Whim & Quill
Start a book
A child in a mustard coat walking hand in hand with a fox through a golden autumn wood, a paper kite trailing behind them

Personalised children’s books

A story where they are the hero — written and illustrated for them alone.

Tell us their name, what they love, and what should happen. We write the book, illustrate every page, and post you a hardback.

Start their bookRead one first

Free to write and read. Pay only when you want it printed.

Every page painted for one child.

Real pages from real books. Your child can be the hero, or an animal can — and they look like themselves on every page.

A boy in a red striped jumper reading aloud to a sheepdog on a mossy log

Theo read the whole page again,
because Bramble had not been listening.

A girl with copper-red hair holding a paper kite on a windy hilltop

The wind took it before she was ready.
It usually does.

A boy in a mustard bobble hat crouching by a frozen pond at dusk watching a heron

The heron stood so still
that Kai forgot to breathe.

A fox cub riding the arm of a yellow digger across a flooded clearing at golden hour

Up went the arm.
Up went the digger.

HOLD ON, PIP!

Choose how it should look.

The same child, drawn six ways. Pick one and the whole book is made in it — or describe a look of your own and we will work from that instead.

  • The same child illustrated in the Warm gouache style

    Warm gouache

    Soft painted shapes and visible paper.

  • The same child illustrated in the Painterly style

    Painterly

    Rich, lit, a little cinematic.

  • The same child illustrated in the Ink and wash style

    Ink and wash

    A confident line over loose watercolour.

  • The same child illustrated in the Soft crayon style

    Soft crayon

    Waxy and textured, drawn with real warmth.

  • The same child illustrated in the Cut paper style

    Cut paper

    Layered shapes with real edges.

  • The same child illustrated in the Modern flat style

    Modern flat

    Clean shapes, confident colour.

Or choose the world it happens in.

Some children want a bedtime story. Some want to be a superhero, or ride a dinosaur, or solve something in the rain. Their book can be either.

  • A child illustrated in the Dinosaur world style

    Dinosaur world

    Jungles, giants and enormous footprints.

  • A child illustrated in the Comic book hero style

    Comic book hero

    Capes, rooftops and a sky full of action.

  • A child illustrated in the Space adventure style

    Space adventure

    Rounded rockets and friendly robots.

  • A child illustrated in the Moonlit mystery style

    Moonlit mystery

    Rain, lamplight and a trail of footprints.

  • A child illustrated in the Saturday cartoon style

    Saturday cartoon

    Big eyes, springy poses, silly on purpose.

One

Tell us about them

Their name, their age, and the thing they carry round the house. A few questions rather than a form — and you can stop and come back.

Two

Meet the character

We design the hero and show you a few. Nothing is illustrated until you have said yes to the one you like.

Three

Read it, then print it

The book appears page by page. Read it through, change what you want, and order the hardback once it is right.

You meet the hero before the story starts.

We draw your character a few different ways and you choose the one that feels right — the hair, the coat, the face they will have for the whole book.

Nothing else is illustrated until you are happy with them. Change your mind afterwards and the other versions are still there, waiting.

A character design: a child in a red coat, crouching to look at a snail
Choose your hero, then meet them on every page.

Whose story shall we write?

It takes a few minutes, and you can read the whole thing before you decide to print it.

Start their book