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StoryTots Review
Oh Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy - July 7, 2009

<To me there is no better gift for a child than a book. My kids have always loved books and we've always had TONS (literally I think) books in our house. But the favorite books (aside from our VERY loved Bible) have been personalized books.

Recently I got a copy of "Catch those Monkeys" from StoryTots.com that we personalized for Bryan. I would have to say Bryan is the least patience of all my guys with being ale to actually sit through a whole book. But Bryan LOVES this book. I can't honestly say if he understands yet that he's IN this book But he loves the monkeys and all the balloons in it. In this book, one of the personalized things in their favorite color and while it seems like a small detail I think its one of the best parts for Bryan. He is drawn to anything red, so he's in LOVE with the red balloons in this book. You also personalize the character in the book to lok like the child, which is something probably more appreciated by older kids and parents, but I think its cool. We have other personalized books but all the illustrations are done from thier point of view so none of those are actually personalized.

A StoryTots.com book would be great for anyone but especially perfect for shower gifts or for a birthday present for the child who already has 'everything.' To make it extra special you can create a personal message at the begining of the book.

StoryTots.com also has some titles that can personalized to include 2 children.>

StoryTots.com helped me get through the day (a guest post by Dad-O)
MakesMomHappy.com -July 24, 2009

<Yesterday morning, The Happy Mom hopped a plane for a business trip and left me (the hubby) in charge of one baby, two dogs, and makesmomhappy.com. She’ll be back next week, but until then, here I am.

This is the first time the little one has been away from her mom overnight, so the name of the game has been keeping her busy or sleeping 24/7. Today while we were winding down for a nap after playing with blocks all morning, I had a chance to break out the book Catch Those Monkeys! from storytots.com.

On the website you can personalize one of their children’s books to include your kid’s name and cartoonified picture. You plug in some info (name, skin tone, hair color, etc.) and they make a book for you that incorporates your child into the text and artwork throughout. See how it works here.

A couple of the books let you do two personalized characters, which for you might mean a book about your two kids, but for me will be a book about my one kid hanging out with a six-year-old Slash from Guns N Roses.

Either way, the book we have is great. It looks every bit as polished and professional as any other kid book and our little one is woven through the story seamlessly.

I especially like that because I am terrible at making up stories and always do a crummy job making up stories starring my daughter. The other day I rocked her to sleep and told a story about her training a 100-pound rabbit how to lose weight by jogging. It’s as dull as it sounds.

But with Catch those Monkeys!, the story is great and my little girl is the star. She’s only ten months old, but has a blast pointing at the cartoon version of herself and squealing at those wacky monkeys (she loves monkeys. and wackiness).

Anyway, I’m a big fan and the website is definitely worth checking out. I plan to get a lot of use out of our book by the time Amy is back in town. Wish me luck!>

Your Kid is the Main Character in Story Tots!
Go Graham Go - July 15, 2009

<How many children's books do you read in one day? Honestly, we read only about 2...over and over and over again! We do change things up every once in a while, but Graham keeps going back to the same fan favorites. There's a new favorite that has been added to his list. Catch Those Monkeys! is an adorable book starring...Graham!

Story Tots is a creative site where you can select your book title and then incorporate your own child. Once you have selected your story, you can then select your character. Personalize by gender, hair style, hair color, skin tone, and add freckles or glasses. Graham's name is written 11 times in this story. It really is a fun process knowing you are creating a book that will make your child smile! Story Tots makes a perfect birthday gift because you can personalize the front cover with a special message.

Storytots Personalized Children’s Books
MoodyMamaSays.com - June 24, 2009

<I received the Catch Those Monkeys book personalized for my two sons. This book is a softcover, 8.5″ x 8.5″, 26 page book in full color. The colors are bright and vibrant and really caught my son’s eyes.  I went online and designed their characters myself. The process was super easy and only took a few minutes. You can customize their skin tone, hair, facial features, and even add glasses and/or freckles! I loved creating this special book for my boys. I even had a custom dedication to them printed right inside the book. My boys love their book and it has quickly became one of their favorites.

Storytots currently has five different stories that you can personalize. You can choose one character or there are two stories where you can personalize two characters. You can go online and see previews of the inside of the books and also play with the character creator. Storytots also has gift certificates available for a special gift. The books themselves would make perfect gifts for that special child in your life. These books are something that your children will treasure forever!

Buy It: The books cost $25.95 each and can be purchased here.>

Story Tots
Crunchy Green Mom - July 8, 2009

<We all try to be good Mom’s.

We feed our kids great food, give them baths, sing silly songs and read to them.

Sometimes, good deeds bring very harsh reality.

That the same book, over… and over… and over can breed… insanity.

I can not tell you how many times I have said. “Go Dog Go” or “Emmy said: Let go get some dandelions”… I need something different, and so do my daughters.

Storytots was the answer. I pulled the book out of the packaging and was instantly in love. The book is sturdy and fun, with bright colors, beautifully illustrated pictures and a little girl that looked just like Issa.

And more importantly… it has her name in it.

I couldn’t wait for the next bath time and snuggle in the chair, hair was combed, jammies wrapped around clean bodies that smelled like oranges. We all cuddled up and opened the book with anticipation.

I loved how their eyes lit up when I said “Issa” the first time. They both looked at me and waited for me to say it again. Pretty soon they were pointing out monkeys and yelling out names of other people in the story. It was an interactive reading night instead of just fighting me to turn the page.

Issa now calls it her “Issa Monkey” book.

I can tell you that this holiday season I will be purchasing at least three of these books and one gift certificate.

Yes, I said it, gift certificate. This will be for my best friend’s son, he will be getting one of these delightful gifts and his parents will get to make it for him! What a cool present all the way around.

Another wonderful fact about these books, they are created by a talented MOMpreneur located here in Colorado! Just makes me all warm and fuzzy helping out another local mom.>

Story Tots Review
Celebrate Life With Bargains - June 29, 2009

<My Review:
Well, my daughter being the AVID monkey lover that she is, well I was able to get the Catch Those Monkey's Book for her. She loved the book! She loved how she was the main character in the book and most of all, it will be a great book to stick away into the memory box for her own children to read when that time comes.

I was impressed with the quality of the book. It was made as well if not better than some of the books that you see sitting on the store shelves. The time from production to delivery was super awesome! I never expected it to come to my doorstep as quickly as what it did, but it was there in less than 10 days! I already know what I am doing this year for Christmas, books for everyone I know!>

StoryTots Book Review
www.toddlercraft.net - June 25, 2009

<I recently had the pleasure of reading Catch those Monkeys by Jessica Ziegler of
Story Tots.  It was an entertaining book about a little mischivous monkey who loves balloons and a hero who saves the day.  The book also has adorable illustrations.  But, what made it even better was that it featured both my son and daughter in the book!  All of Jessica’s books at story tots can be personalized by name and you can design the characters so that they look like your son and daughter.  There are even a couple that you can customize for 2 children! I chose Catch those Monkeys and it had the option of having two personalized characters.

When ordering the book you first choose if you want the character to be a boy or girl.  Then you are able to choose from  various hair color, styles, skin tone and you can even choose to add freckles and glasses.  Then you put in your child’s name and you are done!  It takes about 2 weeks to get the books.  There are 5 stories to choose from.

When I first showed the book to my kids and showed them who the heros of the story were they were really excited.  They couldn’t wait to get started.  My daughter was beside herself and kept saying “so is that me?!” pointing to her character.  Throughout the book she would say “that’s me, I thought of that idea !” meaning the heros idea to save the day!  It is so much fun to see her reaction.  These books are great gifts for kids!

StoryTot’s also has a newsletter that has:

• Fun projects
• Holiday and party ideas
• Plus the latest StoryTots news and announcements

You know how I love that!!>

StoryTots Review
My Four Monkeys - June 11, 2009

<We've all seen the personalized storybooks and drooled, knowing that one of these unique and original books would be the ultimate gift for any child. I know personally, with my children's great love for books, that a customized book with their name in it would be a hit. Jessica Ziegler of StoryTots.com takes this idea even one step further. As the author and illustrator of her original line of books, she not only features your child as the hero of their very own story, but she customizes the illustrations so the child in the story looks like your child!

We were given the opportunity to review StoryTots' Catch Those Monkeys! storybook. I thought the title was appropriate for My Four Monkeys, don't you think? Kylie and John David were the heroes of this story, and just as I had imagined, the looks on their faces was pure delight on not only seeing their names in the story, but them as well. The 26 page, full color, 8.5 x 8.5, soft cover book is one of two StoryTots stories that are available to customize for two children. There are also 5 stories available to feature just one child. When ordering, you select gender, skin tone, hair style and color, and can even add freckles and/or glasses. Then Jessica creates your child's own little cartoon version of themsleves. You can also add a personalized dedication to be printed at the beginning of the book. Working with Jessica was a delight, and the books are at your door in about two weeks! These would be great gifts, and at an affordable price you could do two for best friends, cousins, or siblings! Huge thumbs up from us!>

<One thing that I do different than most people is that I love to deem my children with odd names. For instance my daughter who just graduated highschool has the name of Krystina. Yes, every one has trouble spelling it and we can never find it on any personalied items that are available at gift shops. When my daughter deemed the name of Katelynn on my granddaughter I had no idea that she would have such trouble finding personalized items for her as well. You see we name our child great names (we think) that are not like any other name. This leads to lots of problems such as misspelling as well as never being able to find their name in print. However, that has all changed with great groups such as Story Tots. YEAH!!!!!!!

Story Tots allows your child to be the main character in their very own story book. Imagine reading about your child as a princess as we did, as the hero, or the super figure. These books are great and help build self esteem in the little ones. Building self esteem in any fashion can be quite hard to do because growing up is often hard to do. So why not start early while they are still little by creating a book where they are the featured star allows them to be proud of theirself. Story Tots books are great gifts for birthdays, holidays or just for a special prize for doing something great.

Reading is a building fundamental and if the book is entertaining then reading becomes something that the child wants to do. Can you imagine your child reading about him or her self? well I can I see them getting so into the book that they truly enjoying it. I need to tell you a little story about my son who is a big football player and when we received the book for my granddaughter. I showed it to him and we began a rather different but great conversation. You see my son helped me develop the character. One of the great things about the wonderful Story Tots company is that they allow you the consumer to create the character based on some established looks. So when we saw the little girl that we designed in the Story Tots book he was very pleased. Then just to show him what the book sounded like with our granddaughter as the main character he loved it. We ended up reading the entire book. In my opinion if the book held a junior in highschool attention then a child reading about their self will love it and spend the time to read it. >

Story Tots will make your kid the leading character of his/her favourite bedtime story
Fab Mums - May 19, 2009

<Kids are imagination driven and love nothing more than being involved in a fantastical story; imagine your little one’s surprise when the central character of the next bedtime story it happens to be him/her.

At Story Tots they do just that, they create personalised stories with your little tot as the main character. Not only by name but also by looks, in fact when you order you are asked to give indications of your boy or girl’s features such as hair colour and style, skin tone with the option to add glasses and freckles.

Story Tots is a mompreneur company created by Jessica Ziegler, author and Illustrator of these great stories that make a special gift for your special someone.

Choose from a variety of stories: Catch Those Monkeys, Super Suction Man and The Princess Crown. I personally like the Dinosaur Circus where the main character is the ringmaster, but then all of you faithful readers know my son is dinosaur crazy right now. >

Personalize a Book With Your Child from Story Tots
MileHighMamas.com, May 9, 2009

<It’s official: Colorado is the Mecca for talented MOMpreneurs.

My interactions with Denver mama Jessica Ziegler confirmed this. She has launched Story Tots, a line of super-personalized children’s books she has written and illustrated. And as the daughter of famed New Yorker cartoonist Jack Ziegler, she knows writing…and illustration.

It is my daughter Hadley’s birthday this month and I sat down with her to create her book online. She was delighted to be the heroine of her own fairytale. We submitted her choices on the Web site and after just a couple of weeks, I received the finished product in the mail. I will surprise her with it during her birthday party.

What I like about Story Tots: it transcends the usual name-only customization and we were able to create everything from her heroine’s hair color, to glasses, to freckles. You can currently choose from five different stories: Catch Those Monkeys!, The Princess Crown, Dinosaur Circus, The Dragon of Snoobledoob and Super Suction Man and the Troublesome Dust Bunnies.

After leaving the professional world of web design, marketing and Illustration for the wilds of stay-at-home motherhood, Jessica discovered how much her son loved hearing stories that involved him. “Though there are other books on the market that can be personalized they tend to only go so far as a child’s name or a single photograph,” says Jessica. “I wanted to give children an illustrated character that had their likeness and truly reflected the character’s journey through the story.”>

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