Celebs Love Customized Children's Gifts

Finding that perfect gift for your friend's new baby or your nephew's upcoming birthday might seem like an impossible task. With all the mass-produced toys in the world, how can you get something that is really special? How about a gift idea that many A-list celebrities love? It's customizable and is bound to be cherished for many years to come.

Personalized storybooks from I See Me! have become popular gifts among celebrities, including Courteney Cox, Brooke Shields and Jessica Alba. In the beautifully illustrated, award-winning book, "My Very Own Name," entertaining animals bring letters one by one to spell your child's first and last names in rhyme. Your child will see his or her name being created as the story progresses. "My Very Own Name" helps young children learn to recognize letters and spell their names, giving them a head start as they begin school. This personalized, hardcover storybook will quickly become an interactive and engaging way for children and adults to read and learn together and will be an often requested bedtime story.

For example, for a child named Tyler, the book might feature a tiger for the letter T, a yak for the letter Y, a lion for the letter L, and so on ... until the first and last names are spelled out by the animals in rhyme. At the end of the story, the animals celebrate because they've created the perfect name. As an added personal touch, this award-winning book includes the child's birth date, a printed dedication from the sender (so you'll always be remembered as the gift-giver!), and an illustrated encyclopedia of 61 animals.

Linda Schrankel of Shell Lake, Wis., has purchased several I See Me! books and has enjoyed each one. "Thank you so much for the beautiful books! They are wonderful. As a grandma giving them to my two young grandchildren for their first and second Christmases, I cried as I read them for the first time. You truly have made each name special! As a teacher, I am excited how the letters are used and how they fit each animal! I know these will be gifts that their mothers will cherish!" says Schrankel.

"I See Me! books were created after my husband and I received a customized book for a gift for our son," says Maia Haag, author of "My Very Own Name" and co-founder of the company along with her husband. "We thought there was an opportunity to create a much higher quality, more customized book. Each of our storybooks… is personal and special," adds Haag. "Response has been tremendous and I'm thrilled to have inspired something that is so meaningful to so many families."


To order your own I See Me! book and to see other gift ideas that are customizable for the special child in your life, visit www.iseeme.com. Copyright © 2008, ARAnet, Inc.