A Personalized Christmas Book for Your Family's Christmas Eve

Why a personalized Christmas book becomes a tradition

Many families keep one special book for Christmas Eve: unwrapped after dinner, read in pajamas, then put away until next December. A personalized Christmas book fits that ritual well, because the child is the one walking through the snowy story, helping the reindeer or finding the lost present, with their own face and first name.

At Custom Picture Books, Christmas is one of the story subjects. You upload one clear photo, choose the age group, a lesson such as kindness or sharing, an illustration style and the language, and the book is written and illustrated for your child from scratch, with the help of AI. Cozy styles like watercolor, gouache or pencil and crayon suit a winter story, though a child who loves bold colors may prefer 3D animation or comic book.

Because it is made new each time, a custom Christmas book can also become a yearly tradition: a fresh story each December, written for the age your child is now. Over the years that becomes a small shelf of Christmases.

Ordering a personalized Christmas book in time

A printed hardcover is not made in advance and pulled off a shelf. Each one is printed after you have read and approved every page, so it pays to plan backwards from Christmas Eve.

1. Order the eBook first. It is ready in about 15 minutes and is the base of the printed book.
2. Leave yourself time to check it. You can rewrite the text of any page and ask for any picture to be redrawn. Most families want a quiet evening for this.
3. Allow for printing. Printing takes 3 to 10 working days. Count working days, not calendar days, and remember that public holidays fall in this season.
4. Add shipping for your country. Check the shipping time to your address before you order, and keep in mind that post and couriers are often busier in December.

There is no single cut-off date that works for everyone, because shipping depends on where you live. Add up the steps above for your country, then give yourself a margin on top. If you are ordering several books inside the EU, shipping is free from 2 hardcovers.

The hardcover is $44.99 plus shipping, with the eBook payment deducted. It is a large 8.3 x 11.7 in book with a durable, matte laminated cover. The details are on the pricing page.

The eBook as a last-minute Christmas gift

If December has already run away from you, the eBook ($7.99) is a genuine last-minute gift rather than a compromise. It is ready about 15 minutes after ordering, with 12 to 13 fully illustrated story pages plus a cover.

• Read it on a tablet by the tree on Christmas Eve.
• Share it by private link with family who will not be there in person.
• Download it as a PDF to keep.
• Order the hardcover in January as a keepsake for next year.

It is worth knowing that there is no free preview of the full book. Every book is created after the order, which is why the eBook is the small first step before any printing.

Grandparents and family in your custom Christmas book

Christmas is often the one time of year the whole family is together, so it makes sense to put them in the story. A book can have up to five characters in total, each from their own clear photo: siblings, grandparents, a pet or a favorite toy.

Ideas that work well

• Grandma and Grandpa, so the people from Christmas dinner are in the story too.
• A brother or sister sharing the adventure, so no child feels left out on the night.
• The family dog or cat, who often ends up with a starring moment of their own.
• A grandparent who lives far away, who gets to be part of Christmas Eve through the story.

If the grandparents speak another language, the book can be written in one of 25 languages, and there is an option to copy or translate a book, so a second version can go to their house too. For more on giving a book as a present from the wider family, see our personalized book gift guide.

Christmas story ideas by age

The age group decides how much text sits on each page, so choose it by how your child listens or reads.

• 0 to 2: 12 pages with 4 to 12 words each. Lights, snow, a present, a cuddle. Simple and rhythmic.
• 3 to 5: 20 to 35 words a page. A small mission, such as helping an elf find a missing present before morning.
• 6 to 9: 40 to 60 words a page. A real adventure with a problem to solve, like a sleigh that will not fly.
• 10 and up: 80 to 120 words a page, closer to a short chapter, with more room for humor and twists.

Our story ideas page has more subjects to choose from, and the guide to personalized books for kids explains the whole process step by step. Reading from the UK and looking for a personalised Christmas book? Our page on personalised children's books is written for you.

Hanukkah and other winter holidays

Not every family celebrates Christmas, and plenty celebrate more than one holiday. Hanukkah has its own story subject, so you can make a Hanukkah book with the same approach: your child as the hero, family as characters, and a lesson that fits the festival. The Holidays theme in the store has other celebrations from across the year as well.

The season also suits a few extras made from the book's illustrations: a greeting card that doubles as your family's holiday card, a canvas print for a child's room, or a coloring book for the slow days between the holidays. If a birthday falls in December, a birthday calendar made from the same pictures can carry the story into the new year.