Creating a personalized children's book

One of my favorite times of day is storytime with my daughter Maggie. It's part of her bedtime routine and is something she has grown to love. I've read to her since she was a newborn, even if she wasn't paying attention, and I loved watching her grow into books. First she started getting excited when she'd see me pull a book from the shelf. Then she would recognize and remember animals or characters in the books. Now, at a year old, she points to books she wants me to read.

So I was thrilled when I had the chance to create a personalized children's book for her. TwigTale ($20; twigtale.com) gives parents the opportunity to use their kids' photos in a variety of different books -- from the one I made, "Loved," to other themes such as babies' firsts, potty training, holidays, new sibling, learning to share, moving, starting school and more. It's basically a similar template to the photo books you can create on other websites, but what makes this different is the story is already written for you. All you have to do is change the names and details to make it specific to your little one. (See samples below from my book.)

I found it easy to put together once I selected the pictures I wanted in the book. The only issue I had was that some of the text was too specific (for example, kissing a boo-boo) which I didn't have. So I just chose pictures that were similar. And for the price and the amount of photos that are in the book, it is a great deal.

The best part? We read this book every night and now she points to the pictures when I ask "Where's Maggie?" or "Where's Mommy and Daddy?" Plus, this is something that she can hold onto as an adult and maybe even read to her kids.