Personalized Books - Raising Up A Storm In The Gifting World

What happens when the world runs out of ideas? They build more ideas! Necessity is the mother of invention. That is what is happening in the world of gifting right now. People are just sick and tired of making the same kinds of gifts over and over again. This was a perfect stage for a new idea to be introduced into the world. The personalized books that I am talking about are certainly not a new invention, but they sure have started becoming popular only lately. Here's a brief idea on what these personalized books are.

Personalized Books – What are they?

Personalized books are the usual children's storybooks but with a grand difference. The child is made a part of the story. These books have a generic character that is given the identity of the child for whom the book is being personalized. The name of the child is given to the character, and all the dialogs in the book are changed to use the name of the child in them. Not just that, the illustrations can be changed too. Nowadays, with modern digital printing methods, it is possible to alter the illustrations in such a way that it really looks as though the illustration is of the child.

Every company has their own way of personalizing books. But some features are common. These include the child's name and character obviously, but they will also have names of people who are close to the child. The front inside page of the book could be used to print the name of the person making the gift and a dedication. There could also be a dedication or some remark at the end of the story, mostly on the back inside cover.

Personalized Books – The Different Types

The stories selected for personalized books basically fall under four categories:-

• Fairytales that have been popular with children since the ages. The children are worked in as either a character in the fairytale (even the main character sometimes) or as an onlooker who sees the whole story unfolding in front of him/her.
• Adventure stories with the child as a part of the action, always on the virtuous side. Most often, these adventure stories will have superheroes in them, and the child will be a temporary friend of the superhero for that story. It will be usually a trick that the child plays that will help the superhero to fight off the baddie.
• Fantasy stories. You cannot exactly call them stories; they are more like a child's flight into some kind of fantastic reverie. They might have the child dream about being a sports hero (like in The Sports Superstar) or taking a ride to the North Pole to meet Santa Claus (like in the Santa and Rudolf personalized book).
• Educational personalized books. These are becoming very popular for preschoolers. These books try to teach the kid something with the medium of a story. One example is The Animal Farm book in which the kid visits a farmhouse and various animals of the farm speak to him/her. This is a subtle way of teaching the kid animal names and sounds.

Personalized Books – Why are they such a great idea?

The first and foremost reason is that all parents approve of personalized books. The stories are always meaningful and the illustrations are quite nice. But the most important reason is that all parents love to see their child's name in print. The books become items to show off to friends and relatives. And then the friends and relatives will want them for their own children too. That's the main reason why the personalized books are becoming so very popular.

The other reason lies with the way children perceive these books. For them, the books are an outlet for their own fantasies. As long as they are reading the book, they are transported into a world that they don't want to come out of. That's the reason they will read the books over and over again. It is not the same thing with non-personalized books, because they are not characters in those books. The personalized books are more close to their hearts and they will want to cherish them for life.

Personalized books work for both parents and kids. That is the reason why they are considered to be a very unique gifting idea, at least until the next big thing in gifting comes in.

Personalized Books – Where to get them from?

Personalized books can be purchased only over the Internet. There are websites dealing with them, such as the popular Unique Child Gift Ideas that deal primarily in selling personalized books among other things. You have to place an order with them, and then there will be a form to fill where you write in the details with which you want the book to be personalized. Once the form is submitted, they will incorporate the details in the personalized book and ship it. The time required for making the personalized book is quite short, because they have to work only on an existing template, but shipping time could be longer.

Contrary to what people think, personalized books are not that expensive. The average cost is between $15 and $20, and shipping costs might be included. The books can be also shipped to another destination where the child lives. The orders can be adjusted so that the books can reach the child on a particular date, such as a birthday, etc.