**Wonderbly gifted me two personalised hard back books in return for an honest review
When it comes to books, people who know me will tell you that a) I’m crazy passionate about children reading (a quick search of the blog will show you exactly how much) and b) I’m a sucker for a personalised book. I remember receiving my first personalised book from my auntie at the age of five and the magical feeling it brought when it mentioned my name. Back then, they weren’t so popular. Nowadays, there is much more choice so deciding which one to go for can be difficult. However, Wonderbly always seems to crop up so if you’re here wondering if their personalised books are worth it? Read what we thought.
Wonderbly kindly sent me two of their books to review. As it’s close to Father’s Day, I opted for the Best Dad Ever book and then I chose The Little Boy Who Dared to Dream for my son. Both were sent as hardback books.
Ordering your Wonderbly Book
I loved the process of making the books online and it was so easy to navigate around the website. Once you have chosen your story, you are given numerous personalisation options depending on the book you choose.
For example, The Little Boy Who Dared to Dream allows you to change the character’s appearance and also add a name that becomes part of the story as it uses the letters to form the storyline.
For Best Dad Ever, every part of the book is personalised to the receiver as you choose the qualities that match that person and this forms the pages of the book. I love this as it was tailored exactly to my husband (more on this later). It gives you several options for the front cover too.
My favourite part was the dedication option which is available for both books. Wonderbly kindly put a default one in for you but you can edit this to one of your own which is a lovely touch and a great memory to look back on.
A final notable feature when making your book is that you can preview all of the pages before you buy it which I like as sometimes companies only show previews of the best parts. Doing it this way means you can see exactly what you are spending your money on.
First Impressions on Arrival
The books took around two weeks to arrive which is slightly longer than I would have expected ordinarily but given the current climate, I think this is a reasonable time frame. My first impressions of the books were extremely positive. They were excellent quality but what caught my eye the most was how eye-catching and vibrant the illustrations were. Little one agreed too as I’d barely got them out of the box before he was off with his.
The Little Boy Who Dared to Dream
The Little Boy Who Dared to Dream follows the reader on a magical adventure, helping others along the way. It tailors the story to the child’s name using each letter of their name to develop the storyline i.e. T for talented. Every page is full of beautiful, vivid illustrations and it uses the child’s name throughout, creating that magical, personalised feeling.
What I love most about the story is there are so many lessons to be learned as the story unfolds, such as not giving up and working together. At the end of the story, the child is reminded of what’s inside him which is featured as a rainbow in the book. This is such a nice touch!
Overall, we were so pleased with this book!
Best Dad Ever
Best Dad Ever is perfect as a Father’s Day gift! When you initially create the book, you choose the qualities that the reader possesses. For example, good cook, dependable, funny. These then become the pages of the book, appearing as different, detailed illustrations. It’s a lovely way to express what the father means to the child on Father’s Day!
At the end of the book, the qualities are summarised in a cute certificate which is signed by the sender/s.
All the way through the book, it is personalised with both the father and child[ren]’s name. My son absolutely loved this as it was his “special book” to his daddy (Note: It does ask for the first and surname of the father however I’ve chosen not to do this as our surname is private on the blog).
Final Thoughts
These personalised books have been my favourite to date. The quality of the pages and the illustrations were outstanding, and both my little one and husband loved receiving them.
In terms of price, they are a little pricier than your average book (from £21.99) however they are on par with other personalised books on the market. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for.
So are they worth it? In my eyes, yes!
To check out their books, visit Wonderbly – personalised books
