All your questions, answered

Choose the book you want personalised from our catalog, click Create, and walk through the wizard — upload one clear front-facing photo of your child, enter their name and age, pick an illustration style, and complete checkout. Your personalised book is generated in about 3 minutes; we review every book for quality and email you the download link, usually the same day. The hardcover bundle ships in 5–7 business days.

Just three things: your child's name, age, and one clear photo. Optionally you can add interests (favourite colour, favourite animal, hobbies), a dedication message for the inside cover, and the gender of the hero. Everything else is handled by our AI — story, illustrations, layout, page count, all of it.

A clear, front-facing photo with good natural lighting works best — avoid sunglasses, hats covering the face, group shots, or blurry photos. JPG, PNG, or WebP formats are accepted, between 400 × 400 px and 6000 × 6000 px, up to 5 MB. One photo is all we need for the entire 15-scene book.

Currently a photo is required because the illustrated character is generated as a likeness of your child. If you prefer a name-only personalisation without photo, let us know at [email protected] — we may offer this as a future option, but for now the photo-based hero is the heart of what makes our books different.

Yes — once the book is generated you'll see a preview where you can edit any page text, regenerate any individual illustrated scene if it doesn't capture your child the way you'd like, and adjust the cover. Once you're happy, you can download the final PDF or proceed to order the hardcover.

Each book is personalised for one main hero, but you can place separate orders for each child. Many parents create one book per sibling so each child is the hero of their own story. Add supporting characters (siblings, parents, friends) on the create form and they'll appear alongside the main hero on appropriate pages.

About 3 minutes from order completion to digital PDF in your inbox. The AI generates the cover, then writes and illustrates all 15 illustrated scenes in parallel. You'll receive an email the moment your book is ready, and can preview, edit, or order the hardcover from there.

You'll receive an order confirmation email immediately, then a second email about 3 minutes later with your personalised digital PDF and a preview link. From the preview you can edit any page, regenerate any scene, or order the premium hardcover bundle. If you ordered the hardcover, it ships from Gelato within 1–2 business days and arrives in 5–7 business days (US/EU) or 10–14 business days (rest of world).

Every book is 15 illustrated scenes, plus a personalised cover and a dedication page (17 pages in the PDF). The 15-scene length is the sweet spot for a one-sitting bedtime read — long enough to feel magical, short enough to end before your child falls asleep mid-sentence. Vocabulary, sentence length, and pacing are all tuned to the age you select.

The hardcover is 28 × 28 cm (11 × 11 inches) — large square format, premium matte paper, durable hardcover binding, printed by Gelato's worldwide print-on-demand network. Built to live on the shelf for years and survive bedtime re-reads, blanket-fort campaigns, and the occasional buttery toddler hand.

Ages 1–10. Our AI tunes vocabulary, sentence length, story pacing, and themes to whatever exact age you select on the create form. Toddlers get gentler scenes with shorter sentences and simpler concepts, early readers get rhyming refrains and just-right vocabulary, and older kids get richer detail and harder challenges woven into the story.

Currently English. Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), French, German, Italian, and Turkish are on our 2026 roadmap — let us know which you'd like prioritised at [email protected]. Until additional languages launch, the wizard, story, and printed copy all use English.

Yes — every story is auto-validated for age-appropriate tone, vocabulary, and themes before delivery. We deliberately avoid scary content, sad endings, or anything that could worry a sensitive child. Pirates aren't violent, dragons aren't villains, monsters are friendly, and every adventure ends with a happy return home.

Yes — visit any book detail page to see the inside-spread previews and a sample story excerpt with our [Your Child's Name] placeholder showing exactly where personalisation lands in the actual book. Once you start the wizard, you'll see a personalised preview with your child's photo applied before you complete payment.

Yes — illustrations are generated by Google's Gemini 3.1 Flash Image model with your child's photo as a likeness reference. Story text is written by Anthropic's Claude. The combination of photo-based character, fresh story per book, and AI-illustrated spreads is what makes every MagineBook unique. No template art, no stock illustrations — every book is freshly drawn for the child it stars.

Yes — we ship hardcovers to over 100 countries through Gelato's worldwide print-on-demand network. Just enter your shipping address at checkout and we'll route the order to the closest print partner for fastest delivery. The digital PDF is available globally, no shipping needed.

Digital PDF is instant — about 3 minutes from order to inbox. Hardcover ships from Gelato's regional print partners and arrives within 5–7 business days in the US and EU and 10–14 business days for the rest of the world. Order at least a week ahead of birthday or gift dates to be safe; for last-minute gifts, the digital PDF is always instant.

Prices listed on our website don't include customs duties or import taxes. These charges may apply depending on your country's regulations and are the responsibility of the recipient. Most US, UK, and EU orders pass through customs without additional fees, but we recommend checking with your local customs office for orders to other regions if you're unsure.

Yes — once your hardcover ships, you'll receive a tracking email with a Gelato tracking link that works for all international carriers (UPS, DHL, USPS, Royal Mail, etc.) depending on your region. The digital PDF is delivered instantly via email and also accessible from your order page.

Hardcover printing is launching soon; when it opens, standard worldwide shipping will be included in the $49 bundle price. If you have a tight deadline, email [email protected] with your order number and the date you need it by and we'll do our best to help.

If your hardcover hasn't arrived within the expected window, contact us at [email protected] with your order number. We work with Gelato to investigate and either reprint and reship at no charge or issue a full refund — whichever you prefer. Lost-in-transit orders are 100% covered by us, never the customer.

Yes. Digital orders are fully refundable within 7 days of delivery if you're not satisfied with the result. Hardcover orders are fully refundable if your book hasn't been printed yet, and partially refundable (digital cost retained) if it's been printed but not yet shipped. Once the hardcover has been printed and shipped, we can't issue a refund for the printing cost — though we'll always replace damaged books.

You can preview, edit, and regenerate any individual scene before finalising. If you've already received the digital and aren't happy, contact [email protected] within 7 days — we'll either regenerate the whole book at no charge or refund you in full. Our goal is for every parent to love their child's book; we're not interested in keeping money from someone who didn't get what they wanted.

Use the regenerate button on the preview page to refresh any single scene. The AI will produce a fresh illustration with your child's photo applied. You can regenerate as many times as needed until you're happy — it doesn't cost extra. Our internal cost is tiny compared to keeping you satisfied with the final book.

Yes — for digital orders, you can edit text and regenerate scenes any time from your order page. For hardcover orders that have already shipped, we can't physically modify the printed book, but if you spot an issue with the digital version we'll regenerate it for free. Email [email protected] with details.

We'll reprint and reship at no charge. Send a photo of the damage to [email protected] along with your order number, and we'll get a replacement out within 1–2 business days. No need to return the damaged book — keep it or recycle it, your choice.

Yes — your child's privacy is non-negotiable. Photos are uploaded over HTTPS, used solely to generate the illustrated character for your book, and are never shared with third parties or used to train any AI model. Photos are automatically purged from our servers after 30 days. We don't post your child's image anywhere and we don't keep it longer than necessary.

Photos are retained for 30 days after order completion to support reprints, edits, and customer-service requests. After 30 days they're automatically deleted from our storage. If you'd like your photo deleted sooner, email [email protected] and we'll remove it within 24 hours.

No. Your child's photo is used only to generate the illustrations in your book, never to train AI models — ours or anyone else's. We don't sell, share, or license your photo or any data derived from it. Our terms of service spell this out explicitly.

Yes — email [email protected] with your order number and we'll delete your child's photo from our storage within 24 hours. Your printed book and digital PDF aren't affected; only the source photo is removed. Many parents do this once the book is delivered for additional peace of mind.

A clear, front-facing photo in good natural lighting, with no sunglasses or face-covering hats, gives the strongest likeness preservation (typically 75–85% identity match per parent feedback). Avoid blurry photos, group shots, photos taken at strong angles, and dim or backlit photos. The brighter and more straight-on the face, the better the illustrated hero.

Yes — many of our orders are gifts. You can have the hardcover shipped directly to the recipient with no MagineBook receipt enclosed (we ship plain packaging). The dedication page can carry a custom message from you, and the order confirmation email goes to your address so the recipient sees only the surprise.

Hardcovers ship in plain protective packaging (no receipt or pricing info inside). We don't currently offer wrapped gift presentation, but the book itself is a complete gift — your child's name on the cover, their face on every spread. The unwrapping moment is part of the experience.

Yes — every book includes a dedication page where you can add a custom message ("To Liam, love from Grandma & Grandpa" or whatever feels right). Add the dedication on the create form and it prints inside the book. Many of our most-cherished orders are bought by grandparents with their nicknames in the dedication.

Each book is personalised for one main hero, so you'll need a separate order per child. Many parents order siblings as separate purchases so each kid gets their own book where they're the hero. If you're ordering 3+ books for a family, email [email protected] — we can help coordinate shipping and may apply a small bundle adjustment.

Absolutely — many of our books are bought by grandparents, aunts, uncles, and family friends. Just enter the child's name, age, and photo on the create form, and add your own dedication message ("Love from Nana & Pop-Pop" or however you sign it). The book ships to whichever address you specify; the recipient sees only the gift, not the order details.

No — we deliver everything by email. Just provide your email at checkout and you'll receive your digital PDF, order confirmations, and tracking links. You can return to your order page any time using the magic-link emailed to you, no password needed.

Email [email protected] any time. We typically reply within 24 hours on business days, often much sooner. If you have an issue with a specific order, include the order number from your confirmation email — that lets us help you faster.

We accept all major credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover) through Stripe, plus Apple Pay and Google Pay where supported. Some regions also support Klarna or Afterpay. All payments are processed securely; we never see or store your card details.

Yes — if you want to order 10+ books for a school, library, daycare, gift programme, or corporate event, email [email protected] with details. We offer volume pricing and can coordinate bulk hardcover shipments, custom dedication messages per book, and other adjustments for larger orders.