A personalised book made from your child's photo

A template book starts with a pre-written story. Every child who orders that title gets the same plot, the same scenes and the same moral. The child’s name goes into the text, and sometimes their look is matched with an avatar builder (hair colour, skin tone, accessories).

The pictures are drawn once by illustrators, with placeholders (a name on a door, a jersey, a birthday cake) swapped in at print time. The result is polished and consistent, because the same book has been printed thousands of times before yours.

The big template services have years behind them. Wonderbly (from $64.99) says it has 10 million happy readers. Dinkleboo (from $33.99) focuses on price and uses avatars, not photos. Hooray Heroes ($69.99) sells hand-drawn pictures. Prices checked September 2026.

Template books are not low quality. Many are beautifully illustrated and well written. The limit is scope, not craft: the story was written to work for every child, so it was written for no child in particular.

A photo can now go into a template: Imagitime makes a character from one photo and places it in one of 16 fixed stories, and Story Bug has added photo upload to its template range. The face is theirs; the story is the same for every child.

A custom book goes further: the story is written from what you tell us about the child, their people, their pets and a real day. Paperlake asks about the child, then for a photo, and every picture is made from it. You read the whole story before you pay and can change any line.

No two custom books are the same, which is why the check matters: a person checks every page of a Paperlake book against the photo before it prints.

• Quick gifts. The book already exists, so a template goes out fast.
• Budget purchases. A Dinkleboo book from $33.99 is a solid gift for a classroom, a group of cousins or a stocking.
• A child who loves a specific title. Wonderbly’s Lost My Name has a following for good reason. If a child wants their own copy, the template is the product.
• The same book for several children. Templates keep the cost down. For custom, one book can hold up to 6 people, which may suit siblings better; see sibling books.

For many casual gifts, a good template is enough. Children light up when they see their name in a story.

• Milestone keepsakes. A naming day, a first birthday, an adoption. A book that could only exist for one child carries more weight, and parents keep it for decades.
• Something specific. A new sibling, starting school, a fear of the dark. A template has to work for every child; a custom book is about your child and their situation.
• The gift that surprises. Seeing their child’s face in a story about their own life is a different moment from seeing a name in a stock story.
• When the book is the main gift. As a side gift a template is fine. As the gift itself, custom feels considered.

Templates win on consistency: the same content has been printed and checked thousands of times, and you know what you’ll get because others already have it.

A custom book is new each time, so quality can vary between orders. The fix is a person who checks the words and the pictures before it prints. Ask any service two things: does a real person check every book before it prints, and can you see it and ask for changes before you pay? Paperlake does both.

Print quality (paper, binding, cover) is a separate question. Both kinds range from budget paperbacks to hardcovers, so check the product details.

Checked September 2026, template books run from $33.99 (Dinkleboo) to $69.99 (Hooray Heroes), with Wonderbly from $64.99. A photo in a template costs $79.99 for an Imagitime hardcover plus $9.99 delivery. A Paperlake book is $99 hardcover, $119 Keepsake, delivered, GST included.

Compare the delivered price, not the list price: delivery added at checkout changes the gap. And compare what you get for the occasion: for a party gift, a template is sensible; for a keepsake that could only exist for one child, custom is worth the difference. All the brands side by side: compare personalised books in Australia.

1. Imagitime Australia: A$64.99 paperback, A$79.99 hardcover, A$9.99 delivery, 16 fixed titles, 7 to 14 days (checked September 2026)
2. Wonderbly Australia: From A$64.99 (checked September 2026)
3. Hooray Heroes Australia: A$69.99, "shipped in 3 days" (checked September 2026)
4. Dinkleboo shipping and returns: From $33.99; dispatch in 1 to 3 business days, then 5 to 7 tracked (checked September 2026)
5. Story Bug: From $24.99, photo upload (checked September 2026)