$7.99
- 12 illustrated double-page spreads + cover and dedication
- Interactive page-flipping in your browser + downloadable PDF
- Text edits and illustration regeneration included
- Available in 30 languages
- Usually ready within 15 minutes
A made-to-measure book
Half the world writes James's and the other half James' — on this cover, the name finally stands alone
One photo, and James walks into a story of his own — his real likeness in the illustrations and his name set large in the title. Below: why this particular name carries a book so well, where it came from, and four covers already waiting for him.
JAMESand the Promise on the Park Bench
Here's how a book for James could look
Pick a theme, upload a photo, and your child becomes the hero of the story — with their name on the cover and inside.
JAMESand the Glider That Had to Fly
JAMESand the Little Yellow Digger
JAMESand the Last Apples of Summer
The covers above are samples — the illustrations were created by artificial intelligence and the children in them aren't real. Your book is made from the photo you upload.
There are a lot of boys called James — somewhere right now a teacher is calling the register and two hands are going up. That's the odd thing about wearing one of the great classic names: it belongs to everybody, so it rarely feels like it belongs to you. A book is one of the few places where that flips. On this cover there is exactly one James, and he has your son's face.
The name itself does the cover a favor. Five letters, one syllable, no hyphen, no tricky spelling — JAMES prints big, clean and symmetrical, the way a title should. It ends in a soft s, which is why English has argued for generations over James's versus James' — but a title needs no possessive at all. The name simply is the book.
Read aloud, it lands just as well. "James stood at the edge of the forest" sounds like the opening of a proper adventure, because a single stressed syllable at the head of a sentence carries the whole line. And every James lives with a small everyday split — the full name for school and the doctor's office, Jamie for home. Here you choose which of them goes on the cover, and whichever you pick, it's a name he already answers to.
James is the English shape of one of the oldest names still in daily use. It begins as the Hebrew Ya'aqov — Jacob, the twin in Genesis born gripping his brother's heel, which is why the name is usually glossed as "holder of the heel" or "the one who follows close behind." Not a bad patron for any younger brother. On its way west the name passed through Greek as Iakobos and Late Latin as Iacomus, where the b softened into an m — and that one softened consonant is the entire difference between Jacob and James. Historically, they are the same name.
Then Scotland adopted it and barely let go: six Stuart kings of Scotland were named James before a seventh, James VI, rode south in 1603 to become James I of England as well. A whole era of culture — Jacobean drama, Jacobean furniture — is literally named after him, through the Latin Jacobus.
In America the name has done something quieter but bigger. The Social Security Administration's hundred-year count lists James as the most common male name in the United States — not one of the most common, the most. It held the number-one spot for most of the mid-twentieth century and still hasn't left the top five. A name doesn't survive four centuries of fashion by accident: James manages to sound equally right on a birth certificate, on the spine of a book and on a birthday cake.
- Jamie — The everyday form — the one that gets called up the stairs and written in birthday cards. In Scotland, Jamie has stood as a name in its own right for centuries, so a boy can grow into it without it ever feeling like a diminutive.
- Jim — The classic short form, somehow one letter shorter than short. It tends to skip a generation — plenty of small boys today have a grandpa Jim — which makes it feel sturdy rather than babyish when it comes back around.
- Jimmy — The playground form: scraped knees, missing front teeth, mud on the doormat. Most boys wear it hardest between about four and nine — exactly the age this book is written for.
- Jem — The rare, storybook one — an old English pet form that has nearly vanished from daily use. If a family revives it, it tends to become his and his alone.
- Jay — Just the initial, said out loud. It usually arrives with the too-cool-for-everything phase, and it works because it keeps the name close while pretending not to care.
How it works
How a book with your child's name comes to life.
Olivia
1
Create your hero and other characters
Upload one photo and it becomes a hero with your child's real likeness. Add up to 5 characters — siblings, friends, even a pet.
- A name, age and one photo
- Their real likeness in the illustrations
- Up to 5 characters: siblings, friends, a pet
2
Build the story and illustration style
Pick a ready-made plot from many worlds, or write your own. Choose the illustration style, the book's language and a dedication — you'll see a title suggestion and a story preview right away.
- Lots of worlds and plots — or write your own
- Choice of illustration style and language
- A personal dedication at the front
- Instant title suggestion and story preview
3
Get an e-book you can fine-tune
Ready within 15 minutes. Flip through the book online, fine-tune the texts, have any illustrations you pick regenerated, then view the e-book.
- Usually ready within 15 minutes
- Interactive page-flipping online
- Edit texts + regenerate illustrations
- Downloadable PDF + optional audiobook
And there's more
Get your book delivered to your door
Love it? Order a printed copy of your finished e-book anytime. We'll print it in full color as an A4 hardcover and ship it right to your door.
A4 hardcoverOrder anytimeDelivered to your door
Print the book
E-book $7.99 · printed $32.99 + shipping
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Every book is made to order — you pay once, no subscription. Card payment via Stripe.
$32.99
+ $5.99 shipping
- Full-color printing on quality paper
- Hardcover — a book that looks straight from a publisher
- Order anytime once your digital book is finished
- We'll replace a damaged or misprinted copy at our expense
Audiobook
+ $3.99- Narrated by a professional voice
- Start it once you've finished editing the book — ready in a few minutes
- Listen right on the website, no downloads
- The printed book includes a QR code page for instant playback
- Add it at checkout or purchase it anytime later
Gift voucher
- Digital, printed, with an audiobook — or any combination
- Discounted bundles of 2, 3 or 5 books
- Valid for 1 year
- Delivered by email right after payment
All prices are final and include VAT where it applies; shipping is added separately and shown before you place your order. You order the printed book once your digital book is finished — so you see exactly what you're printing.
Create a book today that they'll never forget.
Your digital book is usually ready within 15 minutes of ordering. The printed A4 hardcover ships straight to your door.
Create a bookReviews
Parents and kids who loved their book.
Over 1,200 books starring their very own hero
My daughters love the book! We read it every evening before bedtime. The story is so sweet and lovingly written, and the pictures are beautiful. My girls feel really special because their own name appears in the book. A great keepsake forever! Absolutely recommend. ❤️
We got the book as a birthday present and it turned out perfectly. The print quality pleasantly surprised me – hardcover, nice paper and illustrations printed in fine detail. The characters are drawn so well that my daughter recognized her sister, me, the giraffe and herself :) She really likes the story and now it’s her favourite book, we read it almost every evening. On top of that, it will remain a lovely keepsake that she’ll come back to even in a few years. I definitely recommend it.
The book was a gift… I’ll find out how happy it makes them… but it’s very beautiful
I have the books ready as a gift, so I’m already looking forward to handing them over
An absolutely stunning book made to order. It's not only a beautiful gift, but a keepsake for a lifetime. Our sons are thrilled. Not only did they find “themselves” in the book, but the whole story also takes place in their favourite place, which is the ice rink. The whole book is accompanied by wonderful pictures, and the dedication from us, the parents, is just the cherry on top. I warmly recommend it. Not only will all the “heroes of the book” be thrilled, but so will you, as soon as you see the book with your own eyes :)
Our daughter was absolutely thrilled, she looked through it several times in a row and declared that it's pretty, she hasn't had enough of it yet and we read it every day before bedtime.
The book is very nice. The pictures look very nice, they're not blurry. The book really made us happy.
Very beautiful book, I always have trouble choosing in a bookshop, something bothers me about every one, or I can't find a theme I'd want.. here I can make up anything
A great, sweet and inspiring book that won us over from the very first pages! ❤️ The story of Алекс and Марая inspired us to go to the forest together, to enjoy the autumn beauty, to learn more about the animals and their food, to collect pine cones, hazelnuts, acorns and chestnuts and to create a wonderful autumn decoration at home. 🍂🍁 We love books that we don’t just read, but turn into real family adventures! Thank you for this magical experience! 🥰
The book is just as I imagined it. It's a present for under the Christmas tree, so we'll see how the grandkids like it ♥
The book for my grandson’s christening arrived and I’m thrilled with it. I’m already looking forward to us flipping through it together as soon as he grows up a little. It’s great that you can also add a favourite thing or toy and it gets worked into the story. It’s great!!!
The book is very nice, it was bought as a gift, so Maťko hasn’t seen it yet
🦉
FAQ
Questions parents ask.
Popular questions
Whichever he actually answers to. The story is written with the name you enter, so a book for Jamie is every bit as possible as one for James — though some parents pick the full name precisely because a hardcover is one of the few places a small boy gets to see it looking grown-up.