child — written from your idea, painted page by page. Send a photo and a few sentences; you'll see the painted character before you pay.

Available in the US & Canada during launch.

Coming soon
See how it works ↓
Approve the character before you pay Watercolour, painted page-by-page Photos deleted within 30 days
A keepsake picture book

Painted page by page, just for them.

Every spread is rewritten and re-illustrated for the child you describe.

Two stories · Two children

Every book is written from scratch — no templates, no name swaps.

“Rosie is 4. She's nervous about her first dentist visit next week. She loves foxes and apple slices.”

An example brief · Softcover, dedicated to “our brave girl”

Rosie and the Kind Dentist

A gentle picture-book story about a small girl, a brave fox, and a dentist who counts teeth by the colour of apples. Rosie appears in every scene — same hair, same favourite sunflower dress.

“For Rosie, who counted every one.”
Rosie at the front door with her toy fox
A story for Rosie

Rosie and the Kind Dentist

Rosie held her fox very tight. "It's only a chair," said Mum. But the chair looked awfully tall.
Rosie lifted into the dental chair, clutching her stuffed fox, her mother kneeling beside her
The dentist at her desk with a plate of apple slices, Rosie watching from the chair
Dr. Hazel had twelve apple slices on her desk. "One for every tooth," she said.
That night, Rosie told Fox the whole story. Fox, who had been very brave too, fell asleep first.
Rosie tucked into bed, whispering to her stuffed fox on the pillow beside her

“Kai is 5. We're taking him to see his grandparents in Okinawa — his first long flight. He's obsessed with sandcastles.”

An example brief · Hardcover, ready before departure

Kai Builds a Castle by the Sea

A gentle travel story for a boy meeting family far away — planes, a new beach, shells he's never seen and a sandcastle big enough for both grandparents to admire.

“For Kai, who built it all himself.”
Kai building a sandcastle on a beach
A story for Kai

Kai Builds a Castle by the Sea

Kai pressing his nose to the airplane window, clouds below
The plane climbed above the clouds. Kai's nose pressed to the window. "Everything is smaller from up here," he said.
Grandma's beach smelled different. The sand was whiter. The shells had tiny pink spirals on their backs.
Kai kneeling in white sand examining a pink-spiralled shell, turquoise sea behind him
Kai and his grandfather at sunset beside a four-towered sandcastle with a driftwood flag
By sunset the castle had four towers, one moat, and a driftwood flag. Grandpa declared it the finest he'd ever seen.
How it works

Four quiet steps from your idea to their bookshelf.

The first three take you about five minutes. We handle the rest, and we show you the child painted in watercolour before you decide whether to go ahead.

  1. 1.

    Upload a clear photo

    A single, well-lit photo of the child's face. That's what we study to get their likeness right.

    About 1 minute · Free
  2. 2.

    Tell us the idea

    Their name, age, a couple of things they love, anything you'd like the story to be about. A few sentences is plenty.

    About 3 minutes · Free
  3. 3.

    Approve the preview

    We paint one watercolour scene with your child in it. It appears on screen in about a minute. Only if it looks like them do you continue — and only then do we ask you to pay.

    Under 1 minute · Free
  4. 4.

    We paint the book & ship it

    10–15 minutes of painting the rest of the pages — we'll email you when it's ready, so you don't have to wait around. Printed copies are coming after launch — until then, the digital book is what ships.

    Digital book ready the same day · Printed editions coming soon
The finished book

A keepsake built to sit on the shelf for years.

The hardcover is the keepsake pick — casewrap binding with a printed cover, full-colour watercolour interior, and an 8.5″ square trim. Softcover uses the same interior on perfect-bound matte card.

A parent holding the hardcover picture book up to the camera in a warm kitchen
The hardcover — 8.5″ × 8.5″ square, casewrap.
A child's hands turning a watercolour-illustrated page of the open hardcover
Full-colour watercolour interior pages, printed edge-to-edge.
Two children reading a picture book at bedtime
Made for bedtime read-alouds — and for the sibling who finds it on the shelf years later.
Format

8.5″ × 8.5″ square

The read-aloud format — small hands can hold it, laps can rest it.

Binding

Casewrap hardcover

Printed cover wrapped around a rigid board — built to survive bedtimes.

Length

12 to 32 painted pages

Each story runs as long as it needs to — softcover from 12 pages, hardcover from 24.

Care

We replace misprints

If the book arrives damaged or misprinted, we reprint and reship — no questions.

How we compare

The honest comparison

The personalised book market is crowded. Here's how Their Own Story stacks up.

Feature Their Own Story ✦ Wonderbly Hooray Heroes Magic Story
Your story idea accepted ✓ ✕ ✕ ✕
Photo-derived illustrated likeness ✓ ✕ ✕ Avatar
Premium watercolour art style ✓ ✓ ✕ ✕
Story-length pages (not fixed) ✓ ~24 ~24 ~20
Free character preview ✓ ✓ ✕ ✓
Hardcover print option ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
No subscription required ✓ ✓ ✓ ✕
Pricing

One story, four ways to read it.

Every tier includes the full painted book and the free character preview. Length varies from story to story — typically 18–24 painted pages.

Digital
$9.99
PDF delivered instantly
  • ✓ Original story from your idea
  • ✓ Watercolour character likeness
  • ✓ High-res PDF download
  • ✓ Approve the character before you pay
  • ✓ Revise any page after review, free
Coming soon
Softcover
$29.99
Printed book + PDF
  • ✓ Everything in Digital
  • ✓ Full-colour softcover print
  • ✓ 8.5×8.5" square format
  • ✓ Shipping included
Coming soon
Most giftable
Hardcover
$39.99
Keepsake hardcover + PDF
  • ✓ Everything in Softcover
  • ✓ Casewrap hardcover binding
  • ✓ Thick premium pages
  • ✓ Built to sit on the shelf for years
  • ✓ Shipping included
Coming soon
Coming soon
Board Book
$64.99
Premium cardstock + PDF
  • ✓ Everything in Hardcover
  • ✓ Thick cardstock pages
  • ✓ Rounded corners, solid spine
  • ✓ Built for sticky hands + curious teeth
  • ✓ CPSIA child-safety certified
Coming soon

Shipping included on every printed book · Free character preview before you pay

Questions

Things parents and grandparents ask us first.

If there's anything we haven't covered, write to us — the founders read every email.

What story ideas work best?
Almost anything. The best ideas are specific: "Mia is scared of going to nursery for the first time", "Noah wants to be just like his grandpa", "The twins are arguing over who gets the window seat on the plane." Two to three sentences is enough — the more specific you are, the more personal the story will feel.
How accurate is the character likeness?
We generate watercolour character options from the photo and you choose the best one before paying. For most children over 4, the result will be recognisably them — same hair colour, colouring, and general features. For very young children (under 3), the likeness is more about hair colour and general build than detailed facial resemblance. You always see the character first — at no cost.
What age range are the books for?
Our picture book works across early childhood — we match reading level and pacing to the child you describe when you create the book. The story theme can be right for any age. A premium board-book edition built for ages 0–2 is coming soon (cardstock pages that survive sticky hands and curious teeth); if your child is under 2, we recommend holding on for the board book — it's built to survive real toddler use.
How long does it take?
Character preview is ready in about 30 seconds. The full book takes 10–20 minutes after payment — we paint every page in parallel and email you a link when it's ready, so there's no need to wait on the page. Printed editions are coming soon; until they go live, you'll receive a high-resolution digital book.
What happens to our photos?
The photo is used only to generate the character illustrations. It is deleted from our servers 30 days after the order completes. We do not use it for training purposes or any other purpose. Full details in our privacy policy.

Their own story is
almost here.

We're putting the finishing touches on it. A photo and a few sentences will be all it takes — and you'll see the first painted scene before you pay.

Coming soon See how it works

Free character preview · Approve before you pay · Launching soon