Christmas. To have it by Christmas, send this form by the end of and tick the Christmas box before you send. Only a few books can arrive in time.

Family Books from HermesWrite, home

Family Books / The story form

Tell us the story.

Three short steps, one at a time. Type, or tap Record and talk. Short answers are fine, messy answers are fine, and “I’m not sure, ask Grandma” is a real answer.

Step 1 of 3

The story

Their first name, or the name they like. No surname.

For example: “Teddy, but only Grandma calls him that.”

How old is the child?

The books are written for ages 4 to 8.

The way you’d tell a friend, or the child at bedtime. A few lines is enough for the first page. Say as much as you like: the whole book is made from it.

You might mention:

  • Why tell the child now: a question they keep asking, a trip, a birthday, a baby on the way.
  • What happened, roughly in order, where and when, and who was there.
  • A small moment you remember exactly: what someone wore, what went wrong, what someone said.

First names are plenty. A country and a year are fine. We don’t need surnames, towns, addresses, clinics, or immigration or medical details.

Anything to keep out of the book? You can tell us after step 3.

Nothing here has to be well written. We draft the text with AI from your answers and make the pictures with AI image tools. If you order, a person at Family Books looks over the finished book, then you read it, change any words you like, and approve it before it is printed.

  • It can be a child’s own story, or a family story told to them.
  • About 5 minutes with short answers, a little longer if you talk.
  • After that, tell us more if you like, or just send.
  • No photos. You describe people in words.
  • Nothing to pay. The first page is free.
  • We ship to US addresses only.

Step 2 of 3

The people

We draw the child from your words, so a line is plenty: hair, skin, eyes, glasses, freckles, what they always wear. Not sure? Say so, and we’ll ask.

For example: “Light brown hair that sticks up at the back, freckles, a big gap in his teeth, yellow rain boots.”

Most of the first page comes from this. Two or three things is plenty.

You might mention:

  • What they love, and what scares them: dinosaurs, bus routes, the dark.
  • Something they say that you never want to forget.
  • A favorite toy or animal.

Their room, the yard, Grandma’s porch. And what they’d have with them: a stuffed elephant, a toy truck, the dog.

For each person: what the child calls them, how old they were then, and what they looked like (skin, hair, glasses). Pets too. Three to five is plenty. No surnames.

For example: “Abuela, my mother, about 8 then: two black braids, a red coat too big for her. Tío Beto, her little brother, always in a cap.”

Step 3 of 3

About you

Who are you to the child?

Not the child’s parent or guardian? Please ask one of them before you send this.

We email you a private link to it. We use your email only for your book.

A first name is plenty. Our emails to you start with it.

Two things to confirm

People in the story may want to know about the book. Tell them if you can.

All 3 steps done

That’s all we need for the first page.

You can check and send it now. Or tell us more: it all goes into the rest of the book. Skipping is fine. If we need something, your first page will ask.

If you tell us more, we’ll ask:

  1. The words your family uses for it
  2. Anything the book must never say or show
  3. A part to handle carefully
  4. Small things that belong in the book
  5. How it should leave the child feeling
  6. What kind of pictures

One question at a time. Answer the ones you like; most take a minute or two.

Tell us more · optional

How you say it to the child, and any words you never use. Words from another language too, and how to say them.

For example: “Abuela, said ah-BWEH-lah. Pa’lante, which means keep going.”

That’s fine. We’ll choose words for it, and you can change them when you read the book.

Tell us more · optional

Be as plain as you like. You won’t offend us. A person, a place, an event, a word, or a name to change in print. The book is made with this in mind, and checked against it automatically.

For example: “Leave out the money trouble. Never say ‘went to sleep’. No storks.”

Tell us more · optional

Something sad, private or complicated, or something you’re not sure how to say to the child. Nothing here goes in the book unless you say so.

You might mention:

  • What happened, in grown-up words, even if the book will never say it.
  • How much the child knows, and what they might ask next.
  • Who else might read the book: a birth parent, the donor, a grandparent.

Find a quiet moment, maybe after bedtime. We don’t need surnames, towns, clinics or medical details.

How much does the child know already?
How should the book tell it?

Tell us more · optional

These often make the best pages.

You might mention:

  • A family saying, song, joke or bedtime ritual.
  • Something you kept, and where it is now: a blanket, a hat, a stuffed elephant.
  • More small moments you remember exactly.
  • Places the child would notice: the kitchen, the airport, the town with the river. No street or school names.

Tell us more · optional

How should the book leave the child feeling?

Choose one or two.

How should it sound along the way?

Tell us more · optional

What kind of pictures?

We draw every book in this first run in one style, crayon and watercolor. Choose one or two of these, and we’ll match the colors and the mood to them.

For example: “Old-fashioned bedtime books. Nothing glossy or cartoony. No glitter.”

All 3 steps done

Check and send

Here’s what you’re sending. Change anything you like.

Only a few books can arrive before Christmas, and this counts if you send it by the end of (US Pacific time). Your first page usually comes within an hour, and we’ll tell you the last day to order. Christmas also depends on how quickly you approve the finished book, and on whether you send it back.

The first page is free, and there’s nothing to pay on this site. If you’d like the whole book, it’s $129 for two hardcover copies, with shipping to a US address included. We ship to the US only, and our printer can’t deliver to APO, FPO or DPO addresses. You order from your first page and pay on Stripe’s page.

By sending, you agree to our terms. The privacy page says what happens to your answers.