Questions about our personalized books

Penwynn makes personalized hardcover picture books. The story and illustrations are created with AI from your written descriptions. Review the characters, manuscript and finished pages before ordering.

A 36-page hardcover is US$49 and a 48-page hardcover is US$59, in either size: 8 × 8 inches square or 8 × 11 inches portrait. Extra copies of the same book cost less: US$29 and US$34. Base prices are in USD. Postage is included to Canada, the US and the UK; checkout can offer a local currency price, and sales tax is added where it applies.

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.

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.

No. Penwynn has no photo-upload feature. Characters are illustrated from written descriptions, such as curly hair, round glasses or a favourite coat. The drawings are storybook interpretations, not exact portraits. Review the character designs and request changes before the story is written.

Penwynn writes books in English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Spanish, French, Hindi and Arabic. You choose the language when you make the book and the whole story is written in it, not just the name — so a grandparent can read it aloud in the language they think in. Each book is printed in one language.

Yes. A book can be about anyone — a child, a parent, a grandparent, or a whole family, and everyone in it recurs throughout the book.

No — those characters belong to the companies that made them, and we have no licence to print them. A book can star anyone who is yours to put in one: your own family, characters you invent yourself, or characters out of copyright, such as Alice, Robin Hood, Sherlock Holmes, the Snow Queen or Peter Rabbit. If you describe the character you want — what they look like and what they can do — we will draw them as their own person.

About twenty minutes of your time. The conversation and character drawings take a few minutes each, and illustrating the whole book takes roughly ten minutes. Printing and delivery take longer and depend on where you are.

Penwynn's current production/handling estimate is 0–2 business days. Estimated delivery after dispatch is 10–15 business days in Canada and 7–10 in the US and UK, counted Monday–Saturday. Creation and review happen first. Actual arrival dates can vary; allow extra time for holidays. Current Christmas ordering guidance: Canada by December 1, and the United States and the United Kingdom by December 5.

Four reading ranges: ages 0–2, 3–5, 6–8, and 9 and older. You choose one when you make the book, and the words, sentence length and how feelings are handled are written for that range. The reading age is who the book is read to, which is not always the age of the main character.

Books are printed and shipped within Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. Each order is produced in the customer's own country, so no book crosses a border.

A hardcover, either 8 × 8 inches square or 8 × 11 inches portrait, with 36 or 48 interior pages. Facing pages share a single illustration, so the pictures run across the whole opening: 19 illustrations in a 36-page book, 25 in a 48-page book.

Penwynn reprints it free of charge. Report the problem within 30 days of delivery with a photograph; the damaged copy does not need to be returned. A replacement is the remedy offered rather than a refund, and it does not affect rights a customer has by law.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends shared reading beginning at birth and continuing at least through kindergarten, because it supports children's language, cognitive and social-emotional development and the relationships around them. Researchers at The Ohio State University estimate that a child read one book a day hears about 290,000 more words by age five than a child who is never read to.

Penwynn thinks it matters more. An AI can summarize a story in a sentence, but reading one asks a child to follow a thread, picture what is not shown and wait for an ending — the part a summary skips. Reading for pleasure is also falling: in 2025 only 32.7% of UK 8- to 18-year-olds told the National Literacy Trust they enjoyed reading in their free time, the lowest level in twenty years.

Yes, at every stage. A character can be redrawn from a plain-language request such as 'shorter hair'. The story can be rewritten. Any single page can be redrawn on its own without redoing the rest of the book.

Yes. Describe an original fantasy adventure and the interests, companions or story choices you would like included. Penwynn generates a story from your description, and you can request changes before the pages are illustrated. Check the preview and request changes if a detail you wanted is missing.

No. Penwynn makes illustrated picture books. The reading-level setting guides the generated writing; it is not an independently assessed reading level. Read a complete sample and review your own manuscript to decide whether the format suits your reader.