With the arrival of ever new technology and computerised printing processes, a new genre of books, namely personalised children books, has taken the market in a storm. Many publishers have caught on to this trend and between them they are now supplying a huge variety of topics, ranging from fairy tales and stories relating to popular characters in children’s TV programmes to adventures and science fiction.
The one thing they all have in common is that they all put your child at the heart of the story. In personalised children books, the name of your child, his/ her home town and birthday, as well as names of brothers and/ or sisters, parents and often up to 3 favourite friends all become part of the book by being placed into passages important to the development of the tale. Some publishers may also include a photo of the child, more often than not as part of the front cover. As these books have, for obvious reasons, got to be ordered, the name of the person ordering them will also be included, thus making the books a perfect keepsake to remember someone by as well.
Having written a few personalised stories for my children (a daughter, then 8 and son, then 7) a few years ago, I know from experience how exciting children find this! My stories, although simply printed on paper and put in a folder, were read over and over again. To start with, my daughter read to her little brother, but after a few readings I noticed that they were taking turns. They even memorised some of the passages so they could use them in play. My son went around telling his friends proudly that he was special, because he had his own stories! Another positive was that after a while both their teachers remarked how much their reading, as well as their spelling, had improved.
I always assumed that these stories had long been forgotten, so I was seriously surprised when my daughter, now 12, recently asked if I still had some of them. She was in the process of making a scrap book about her life and wanted to include the stories as part of her favourite memories. Fortunately, the only one I still had happened to be her favourite, because although it was effectively a fairy tale, it started out with both of them in her bedroom when they should have been in their own beds, a situation she could easily identify with.
This is what personalised children books are all about – being able to see their own name in a book is exciting for children, makes it easier for them to identify with the characters and gives them a desire to see what happens next. This encourages them to read more, helping to improve reading and writing skills. As well as being an educational aid, they also improve a child’s self esteem. Having their own book with their name inside makes them feel special and praise for reading well makes them feel good about themselves. As a keepsake, they will provide fond memories in years to come.
