I'm a total bookworm and I'm pleased to say that this has magically been passed on to all three of The Madhouse kids. Their rooms are packed with books and even 2-year-old Pierre loves flicking through the pages and looking at the pictures, even if half of the time he has the book upside down ! I was therefore over the moon when Unique Editions contacted me to see if I'd like to review one of their personalisable children's storybooks. I've already got personalised books with the girls in, but this would be a first for Pierre so I couldn't wait to see what he'd make of it.
Well, as you can see from the photos, he was absolutely spellbound ! The website has a wide range of titles available that will appeal to both boys and girls, handily categorised by age which makes it really easy to select the book you want to make. In the 0-5 years range, you can choose between The Enchanted Garden of (...), My First Moments with (...) or The Little World of (...), all three of which are a great way of helping your little one explore and understand his new surroundings. In the 4-10 years category, you have a choice of The Amazing Family of (...), Travel The World With (...) and The Magical Journey of (...). I opted for the Enchanted Garden one.
Creating the book is incredibly simple. You just upload a photo, or two if you're adding a secondary character into the story, following the clear advice about how to choose a suitable photo, and give your child's name. I used a photo of myself, as I knew I wouldn't be able to include both Sophie and Juliette in the story, and although Pierre loves it - especially when I'm magically transformed into a garden creature ! - the girls are a bit disappointed that they don't feature in the story. It would be good to create more titles or options with more than one secondary character so that both parents or more than one sibling can enjoy seeing themselves magically included in the illustrations.
The book is of a really high quality. It's spiral bound with a hardback cover and glossy paper and it has resisted lots and lots of over enthusiastic page-turning since it arrived, not just from Pierre but also the girls. The story is simple but cute and the photos are really well thought out. Pierre was totally enchanted and can't stop looking at the pictures, pointing and saying "Pierre" and "Mummy" !
This would make a fabulous gift for a child and is sure to become a treasured keepsake in our family. It's even replaced an In The Night Garden annual as bedtime book of choice and that's saying something !
Unique Editions is a French company, so the books are available in English, French and German. If you have an older child learning a foreign language, this would be a fabulous way of encouraging them to read in another language too.
star rating : 5/5
RRP : €23.50 (approximately £19.99)
for more information : http://www.unique-editions.com/
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I had two personalised books when I was a kid and i loved them, one was about me and my cousins helping Santa deliver presents :) I think it's great you can now put photos in too!
ReplyDeleteMy four year old son James would love one of these, I think I will get one for him and my one year old Oliver, they will make great little xmas presents
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