{Holiday Gift Giveaway #22} YourPictureBook.com Personalized Children's Book

When I was a kid, about 10, my grandma (now gone) gave me a very cool Christmas present. One of the most thoughtful she ever gave me, actually. It was a personalized adventure book starring me! I went on an adventure with Santa Claus and my sister, and I was enthralled.

There's nothing more fun than personalization, in my opinion. That personalized book is the only present I remember my grandma getting me, and I know she sent us something every Christmas. That tells me something - people remember special gifts that show you put some thought into it. Especially back then (waaay back then... 16 years ago), personalized books weren't that popular. I hadn't even heard of them, so it was a total treat to receive one.

When I was given the opportunity to review a personalized book from YourPictureBook.com for my daughter, I was excited. Mostly because this is so much better than the one I received as a child! Right now, there are three exciting options available, and any one of them would be good for either a little boy or girl:

Do you see yet what is so special about these books? Your child's photo is on every page, including the cover, as well as his or her name!

My Thoughts/Review:

I am very pleased with the book I received, starring my daughter, Emma. I had quite a time finding a "good" photo for YourPictureBook.com to use. I didn't realize I had so many pictures of Emma looking anywhere but at the camera! I finally found one that I thought might work of her looking at the camera while sitting on the slide. This one:

And this is how it turned out:

Brilliant, wouldn't you say? I'm very happy with the cartoon version of Emma.

I chose the You Can Count book to have personalized. Emma gets absolutely giddy when we count together and can count with her fingers, too, so this was the perfect book for her right now. I like the way the book encourages counting - each page features a new number and rhyme corresponding to something Emma sees around her. For instance:

While watching the tank
Emma sees something great
The fish have no legs
But the octopus has eight

One of the very cool things about YourPictureBook.com is that they can use your favorite photo, whether it features your child sitting or standing! Check out this example:

Click to enlarge

Or you can send a standing photo and ask them to use the second sitting style. They're very nice and helpful, so feel free to ask questions!

Educational Opportunities: Because children are especially interested in things they can relate to, personalized books like these are a great educational tool. The You Can Count book encourages both counting and reading - I anticipate it will be treasured for a long time.

Conclusion: I'm loving YourPictureBook.com! I'm completely happy with Emma's book, and love the idea and purpose behind personalized books. The only suggestion I might have is that they accept more than one photo so that there can be different photos of your child on every page. It would make it even more unique. :-) Still, I love what they have available and am hoping to get each of the books for Emma - I have my eye on the Noah's Ark adventure next!

Buy it! You can personalize your own book for only $34.95! And they also personalize posters (make your child a football star!), coloring books, and even movies with your photos! It's worth checking out - these things make wonderful Christmas gifts!

Giveaway Closed

Prize info: One of you will win a hardback personalized book of your choice! Open to US only.

How To Enter (mandatory): Visit YourPictureBook.com and tell me in a comment which book you would like to have personalized and who it would be for!

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Giveaway will be closed on December 15 at midnight and winner notified by email - good luck, everyone!

Disclaimer: The review product(s) were sent to me free of charge by the company or manufacturer in exchange for an honest review. This review is 100% my own content, my own true experiences with the product(s), and my own opinion. :-)

See full review, giveaway, and disclosure policy here.