What to look for in a personalised book, age by age
Word counts, story shapes and formats that suit children at 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 and 7-9, so the book you order actually gets read.
Personalised books are often sold as one product for "children". In practice a two-year-old and a seven-year-old need almost nothing in common from a book. Here is what changes, and what to look for at each stage.
Ages 1 to 2: naming the world
Words per page: about 6 to 16. One or two very short sentences.
At this age a book is a naming exercise with a rhythm. Sound words carry it: whoosh, bang, splash. Repetition is not lazy writing, it is the point, because the child is learning that words come back in the same order.
Look for: big simple pictures, one idea per page, a refrain they can join in with, and thick pages if the book will be handled unsupervised.
Ages 3 to 4: cause and effect
Words per page: about 18 to 38. Two to four short sentences.
Now a story can have a shape. Something happens, it causes something else, and there is a small wobble before it comes right. This is the age where a gentle lesson lands best, because the child can hold "he was scared, then he tried, then he managed it" as a single idea.
Look for: a clear problem and solution, feelings named out loud, a question the child can answer back, and a refrain that repeats across the book.
Ages 5 to 6: reading along
Words per page: about 40 to 65. Four to six sentences.
Early readers want to recognise words themselves. That means the text needs to be typeset properly, at a decent size, with generous line spacing, and never printed over a busy part of an illustration.
Look for: readable typography as much as good pictures, some new vocabulary explained by context, humour, and a story where the child's own decision changes the outcome.
Ages 7 to 9: a real story
Words per page: about 70 to 115. A short paragraph.
At this point personalisation has to be more than a name swapped in. A seven-year-old notices when a book is generic. The story needs a real dilemma, dialogue, and facts woven in naturally, and the child's specific interests should shape the plot rather than decorate it.
Look for: proper story structure, richer vocabulary, and personalisation that goes beyond the name.
Formats, briefly
Square books, around 8.5 inches, are the classic picture book shape and sit well on a lap. Landscape suits wide subjects such as rockets, trains and horizons. Portrait suits longer text for older readers.
For a book that will be read hundreds of times, hardcover is worth it. For a gift for a classmate, a softcover does the job.
The test that matters
Whatever the age, one question predicts whether a book gets read: does this book contain the thing my child cannot stop talking about right now? If not, the reading level is irrelevant.
Make a book about the thing they love
Free to write and read on screen. Printed hardcovers from $59.99.
Keep reading
- Short bedtime stories: what to do on the nights you have nothing leftA three-minute book that both of you enjoy beats a twenty-minute one nobody finishes. How to make short reading time count, from a parent who often only has short reading time.
- Why your toddler skips pages (and what to do about it)Toddlers do not skip pages because they dislike reading. They skip pages because nothing on that page belongs to them yet. Here is how to fix it.
- How StoryPals works, from a name to a printed bookA walkthrough of making a personalised picture book with StoryPals: the brief, the story, the illustrations, editing every page, and printing.