The story is written for them
From what you tell us — who they are, who is in their life, what is going on for them right now. Two children with the same starting point get two different books.
Penwynn
Made by someone who loves them, for someone they love
A hardcover picture book for a child, a grandparent, the whole family — written and illustrated for that one person. Not a name dropped into a story somebody else already wrote. You read every word and see every page before you pay.
Make a bookFree to make. Nothing is charged until you've read the story and seen every page.
Not a template with a name in it
Most personalised books are one story, already written, with your child's name typed into it. Ask for the same book twice and you get the same book twice.
Everyone who matters is in it
Up to five characters, and they recur right through the book — a sister, a grandparent, the dog. Not a crowd on one page and gone by the next.
It is about something
A new baby, a first day, being scared of the dark, missing someone far away. The book is about the thing that is actually happening to them.
Why reading together matters, especially now
Paediatricians recommend reading with children from birth. And when an AI can answer almost anything, the slow habit of a story read aloud is one of the few things that still has to be done the long way.
Recommended from birth
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends shared reading beginning at birth and continuing at least through kindergarten, for language, thinking and the relationship it builds.
The words add up
A child read one book a day hears an estimated 290,000 more words by age five than a child who is never read to.
Fewer children read for fun
In 2025, just 32.7% of UK 8- to 18-year-olds said they enjoyed reading in their free time, the lowest level in twenty years.
Reading to young children and the developing brain →Why reading still matters when AI can answer anything →
Books like these, with your people in them
Fully personalised — their name, their hair, their glasses, their wheelchair, the people they love and the things they actually care about. Open one and read every page, exactly as it prints.
Room for Two Stars
Ava, her mum Carmen, her dad Luis, and baby Diego
Ava had a lap to sit in and a book with a bent corner. Then the baby came, and she had to work out where she fits now that someone smaller needs it more.
36 pages · 8 × 8 inches square
See all 36 pages →
Don Quixote
Don Quixote and his servant Andres
An old knight in dented armour sees three white towers on the ridge that were not there before, puts a washbasin on his head because a helmet helps you think, and rides out.
36 pages · 8 × 8 inches square
See all 36 pages →How it works
- 1
Tell us who it is about
A short conversation — their name, how old they are, what they look like, and who else is in it. Up to five characters, all of whom appear right through the book.
- 2
Meet the characters
We draw everyone and show you. Don't like a face? Ask for a change in your own words — shorter hair, a red coat — and we redraw just that one.
- 3
Read the story first
The whole story, written for the reading age you choose, before a single page is illustrated. If it isn't right, say what to change.
- 4
See the finished book
Every page, illustrated. Change any page you like — that costs one picture, not a new book. Only then do you decide whether to have it printed.
It takes about twenty minutes, and you can close the tab and come back.
How it is made, plainly
The writing and the drawing are done by AI. Every word and every picture is then put in front of you, and nothing is printed — or charged — until you say yes.
You approve it three times
The characters, before there is a story. The whole story, before anything is drawn. Then every illustrated page. Don't like one? Say what to change in your own words and that page is redrawn — one picture, not a new book.
Every page is checked before you see it
Each illustration is inspected automatically: the right people, drawn the same way they were on the last page, anatomy that makes sense, and no stray lettering. Pages that fail are drawn again.
No photographs. We never ask for one.
Characters are drawn from what you write — curly hair, glasses, a hearing aid, a wheelchair — never from a picture. There is no upload button anywhere in this service, because there is nothing behind it: no photograph of your child is collected, stored, or used to train anything, and no real face is ever reproduced.
In the language your family reads in
Choose the language when you make the book, and the whole thing is written in it — the story, not just the name. So a grandparent can read it aloud in the language they think in.
- EnglishEnglish
- 简体中文Chinese (Simplified)
- 繁體中文Chinese (Traditional)
- EspañolSpanish
- FrançaisFrench
- हिन्दीHindi
- العربيةArabic
One language per book — whichever one it will be read in.
The book itself
A real hardcover, sewn and cased
Printed on 170 gsm silk paper with a matt-laminated printed case — the same construction as a bookshop picture book, not a photo album with a glued spine.
Pictures across the fold
Facing pages share one illustration, so each opening is a single wide picture rather than two half ones.
Two shapes
Square, which suits a picture that spreads wide, or portrait, which suits a taller scene. Both are hardcover.
36 or 48 pages
A longer book has room for more characters and more of the story before it has to resolve.
From $49
$49 for 36 pages, $59 for 48. Extra copies of the same book cost less — $29 and $34. Postage included.
FAQ
- What is Penwynn?
- Penwynn makes personalised hardcover picture books. You describe the people the book is about, and the story and every illustration are generated for them — not a name inserted into a fixed template.
- How much does a personalised book cost?
- A 36-page hardcover is $49 and a 48-page hardcover is $59, in US dollars. Extra copies of the same book cost less: $29 and $34. Postage is included in the price; sales tax is added at checkout where it applies.
- Do I pay before seeing the book?
- No. Making a book is free. You read the whole story and see every illustrated page before you decide whether to have it printed, and nothing is charged until you do.
- Do you use AI to make the books?
- Yes. Penwynn writes the story and draws the illustrations with AI, and we would rather say so plainly than have you wonder. What makes that work is that you check it: you approve the characters, then read the whole story before anything is drawn, then see every illustrated page — and you can have any page redrawn by saying what to change. Every illustration is also checked automatically before you see it, for whether the right people are in it, drawn the way they were on the last page, with no stray lettering. Nothing is printed or charged until you have seen the finished book.
Ready?
Start with their name. You can stop at any point — nothing is charged until you say so.
Make a book