$14.99
- 12 illustrated double-page spreads + cover and dedication
- Interactive page-flipping in your browser + downloadable PDF
- Text edits and illustration regeneration included
- Available in 30 languages
- Usually ready within 15 minutes
A made-to-measure book
"God has heard": a storybook made for Samuel
Samuel is an old name about being listened to. Here it becomes the name on the cover and the voice of the hero, whether he goes by Samuel, Sam or Sammy, in an illustrated story made from his own photo.
SAMUELand the Compass of the Golden Canyon
Here's how a book for Samuel could look
Pick a theme, upload a photo, and your child becomes the hero of the story — with their name on the cover and inside.
SAMUELand the Long Path at Dawn
SAMUELand the Rocket on the Silver Plain
SAMUELand the Basket of Sunset Apples
The covers above are samples — the illustrations were created by artificial intelligence and the children in them aren't real. Your book is made from the photo you upload.
Why a book with Samuel on the cover
Samuel is a name with a story already built into it. In the oldest telling, a boy called Samuel is woken in the night by a voice calling his name, and he gets up three times before he understands who is speaking. A name that began with a child being called is a natural fit for a book where the child is the one the story calls on.
It also sits well on a cover. Three syllables, SAM-yoo-el, give a title some weight, while the short form Sam keeps the inside pages quick and friendly. Many families use both: the full name for the cover and the dedication, Sam for the moments when the hero is climbing, running or whispering a plan to his rabbit. Because the story is written directly in English, either form lands naturally in the sentence instead of being pasted into a gap.
And Samuel is a name children tend to hear in full only on special occasions, at a school assembly or when they are in mild trouble. Seeing it printed on the front of a book that is entirely about him gives the long version a happier association.
The meaning gives you something to work with when you write the dedication. "God has heard" was a parent's answer to a long wait, and plenty of families choose Samuel for exactly that reason. A line at the front of the book explaining why he was given this name is the kind of thing a Samuel may only appreciate years later, when he pulls the book off the shelf as a teenager and reads it again.
Where the name Samuel comes from
Samuel comes from the Hebrew Shemu'el. The usual reading is "God has heard" or "heard by God"; another is "name of God". The first meaning is tied to the Bible story: Hannah, who had longed for a child, named her son Samuel because her prayer had been heard. He grew up to be a prophet and the last of the judges of Israel, the man who anointed the first kings. That makes it one of the few names whose meaning is itself a small story about a parent's hope.
In New Zealand the name has a long local history. Samuel Marsden preached what is remembered as the first Christian sermon in the country on Christmas Day 1814 at Oihi Bay in the Bay of Islands, and his name still turns up on schools and place names. In te reo Māori, Samuel is rendered as Hāmuera, a form that appears in the Māori Bible and on many family trees.
As a baby name, Samuel has rarely been the trend of the moment, and that is part of its appeal. It has stayed a familiar choice in New Zealand for generations, so a Samuel born today shares the name with grandfathers and classmates alike, and it never feels dated. Elsewhere it travels easily too: Samuel in English, French, German and Spanish, Samuele in Italian, Shmuel in modern Hebrew.
The spelling causes almost no trouble, which matters more than it seems for a child learning to write his own name. Samuel is spelt the way it sounds in New Zealand English, the middle syllable is the only one that can blur, and teachers rarely get it wrong on the first try. The one thing worth knowing is that Sam on its own is shared with Samantha and with Samson, so a boy who is only ever called Sam may be glad of the full name on the cover: it makes clear the book is about him and nobody else.
Sam, Sammy and other ways to say Samuel
- Samuel — The full name, for the cover, the dedication and the moments in the story when something important happens.
- Sam — By far the most common short form. Brisk and easy to shout across a playground or a canyon, and the form most Samuels answer to day to day.
- Sammy — The softer version for little ones and bedtime, often used by grandparents and older siblings.
- Sammo — A very Kiwi and Aussie twist, the kind of nickname a rugby coach or a best mate hands out.
- Hāmuera — The te reo Māori form of Samuel, used in some whānau as a second name or a nod to family history.
- Sami — A lighter spelling some families prefer, especially when the name is shared across languages.
How it works
How a book with your child's name comes to life.
Olivia
1
Create your hero and other characters
Upload one photo and it becomes a hero with your child's real likeness. Add up to 5 characters — siblings, friends, even a pet.
- A name, age and one photo
- Their real likeness in the illustrations
- Up to 5 characters: siblings, friends, a pet
2
Build the story and illustration style
Pick a ready-made plot from many worlds, or write your own. Choose the illustration style, the book's language and a dedication — you'll see a title suggestion and a story preview right away.
- Lots of worlds and plots — or write your own
- Choice of illustration style and language
- A personal dedication at the front
- Instant title suggestion and story preview
3
Get an e-book you can fine-tune
Ready within 15 minutes. Flip through the book online, fine-tune the texts, have any illustrations you pick regenerated, then view the e-book.
- Usually ready within 15 minutes
- Interactive page-flipping online
- Edit texts + regenerate illustrations
- Downloadable PDF + optional audiobook
And there's more
Get your book delivered to your door
Love it? Order a printed copy of your finished e-book anytime. We'll print it in full colour as an A4 hardcover and ship it right to your door.
A4 hardcoverOrder anytimeDelivered to your door
Print the book
E-book NZ$14.99 · printed NZ$69.99 + shipping
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Every book is made to order — you pay once, no subscription. Card payment via Stripe.
Audiobook
+ $5.99- Narrated by a professional voice
- Start it once you've finished editing the book — ready in a few minutes
- Listen right on the website, no downloads
- The printed book includes a QR code page for instant playback
- Add it at checkout or purchase it anytime later
Gift voucher
- Digital, printed, with an audiobook — or any combination
- Discounted bundles of 2, 3 or 5 books
- Valid for 3 years
- Delivered by email right after payment
All prices are final and include GST; shipping is added separately and you'll see it before you place your order. You only order the printed book once your digital book is finished — so you know exactly what you're printing.
Create a book today that they'll never forget.
Your digital book is usually ready within 15 minutes of ordering. The printed A4 hardcover ships straight to your door.
Create a bookReviews
Parents and kids who loved their book.
Over 1,700 books starring their very own hero
My daughters love the book! We read it every evening before bedtime. The story is so sweet and lovingly written, and the pictures are beautiful. My girls feel really special because their own name appears in the book. A great keepsake forever! Absolutely recommend. ❤️
We got the book as a birthday present and it turned out perfectly. The print quality pleasantly surprised me – hardcover, nice paper and illustrations printed in fine detail. The characters are drawn so well that my daughter recognized her sister, me, the giraffe and herself :) She really likes the story and now it’s her favourite book, we read it almost every evening. On top of that, it will remain a lovely keepsake that she’ll come back to even in a few years. I definitely recommend it.
The book was a gift… I’ll find out how happy it makes them… but it’s very beautiful
I have the books ready as a gift, so I’m already looking forward to handing them over
An absolutely stunning book made to order. It's not only a beautiful gift, but a keepsake for a lifetime. Our sons are thrilled. Not only did they find “themselves” in the book, but the whole story also takes place in their favourite place, which is the ice rink. The whole book is accompanied by wonderful pictures, and the dedication from us, the parents, is just the cherry on top. I warmly recommend it. Not only will all the “heroes of the book” be thrilled, but so will you, as soon as you see the book with your own eyes :)
Our daughter was absolutely thrilled, she looked through it several times in a row and declared that it's pretty, she hasn't had enough of it yet and we read it every day before bedtime.
The book is very beautiful, I would have welcomed more pages (for that price), the story is interesting, because my granddaughter loves animals and her cousins, but I have to wait until Christmas for her reaction
I got the book for a birthday and the princess wouldn’t put it down.
The book is very nice. The pictures look very nice, they're not blurry. The book really made us happy.
Very beautiful book, I always have trouble choosing in a bookshop, something bothers me about every one, or I can't find a theme I'd want.. here I can make up anything
A beautiful book that has its own unique magic! ❤️ The story is wonderfully done and the fact that your very own child becomes the main hero is absolutely amazing. My son was thrilled with the book and so was I. 🥰 A great idea, beautiful illustrations and a wonderful keepsake that we will happily come back to. I highly recommend it to all parents who want to make their children happy and give them the feeling that they are the heroes of their own story. ❤️📚
The book is wonderful! Exactly as I had dreamed it and designed it, a beautiful keepsake for my little son ♥️
🦉
FAQ
Questions parents ask.
Popular questions
Yes. You type the name exactly as you want it to appear, so the hero can be Samuel on the cover and Sam in the story, or Sam throughout if that is the only name he answers to.