Based on the reactions of our bloggers’ children to their newly created ImagiTales books, I was right about the inherent narcissism of little ones:

• “The boys loved the books…They’ve taken great delight in pointing out their own and each other’s pictures.”
• “[he] ADORES these books. At bedtime, he wildly gestures to the shelf where we keep them, and as soon as we finish one he starts calling for the next.”
• “…my kids went absolutely ape for them…I have often found either of my girls at any given time crouched in some secret place (next to the couch under the side table) marveling at the books and completely thrilled to be gazing at their likeness in print form.”

The process of creating these books is sufficiently detailed to yield truly personalized results, yet not so intricate that parents (who are often at the ends of their ropes anyway) will give up in frustration. As one blogger summarized it: “The process involves uploading photos, cropping the heads (their connect-the-dots system is a bit tedious but overall not too time consuming) and inputting a few personalized terms into the text, like names of parents, siblings, favorite toys, etc.” Another blogger cautioned: “As soon as you’re finished, you get to see a proof copy of your book. Read it very carefully. I did not. Somehow I accidentally replaced the word sister with the word sleeping. One page reads, Daddy and Mommy hold the baby because my little baby sleeping is so little. Another says, I read my favorite book to my baby sleeping.”

Obviously, the kids loved the books. But what about the parents?

One blogger lauded the idea behind the books - “The concept is fantastic. Who doesn’t love the idea of his or her name and mug emblazoned across the printed page? My daughter certainly does.” - but suggested some improvements to the finished product - “The 5×7 size is a bit on the small side, and the pages, though relatively sturdy, are unlikely to stand the test of toddler time.” Other bloggers echoed the wish for a hardcover version. One commented that “After a few weeks, they really showed the wear and tear…I would have been happy to pay a bit more for a board book,” and another suggested, “I’d love to have the option of having a collection of them all bound together in hardback.” Finally, one blogger ran into a minor technical glitch: “The only hiccup I had in this whole process was my Flash player…I needed to uninstall and reinstall to be able to use the ImagiTales site.”

Regardless, the parents appreciated the two different reading levels that were available - “Each title comes in both a standard version and a beginner version. The latter is written by a speech-language pathologist for kids who have speech delays or for beginning readers.” - and noted that “Since the story is typeset using the personalized information, the fonts and spacing are as though the book were created just for that child.”

Overall, the ImagiTales books were a grand success with this first set of reviewers. As one blogger put it: “My daughter is far less critical than I am, and she enjoys her personalized books tremendously. I also created one as a birthday present for [my daughter's] four year old friend, and I know without a doubt that she will love it.” And a final blogger enthused: “ImagiTales is perhaps the coolest thing that my child has received in a long time…not only does it feature your child as the main character but they actually get to see their picture in action.”

We’ve got more reviews coming up, along with the Round-Up Review here on PBN!

Monday, 8/13 - Creature Bug
Tuesday, 8/14 - Mid-Campaign Post on PBN
Wednesday, 8/15 - Mom to the Screaming Masses
Thursday, 8/16 - Toddler Planet
Friday, 8/17 - Suburban Oblivion
Tuesday, 8/21 - Round-Up Review on PBN