Personalized Books With a Free Preview: Prices
Which personalized children's book services show your child before you pay: example previews, book languages and prices.
Ordering a book that stars your child without seeing how they'll be drawn is a gamble. A few services let you see the result for free, before you pay. Here are the ones we found that draw from a photo, each with an example preview, the book's language and the price. The previews were made from photos of our Oliver and his family, which you can see on each picture. Booku is our service; we describe the others from their own sites.
This guide is also available in Russian, with more Russian-language services.
Prices checked 28 September 2026, Magical Children's Book and Lullaby re-checked 17 October. Updated 17 October 2026.
What a free preview shows
- A cover: Booku.
- A cover and a few pages: Lullaby (two pages).
- An example illustration, 1 page: Magic Story.
Booku
Languages: English, Russian, Ukrainian; other languages can be arranged for free. Price: €39.99 for the printed and digital book together (€6.99 for digital alone); delivery is extra. Styles: Realistic Watercolor, Picture-Book Watercolor, Digital Illustration, 3D Cartoon, Glossy Illustration, Realistic Photo. Free preview: the cover, with no card and no sign-up.
Magic Story
Languages: English. Printed books ship in the US only. Price: ≈ €40 for the printed book; there is no PDF. Styles: the site names none; its books are described as "Pixar-quality" and "cinematic". Free preview: free, in seconds, no card: an example illustration, 1 page.
Lullaby
Languages: English. Ships worldwide; the price is shown at checkout. Price: ≈ €13 for the digital book and ≈ €26 on top for print (from ≈ €40 in all). Styles: Stylized Realism, Pixar Adventure, Dreamy Watercolor, Bold Comic, Anime Fantasy, Claymation, Modern Minimalist. Free preview: your child as a cartoon character: the cover and two pages, and page 7 is free to read too. The rest unlocks with the full story for ≈ €13.
No free preview
Magical Children's Book (26 languages) has no free preview: you first buy the eBook for ≈ €7, and the ≈ €40 hardcover is paid on top. It claims ten styles; its examples page shows eight: 3D Animation, Watercolor, Geometric, Gouache, Storybook, Sticker Art, Comic Book and Kawaii. Wonderbly, Hooray Heroes, Librio, I See Me! and Dinkleboo show the whole book before you order, but with an avatar rather than your child.
Frequently asked questions
What is a free preview of a personalized book?
It lets you see how your child will be drawn before you pay: a cover, the first pages or a few spreads. A preview shows whether the hero looks like your child and whether you like the style.
What do free previews show?
It depends on the service. Booku shows the cover, Magic Story shows one example illustration, and Lullaby shows the cover and two pages.
Can I see the whole book before buying?
Not from the services on this list that draw from a photo: they show a cover or a few pages. Wonderbly, Hooray Heroes, Librio, I See Me! and Dinkleboo show the whole book before you order, but with an avatar instead of your child.
More on avatars, delivery and refunds in our full comparison of nine services. If you read Russian, the comparison of Russian-language services covers five more with free previews.
Create your free cover
Free cover · no card · no sign-up
