Untold Kid Stories Join the list

Untold Kid Stories: Personalized children's books where your child is the hero

Picture books drawn from your child's own photos, with their name in every line and their real life on the page. Crossing a river with George Washington. Two homes under one moon. The first day with a new baby. The stories no shelf tells, told for the one child who needs them.

Get early access See the story lines
Book cover: a child in a tricorn hat and blue coat stands in a wooden rowboat full of soldiers, crossing an icy river at night with a lantern
Book 1, as printed for Noah. Your child's face and name go here.

Why we exist

Every child has a story no bookshelf tells

Most personalized kids books swap a name into the same fantasy. Our books start from the child's own life: the history they will grow up proud of, the two homes they go between, the feeling that is too big this month, the change that is coming.

A child who sees themselves inside a story believes it is theirs. So we draw your child from their photos, keep them looking like themselves on every page, and write each line of the story by hand so it reads aloud beautifully.

A dad and his young son kneel on a living-room rug holding an American flag together

How it works

How our personalized kids books with photos are made

Four steps from your photos to a hardcover on the bedtime shelf.

  1. Pick the story

    Choose a story line and a book. Add your child's first name and a dedication line.

  2. Send a few photos

    Two to four clear photos of your child, and of a parent if you want them in the story.

  3. Approve every page

    We draw your child into each scene and you see the whole book first. Ask for a redraw on any page.

  4. We print and ship

    A 28-page hardcover picture book, printed for your family only, at your door in about three weeks.

The story lines

Personalized story books for the moments that matter

One family of books, many kinds of story. Some are already made, others are written and waiting, and new ones come from what parents ask for.

A boy in a tricorn hat rides in a rowboat on a snowy river at night beside a fisherman
First book ready

History

Personalized history books for kids. Your child stands beside the people who built the world, at the real moment it happened, with the true story at the back.

Book 1: Noah Washington and the Icy River

A small boy in star pajamas stands in a field at dusk pointing up at a full moon
Made

Two Homes

A kids book about two homes, made from your child's real week: both beds, both kitchens, the handoff, the goodnight. Both homes get the same warmth, page for page.

Made: Two Windows, One Moon

A young boy and his dad bake together in a sunny kitchen, the boy stirring batter in a big bowl
Prototyped

Big Feelings

Patience, sharing, sleep, listening, the big angry wave. Each book gives your child one move to try, and gives you the words to say at home.

Prototype: Wait for the Bubbles (patience)

Written next

Big Changes

A children's book about a new baby, a new house, a parent who travels or is deployed, a long illness, an adoption, a loss. The book shows your child's actual world and says what must be said.

Planned: new sibling, moving house, a parent away

In the works

Holidays & Traditions

The family elf, the Christmas Eve walk, the tradition only your house keeps. Holiday books written around the rituals your family already has.

Drafted: a North Pole adventure, where the family elf goes

Coming

Family & Friends

Cousins on an adventure, a grandparent's story passed down, the best friend who moved away. Personalized books for grandparents to give, with more than one child in the story.

Drafted: two cousins at the North Pole

Inside book 1

Noah Washington and the Icy River

Christmas night, 1776. The army is cold and tired, the river is full of ice, and one small general helps them cross. 28 pages in rhyme, with Dad rowing in the fishermen's boat, and a true-history section at the back.

Two-page spread: boats full of soldiers and horses push through river ice at night, the boy standing at the front
The crossing: boats, horses and cannon through the ice.
Two-page spread: the soldiers cheer as their boat lands on the snowy far shore and the boy raises his arms
The far shore, at last.
Two-page spread: back at home a dad and his son fold an American flag together on the rug
Home again, folding the flag with Dad.
Two-page spread titled What really happened, with history text, the Declaration, a 1777 map and a photo of a Durham boat
What really happened: the true history, with real pictures.

Also made

Two Windows, One Moon

A book about two homes for a four-year-old. The same moon finds his window at Mommy's house and at Daddy's, and a moon calendar shows the week he can't yet count. One copy for each home.

Book cover for Two Windows, One Moon: a smiling boy in pajamas raises his arms between a teddy-bear moon decal and the full moon Two-page spread: a bed at one home and a bunk bed at the other, each with the moon in the window

The history shelf

More than 100 true tales, waiting for a hero

Our history line is built on a library of 112 real moments, each fact-checked, each told without battles, so the youngest readers meet history through courage, curiosity and kindness.

FoundersPresidentsInventorsExplorersThe Greats of long agoTitans who built AmericaCourageTrainsSportsDinosaur digsArt & musicLegends, labelled as legendsWinter tales
  • Noah Washington and the Icy RiverCrossing the Delaware, 1776 · ready
  • Noah Hamilton and the Hurricane LetterA boy's letter that changed his life
  • Noah Knox and the Noble TrainHauling cannon across the snow by ox sled
  • Noah Builds AmericaThe builders of bridges, rails and towers
  • Noah Armstrong and the Footprint on the MoonThe first steps on the moon
  • Noah Montgolfier and the Flying SheepThe first hot-air balloon passengers
  • Noah Einstein and the Magic CompassThe gift that made a boy wonder
  • Noah Roosevelt and the Teddy BearHow the teddy bear got its name

Titles shown with Noah's name. Every book carries your child's name instead.

What's personal

A personalized children's book with their face, name and family

Their face

Drawn from your photos and checked on every page so your child looks like themselves from cover to cover: same hair, same smile, same outfit.

Their name

In the title, on the cover and woven through the verse, rewritten to keep the rhyme whatever the name's length.

Their people

Mom or Dad can be drawn into the story with them. In book 1, a parent rows the boat across the river.

Everything else is made once and made carefully: the verse, the scenes, the history and the art direction. That is how every copy reads as well as the first.

Photos & privacy

Your child's photos stay yours

Parents ask this first, so here it is plainly.

  • Photos are used only to draw your child's character for your book.
  • Once you approve the likeness, the photos are deleted.
  • Nothing is shared, sold or used to train anything.
  • No book ever shows your home, your street or where your child goes to school.
  • Nothing prints until you approve every page. Not happy? Full refund.

Price

One book, made for one child

Hardcover

$59 shipped in the US

2 for $99 · two copies, or two different stories

  • 28 pages, 8.5 × 8.5 in, printed for you
  • Your child, their name and one parent
  • Every page approved before printing
  • Arrives in about three weeks

Paperback

$44.99 shipped in the US

2 for $75 · two copies, or two different stories

  • Softcover, 8.5 × 8.5 in, the same full-color pages
  • Your child, their name and one parent
  • Every page approved before printing
  • Arrives in about three weeks

Digital edition

$24.99
  • The same book as a PDF
  • Read on a tablet or print at home
  • Upgrade to a printed copy any time

Launch pricing for founding families on the list.

Founding families

Get the first books, and tell us the story your child needs

Orders open to the list first. Tell us which kinds of story you want, and if there is one no shelf has, write it down. The most requested stories are written next.

For Christmas delivery, hardcovers need to be ordered by about December 1.

Which stories interest you?

We email you when orders open and when a story you picked is ready. No spam, and you can leave the list any time.

Questions

Personalized kids books: questions parents ask

What makes these personalized kids books different?

Your child is drawn from their own photos, so they look like themselves on every page, not a cartoon picked from a menu. Their first name is in the title and the verse, and one parent can be drawn into the story with them. The words are written by people and every page is checked before it prints.

What happens to my child's photos?

The photos are used only to draw your child's character. Once you approve the likeness, the photos are deleted. We never use them to train anything, never share them, and never show where anyone lives.

Do I see the book before it prints?

Yes. You see every page first and can ask us to redraw a page. Nothing prints until you approve it, and if you are not happy you get a full refund.

How long does a personalized hardcover take?

About three weeks from your approval to your door in the US. For Christmas delivery, order by about December 1.

Are the illustrations made with AI?

The pictures are drawn with image tools so your child can be in every scene. The stories, the verse and the history are written and fact-checked by people, and every page is reviewed by a person and by automated checks for likeness and consistency before you see it.

What ages are the books for?

The first books are picture books for ages 3 to 8, written to be read aloud. Each story line is written for an age band, with fewer words for the youngest readers.

Can you write a book about our family's situation?

That is why we exist. Tell us the story your child needs on the list form: a new baby, a move, a parent who travels, two homes, a hard diagnosis, a loss. The most requested stories are written next.