Key takeaways
- The Nutcracker is the natural choice: a doll under the tree comes to life at midnight, and grandad can play the godfather who brings it.
- A story you write about your own family's Christmas is often the one that gets kept.
- Order printed copies by late November. A digital book can be made on Christmas Eve.
Every December the same thing happens: people decide on a personalised book on the 15th and then discover that printing and posting take longer than they’d hoped. So this guide starts with timing, and gets to the stories after.
The timeline
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Now to mid November | Pick the story, find a good photo, make the digital book |
| By late November | Order the printed copy |
| Early December | Print arrives, wrap it |
| Up to Christmas Eve | The digital book can still be made in minutes |
Printing and delivery times depend on the service and where you live, so check when you order. The rule of thumb: the print is the part to do early.
If you've left it late
Make the digital book, show it on a tablet on Christmas morning, and let the printed copy arrive in January. Nobody under eight has ever complained about a second present.
The Nutcracker
On a snowy Christmas Eve, a new nutcracker doll under the tree wakes up at the stroke of midnight, leads the toy soldiers against the Mouse King and sets off for the Land of Sweets. In the personalised version your child is the one who stays up and sees it happen.
It has two family parts: the godfather who brings the gift (grandad, an uncle or dad) and the Nutcracker prince (a sibling, cousin or friend). If grandparents are giving the book, putting grandad in as the godfather is a nice touch.
The Nutcracker
A gift under the tree that wakes up at midnight
A gift under the tree that wakes up at midnight.
Make this book with your child →Other Christmas ideas
A Christmas Eve book. Give it on the 24th, read it at bedtime, put it back in the box with the decorations. It’s a tradition by the second year.
Your own Christmas. Write two or three sentences: the cousins arriving, the dog and the sausages, the snowman that fell over. Stories about the real family are the ones people keep for years.
A job for Father Christmas. The child has to help deliver the presents after a reindeer gets lost in the fog. Easy to write, and you can put a sibling in as the second elf.
The Little Match Girl. Worth knowing: this retelling isn’t the heartbreaking original. It’s set on New Year’s Eve, each match opens a warm vision, and kindness and a remembered grandmother lead the hero home. Grandma can play the grandmother in the light.
The Little Match Girl
Tiny flames, big wishes, warm hearts
Tiny flames, big wishes, warm hearts.
Make this book with your child →Getting it right
A cosy Christmas-jumper photo is fine as long as the face is clear, lit from a window and not covered by a Santa hat. For the look of the pictures, classic storybook and watercolour both feel festive. And if you’re making several (for cousins, say), it’s worth making one first and reading it through before doing the rest.
The step-by-step guide covers the process, and there are more present ideas in our gift ideas list.
When you’re ready, make a personalised Nutcracker or look through the other stories.
Frequently asked questions
When should I order a personalised Christmas book?
If you want it printed and under the tree, aim for late November, before the December post gets busy. The digital version can be made any time, including Christmas Eve.
Can the whole family be in a Christmas book?
Up to three people fit in one book on I Am In The Story: two siblings and a grandparent, for example, or the child, a parent and the dog.
Is The Little Match Girl too sad for Christmas?
The original is. The retelling on I Am In The Story is set on New Year's Eve and ends with the hero led safely home, so it works as a gentle winter story about kindness.
Pick a fairy tale, add your child
Classic stories children already know by name — each one retold with your child on every page.
The Nutcracker
A gift under the tree that wakes up at midnight
Make this book with your child →
Alice in Wonderland
Down the rabbit hole and curiouser by the page
Make this book with your child →
Can I Meet the Frog Prince?
A golden ball, a promise and a surprising friend
Make this book with your child →
Jack and the Beanstalk
A vine that grows past the clouds
Make this book with your child →
