IlluStory Make Your Own Story Kit Reviews

• We love them!

  
  By AU8PR9XJ17CCB on 2003-10-16
  Our son has written 2 books with Illustory already! He loves seeing the words that he writes typed onto the pages (by the company) and the drawings he does come out beautifully printed on the book. He is so excited and proud of himself when he shows his friends, family and teacher his publications! The book even comes with an About-the-Author page just like real published books! Everything that you need to write and draw is provided in the kit and the instructions are very easy to follow. In just a few weeks you get back a real hardcover book! The experience was so terrific, we plan on having him write a book each year so he can see how much his writing changes year after year. And just as soon as his new baby sister is old enough, we'll start her writing books with Illustory too. The books are a great family keepsake. We love them
  
  

• Move over Harry Potter!

  
  By A1LEF9EM2DFDP2 on 2003-10-14
  Thank you for carrying this terrific product. My kids love to read and one day my son told me he wanted to write his own book someday. I saw this kit and thought I would give it to him to try. The process was simple. He wrote his story, added pictures and we dropped it in the mail in the postage paid envelope (which was great-by the way) that was included in the kit. My son actually forgot all about it and about 2 weeks later our mail carrier knocked at our front door with a package addressed to my son. I can't even describe the look on his face when he took out his book. He looked at every detail and couldn't wait to show everyone his masterpiece. He has written several books now and I enjoy seeing his progress unfold. I highly recommend this kit to any parent that has a child even remotely interested in reading or writing. What a value!
  
  

• Watch out -- only limited text is allowed!

  
  By A1ITRIM68VLZG3 on 2004-12-13
  Beware! -- this kit only allows 20 words per page and only contains 12 pages. I returned it because I wanted something where my 10-yr-old neice could write a short story.
  (I think this is why it's recommended for ages 5-9.)
  
  

• This kit is TERRIFIC!!

  
  By on 2003-10-14
  Quite simply this is the coolest toy I have ever purchased. My children love writing their stories and drawing their pictures and then having it all published in a real harback book with their words typed on the page. They are so proud of their books--they show them to everyone who comes to the house! The instructions were easy to follow and the quality of the finished book is exceptional! We do a new book every six months or so and order extra copies and give them to the grandparents. Our library is becoming quite large. It makes a neat birthday gift too. Thank you for making such a wonderful product.
  
  

• Too few words

  
  By A1L8URPOQMQC7W on 2007-07-13
  This is such a wonderful concept, but 20 words a page is too few, even for my five year old. It is very limiting to imagination and descriptive storytelling when you are constantly told, "Oh, sorry sweetie, that won't fit."
  
  Frustratingly, the kit promises an advanced option with unlimited words, but you have to use the computer for the whole thing. My five and six year old clearly want to make the drawings themselves!
  
  
• A fun and educational gift!
  By A1FPVUL053AKXO on 2001-12-14
  As a teacher, I had to buy this gift for my seven-year-old niece. She loved making her own book, and the finished product that they send you is very professional looking, like a book that you would purchase from a store. They even included some tips and activities to help children write their stories, including diagrams for pre-planning and brainstorming. My niece loves her book and shows it off to everyone - she even took it to school and got to read it at storytime. This is a great educational activity that really gets children to be creative, and they love it. Buy it for all of your favorite kids!
  
  
• This is fabulous!!
  By on 2004-07-14
  My daughter received this as a gift. She LOVED creating her story. We had lots of fun together with the planning and the layout and she really enjoyed being able to express her creativity so freely. When the final product, a hardbound copy of her story arrived, she was so excited. Now we read her story often and it is so neat to know that the words and illustrations are her own. We also bought this as a gift for my friend's son (his sixth birthday) and he loved it as well. My daughter recently asked me if we could get another kit so she can make another story. I definitely will get this for her again. It is a wonderful gift and also a great keepsake for years to come.
  
  
• best kids creativity item ever!
  By A1V1YJ67YRKFFS on 2005-09-27
  Illustory is really awesome! Last year we did it for the first time and it turned out so cute! We gave one for a gift and kept one. It is a little costly but worth it! Def. send in a pic of your little writer because that is so neat how they write "About the Author" and your little one's face is in the book just like a real author and they describe his or her likes or dislikes. This cost extra but really made the book. I def. recommend this. You will see how your child gets better at writing each year if you do it yearly like we are doing.
  
  
• Great!
  By ACJBJ30DMQ0RG on 2006-11-07
  We bought this for our 10 year old grandson last Christmas and he LOVED it. He is interested in animals and he wrote a book about 'dangerous' animals. He had a great time doing it. The finished product is great. His parents had another copy of the book printed by the seller and sent it to us as a gift. We will always cherish it!
  
  
• Buy this one at the store!
  By A266P4A2RCWUSF on 2006-11-18
  Amazon just raised the price on this within the last few days. Go to your local bookstore where it lists for $19.99. Awesome product, kids love it!
  
  
• The Perfect Gift
  By on 2004-06-29
  This is one of the greatest gifts my 5 year old daughter ever received. It kept her occupied for hours, not to mention the days when she likes to go back and read it. It was so interesting, that my 7 year old nephew helped her create the book. They drew a line down the middle of each page so they each had a side. Then they just created their masterpiece-no arguing-just sharing and imagining together. I now give this as a gift to anyone around the ages of 5-7 years.
  
  
• GREAT GIFT IDEA!
  By AXNOIMARQCT3M on 2004-11-10
  My 7 year old niece loved this gift. She made a book about her family with illustrations and everything. You can pay more to have an "about the author" page with a photo. And you have to pay more if you want the illustrations to look like a real book. The book she made was soooooo cute and she was extremely proud of it. She's turning 8 this year and she wants me to get her another one. That's why I'm on Amazon right now.
  
  
• Tremendous book for the budding artist
  By on 1999-06-26
  This an outstanding idea, and a great gift idea for the young artist in your family. You can make any book you want, comic, picture, or story book. Lots of choices, colors, and the printing costs for multiple copies is a real deal.
  
  
• EXTREMELY GREAT PRODUCT!
  By A20R67CABJH79P on 2004-12-06
  We ordered these for our children for last year's Christmas, it was about the best thing they've ever recieved! It challenged them to come up with their very own story, using thier imagination and when the books arrived, they were so proud! They gave a copy of their books to thier teachers at school and copies to thier Grandparents. We will be ordering more of these for the kids and also to have on hand for birthday parties, or other gift giving occasions involving kids. I highly recommend these.
  
  
• This is a treasured keepsake
  By A2V5INJFFRP7Z8 on 2000-02-03
  Get one of these kits for each of your children!They love to write their own stories, draw pictures and send it all in to receive a hard cover book that you (and they) will always treasure! My 5 yr. old is working on hers now!The quality and ease is excellent.
  
  
• Super fun, educational keepsake
  By A3DIHFJM45W8A8 on 2006-03-24
  I bought this kit for my 6 year old daughter. She couldn't wait to start drawing. She dictated the story for each page and drew extra "love notes" on the remaining pages, and even deticated it to her Nan Nan. We opted to add the "About the auther" with a photo! My daughter did get impatient waiting for the book to come back,.. but since Katrina the mail has been very unreliable. Finally, her package arrived and she LOVED it! We rushed it right over to her Nan Nan. It is a perfect little book, that will be cherished forever. I've already bought 2 more!!
  
  
• A fabulous idea!
  By A1ZO50XHPV0QPQ on 2003-12-13
  I bought this for my 8 year old niece last Christmas. It was a HUGE hit with her and everyone who has come in contact with her finished masterpiece. Everyone wants to know where I got it. This really helped my niece become more sure of herself and she now loves to write!
  
  
• Inspiring for Young Authors
  By AQJ2XVMHXGN9A on 2004-02-03
  We bought this for my son, who loves to write books of his own. When he received the finished version of this book, he was so proud and wanted to write more books. The finished product makes a great gift for grandparents and other loved ones. It also inspires a love of reading and writing in children. What a wonderful do-it-yourself project for children!!!
  
  
• Nice Finished Product. Perhaps A Bit Expensive
  By A3BL87QHIEQ1NE on 2006-02-21
  This is a nice idea, though basically they take the same paper that you draw on and bind it. We wanted more pages, and better quality paper than the thin paper they provide, but that cost us an additonal fee to upgrade when we sent the pages in. It did come out very nicely, and my 7 year old is very proud of her work. Overall we were happy, and unlike many other presents, this one was fun and left us with something she can show her friends and look back at later in life.
  
  
• AWESOME
  By A3DWA4FRL41NQD on 2004-12-05
  This was a gift to our 5 year old son for his birthday and the finished product is going under the Christmas tree for grandparents this year. What a wonderful and creative idea. My son had so much fun creating his story and we spent a lot of quality time together in the process.
  
  
• Love this product!
  By A3SA1F0NA8A4D on 2006-07-21
  My 7 year old received this as a Christmas present. She was so excited to write her own book, we added the about the Author page and she wrote and illustrated the story. We bought one book for our family and the second book we dedicated to her school teachers and gave it to the school on Teacher Appreciation Day with a note that we wanted the book to be placed in the library. Now all of my daughters friends and others can check the book out of the library and they love it!
  I highly recommend this as a gift to anyone.
  
  
• What a clever idea
  By A1M9RRD1IDBSBY on 2005-10-06
  My Granddaughter age 9 had so much fun making up her own story, she is still working on the art and then we will have it printed.
  
  
• Very Cool Keepsake
  By ACKBDJK26EPD3 on 2006-03-03
  Great idea! The bound book is sweet, not cheesy at all, nice quality. Makes a great gift for grandparents. My teenagers even enjoyed making them.
  
  
• Great idea for kids!
  By on 1998-06-10
  This product rewards any child's effort and will become a treasured family keepsake. IlluStory is a great way to get children excited about reading and writing.
  
  
• Great idea; watch out for the pages you submit w/ artwork
  By A15BNYG32NGGQ4 on 2006-02-07
  I would have rated this lower, but the idea is so great. My 7yo loves his book.
  
  Be careful w/ the pages you submit. We ordered two books and the first book contains the original submitted pages w/ artwork (except the cover which was scanned and reprinted on "glossy" paper). The 2nd book was, of course, all photocopied pages of the first.
  
  They simply take your submitted artwork pages and someone (or possibly an OCR), prints your submitted text just under your drawings; then binds the pages into the book, with the title page , dedication page, etc.
  
  Not as sturdy a book as I thought it should be, but as I said, my kid loves it, so that's what matters most.
  
  
• Wonderful product
  By A3DA0BTIGT3WG5 on 2006-03-15
  Wonderful product. We bought this as a gift for my son's 7th birthday as a fun incentive to get him a little writing and spelling practice. He loved to make his own books at home with computer paper and the stapler, so a real book was a huge hit. He thought this was great because it is a real bound book with his own words and pictures. His book will be a cherished keepsake and I'm sure it will be great fun to look at when he is grown.
  
  
• Pride in a Hardcover
  By A1T3I4JU36IPM5 on 2003-12-10
  My sister bought this book for my five-year-old daughter. I thought she was too young for it, so set it aside for about 6 months. While it took quite some time to lay out the story, it was worth every second. She really loves her book, took it to school and went to each of the classrooms to read it. One teacher called me and asked for the information so that she can do it with her entire first grade class. It's a great idea and was a great gift!
  
  
• Write and Illustrate for your grandchildren
  By A3JCI9LFFWORLS on 2007-01-11
  I know this is meant for children, but I decided to buy it for myself. I am writing stories about my childhood that I am sending to my grandchildren. It is a wonderful way for them to get to know a little about me and have something to keep to remember me by. I love it.
  
  
• Your little author will have a ball with this!
  By A24E2PTTDL084A on 2007-07-02
  My 8 year old daughter is not the princess/fairy/doll type of girl. She'd much prefer to write a short story, complete with her own illustrations. After having a few completed masterpieces sitting about the house, my daughter lamented that she wished she could have it published 'like a real book'. So my search began, and ended, with this product. She received it as a Christmas gift, and almost immediately began working on her story (titled 'I'm a Superhero!'). Following the simple, clear instructions in the package, we were able to send off our manuscript for publication. It did take a little bit to receive the completed product back; in fact, I even emailed the manufacturer to inquire about it as I was worried it may have gotten lost. Never fear, though, it arrived shortly afterward, and my daughter was thrilled with the hardcover book which she had written, illustrated and designed (by choosing the book color, fonts, etc.) I love the 'About the Author' page too, and it's so worth it get it printed with your child's picture. Imagine her face when she sees it! We even purchased a second one to give to her on her birthday, and this time we tried the internet option. The advantage here is that you can make the text of each page as long as you want, instead of the rather restrictive 20-word limit per page on the mail-in version. The drawback, though, is that the drawings will not have that kid-drew-it innocense since the illustrations are also made on the computer. Having done both versions, I think we'd stick with the internet version from now on, so she can write more and more complex stories as she gets older. For a child who loves to write and draw, what better gift could they receive than the ability to publish their very own hardcover book? Something that they - and you as the parent - will cherish for years to come!
  
  
• What a great product!
  By A35QGXS53T8GYM on 2006-02-23
  I can't say enough about Illustory! My daughter is 6 and in Kindergarten and loved to make stories on paper stapled together. So, Santa brought her an Illustory kit and we did it together as she can't write many of the words yet. So, she drew all the pictures and told me what she wanted to story to say. We got our book in the mail yesterday, and she was so thrilled to see her story bound like a real book! The quality was great, and it even had the dedicaton page and an "about the author" page with her picture (which I provided). We even ordered an extra copy for grandma with a dedication to her! I highly reccomend this kit!
  
  

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