Review of I See Me! Personalized Children's Book

SPONSOR HIGHLIGHT "DECKED OUT DAD'S DAY" GIVEAWAY EVENT
Originally Published 5/13/13

Personalized books have been around for some time. About twenty years ago, I got one for my wife when we were dating and it was a big hit. You submit their name and some personal information to the publisher and they incorporate that information into their story. As you or your child reads the book, they periodically see their name, their friend's name, their pet's name, their home town or some such and a big smile shows up on their face as the story is about them and not just another impersonal book.

Recently, I was given the opportunity to review one such book from the publisher I See Me! They've been doing personalized books since May of 2000. I received the book My Very Own World Adventure. The book takes your child on a world tour through the letters of their name, where each letter takes you to a country whose name starts with that letter. Have a Z in your name? Well, then, you're going to Zimbabwe or Zambia. U goes to Uganda or the United States. K is Kenya or Kuwait. You get the picture, all the way through Zukowski, for instance. 

Nora from Switzerland

What makes this book extra special though isn't just the country connection to the spelling of the names. It is some amazing art work. The pictures are locally sourced where the artist is either from the country or has some direct connection to such. The pictures are of a child from the country where they are presenting a gift to the reader where the gift has some local significance. For instance, with S and Switzerland, the child presents a gift of cow bells. There are 63 different artists from around the world who created the artwork. And I have to commend them on such a great job. The back of the book includes small versions of all 63 countries available so you can see all pictures, not just those in the name presented. Their biggest dilemma is if your name repeats a letter too many times then your book will have repeats.

The book sells for $34.95, with an extra $4.95 if you want to include a middle name. You can also include a gift box and bow for $5.95. Shipping is free on orders of $95 or more. Otherwise it is $9.95 for standard shipping. Besides the personalize content throughout the book, you can include a personalized inscription on the first page. The order form presents some canned text for you to include or you can write your own.  It is a hard bound book so the $34.95 price isn't that unreasonable.

When my six year old son open the book, his eyes just lit right up, and that was from just seeing his name with the book's dedication. As he turned the pages and realized what was going on, he was jumping for joy. To put it mildly, he loved it. And, at six, he was practically able to read the whole book himself. 

If you like personalized products for your kids or just need to pick up a unique gift for a friend's child (or a relative), this would make the perfect present. You just have to plan a little to give it time to print and ship. It isn't like these titles can be pre-printed for all the names in the world, with the custom dedications. Just give it about two weeks to arrive.

If you're interested in winning one for yourself (or child), we'll be offering your version of the book as a prize in the upcoming Decked Out Dad's Day event later in the month. Be sure to check out that giveaway once it starts on the 22nd. There will be some cool prizes for all the daddies out there in addition to the book.

You can find more information about I See Me! from their social media connections, or just check out their catalog. They have books for many occasions and also boy/girl-specific versions when the title warrants it. They even do personalized place mats for eating time.

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Pinterest

Also, you can win a library of 10 personalize books, with 5 winners, right over from the publisher. Enter now.

Disclosure: I received the above mentioned product for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received. All opinions stated are my own and may differ from yours. See my disclosure policy for more information.