True Diversity: Fully Personalized Children’s Books Have Custom Family Members

Custom made children’s books are becoming more and more popular. Usually, you have the ability to insert your child’s name and choose from some options for the skin color of the main character. Jill Barletti is taking it a step further.

With Barletti’s books, not only is the name and design of the main character customizable, but so is the supporting cast. The friends and family of your child can be customized to mimic real life.  This can be a great feature for “nontraditional” families with options for multiracial parents, same-sex parents, and single parents. Barletti says:

“For me, it was important that the characters look like the child and the child’s family members. It’s not just putting your child’s name on it. It’s all about the kid. The kid has to identify with it.

The books also have bilingual options where you can choose two of the five choices: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French. The story has one language at the top of the page and another language at the bottom.

Barletti was a translator before she started self-publishing customizable books. She publishes under the name Snowflake Stories and sells through her website www.snowflakestories.com. On her website, you can customize your story before placing your order. Currently, the website is the only way to order a book because each book is so unique.

Source: Snowflake Stories

Source: Snowflake Stories

Barletti currently has one book available: Dance Recital, but another called Big Soccer Game will be available soon. Barletti is working on her third book which will be about baseball and facing fears.

According to her website, Barletti came up with the idea while on a family vacation. She was putting her niece and nephew to bed and couldn’t find a good bedtime story. She decided to make one up and used their names for the two characters.

“When the two heard their names and realized that they were the protagonists, a smile formed on their lips, and their eyes began to sparkle.”

Barletti’s books have already earned several awards, including a Moonbeam Children’s Book Award in the Spanish Language category and several awards from the Latino Book Awards.

What a cool idea!

YouTube Channel: Fairytales Bookstore

 

Featured image via Newstimes

h/t Newstimes

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