Every story needs a star
Charlie's Christmas Eve
Charlie's Big Birthday Wish
Charlie and the Thankful Table
A personalized children's book starring your kid — written and illustrated around them and the people they love. Ready to read in minutes.
Free to create and read online. Order printed 8.5″ square books anytime.
How it works
Add your star
Upload a photo or two of your kid, and anyone else who should be in the story: siblings, grandparents, even the dog.
Dream up the story
Chat through an idea together, or let us surprise you. Pick a theme, a reading level and an illustration style.
Read, share, print
Every page is illustrated with your family in it. Read it tonight, send it to grandma, or order a printed keepsake.
Pick an illustration style
Eight looks, from classic watercolor to soft 3D.
Watercolor 
Soft 3D (Pixar-style) 
Classic Picture Book 
Kawaii 
Crayon Drawing 
Flat Vector 
Soft Pastel 
Retro Cartoon
Made for a special day
Start with the occasion and we'll shape your personalized children's book around it.
- BirthdayBalloons at breakfast, a party full of favorite people, and one big wish over the candles.Start a birthday book
- ThanksgivingEveryone around one table: stirring the gravy, cousins underfoot, and what each of you is grateful for.Start a Thanksgiving book
- ChristmasA snowy Christmas Eve adventure with the whole family, ready to read before the stockings are hung.Start a Christmas book
Make it yours
Edit any page's words, redo a picture, reorder or add pages.
Share with family
Send a private link that opens as a page-turning book.
Your photos stay private
Photos are only used to illustrate your own books.
Common questions
Is it really free to make a book?
Yes. Writing, illustrating, editing and reading your book online costs nothing, and you never enter a card to do it. You only pay if you choose to order a printed copy.
How much does a printed copy cost?
It depends on the number of pages, where it's going and how fast you want it. We work out the total from our print partner's live printing and postage rates and show it, tax included, before you pay.
What is the printed book like?
An 8.5″ × 8.5″ softcover with a glossy cover and full-color pages on thick coated paper. The spine is stitched rather than glued, so it opens flat on a lap. Every copy is printed to order by Lulu, a print-on-demand company.
How long until a printed book arrives?
Lulu usually needs 3–5 business days to print and bind a copy. After that, delivery time depends on your address and the shipping speed you pick at checkout; see Lulu's shipping guide for typical times. Once it ships, tracking appears with your order.
Can you ship outside the US?
Yes, Lulu delivers to most countries. Enter your address at checkout to see the options and the price. Any import duties or taxes charged by your country are paid on delivery; Lulu's shipping guide has the details.
My printed book arrived damaged or misprinted. What now?
Send us a photo of the problem within 30 days of it shipping and we'll print you a new copy for free. Email support@kidstarstories.com.
What happens to the photos I upload?
They're used for one thing: drawing the people in your books. To do that they're sent to Google's Gemini image model, under terms that don't allow them to be used for training. They're never used to train any AI model, never sold and never shown to anyone else. Delete a photo and the file is permanently erased.
Who can see my book?
Only you. If you create a share link, anyone with that link can read the book, but never your original photos. You can switch a link off whenever you like.
Who can be in the story?
Anyone you have a photo of: brothers and sisters, cousins, grandparents, friends, even the family pet. Add up to three photos of each person; a few different angles help the drawings look like them.
What ages is it for?
From babies to early readers. Pick Baby (0–1) for single words and rhymes, Toddler (2–4) for simple sentences, or Early Reader (5+) for short paragraphs.
What if a picture or a page isn't quite right?
Change any page's words, redraw any picture (each book includes 20 redraws), and add, remove or reorder pages until it feels like yours.
Something else? Email support@kidstarstories.com.
Tonight's bedtime story could star them
Free to make your personalized children's book. Printed copies whenever you want one.
Create your book, free