My Christmas Adventure by Manimal Tales
[Ad-gifted] The countdown to Christmas is especially magical when you have a four-year-old daughter. We are all big readers in our house and Jemma adores story time. We love buying seasonal-themed books that help us to get into the spirit of things, and Christmastime is no exception!
Today we will be featuring My Christmas Adventure by Sue Donhym and illustrated by Mithila Ananth. Aimed at children aged between three and eight, it is a wonderful story for any child who loves a bit of adventure.
Published by Manimal Tales, My Christmas Adventure is a charming children’s story featuring Jingles the elf, Santa, and the Grrrimp, and of course starring your child!
Jingles the elf has come to check if Jemma has been naughty or nice. But he leaves a window open and the Grrrimp (a very grumpy imp who hates all things Christmas) comes into the house. Now the Grrrimp is destroying all things Christmas. With a little festive magic and help from Jingles, Jemma must save the day!
What I thought of the book
This was my first time ordering a personalised book, so I don’t have anything to compare it to, but I was impressed with just how much I was able to customise the book for Jemma. There are 12 child avatars to choose from – boys and girls with varying skin and hair colours, and different hair styles too. And I was able to add Jemma’s full name and our home town.
I opted for the hardback cover, which is high-quality and hopefully means that the book will withstand being read over and over again for years to come! You can choose a picture book with no personalised photos, but I would highly recommend spending the time searching through your photos to source ones that are perfect for the story.
You can do this on your phone, but (top tip) I found the website easier to navigate on my laptop. There are six opportunities to add photos of your child, I found it simpler to work out which photos I wanted to use first and have them ready to upload. Sourcing the photos of Jemma’s ‘nice’ and ‘naughty’ sides was particularly fun!
The length of the story is just right and kept Jemma entertained, it’s quite detailed so there was lots of different things for her to spot each time we read it.
I would definitely opt for another personalised book from Manimal Tales.
What my four-year-old daughter thought of My Christmas Adventure
Witnessing Jemma realise that she was the star of the book was pure magic! She loved seeing the photos of herself in the story and hearing how she was the hero who had to help save Christmas.
An element of the story does focus on whether Jemma should be on Santa’s naughty or nice list, Jemma seemed a little concerned about this at first but reassured me that “it was only pretend” and that it was “just a story”!
On a serious note, the message of the story is that most people are both, and it gives you the opportunity to talk about how we shouldn’t put labels on people.
In the book, the Grrrimp rips up the Booker family Christmas card (another of the opportunities to add a personalised photo), and Jemma’s face lit up seeing a family photo I had used of all of us on a trip to see Father Christmas the year before.
Four is a lovely age for children to properly understand what Christmas is all about and Jemma is already getting exciting for the festive season. I think this book will continue to be a firm favourite throughout the build up to Christmas, and hopefully for many Christmases to come.
Where can you buy My Christmas Adventure
You can buy it from Manimal Tales and it costs £25 for the softcover and £31 for the hardcover.
About Manimal Tales
The people behind Manimal Tales believe that every child should be the hero of their own story! Which is why it publishes beautifully illustrated personalised books. From birthday books to new baby tales, and from bedtime stories to ABC books, the publisher has custom books for all occasions.
About the Book
Title: My Christmas Adventure
Author/ Illustrator: Sue Donhym/ Mithila Ananth
Publisher: Manimal Tales
Dimensions: 8-inches by 11-inches
Pages: 38
Review by Danielle Booker
You may also want to review this:
Christmas Gift Guide – Book Gift Ideas for Kids
Christmas Gift Guide – Book Gift Ideas for Teens and Young Adults
Children’s Book Review: Clara Claus Saves Christmas
* We were sent this book in return for a feature. All opinions are our own.
20 comments
I do love personalised books, they were never a thing when mine were little. But have got them for my grandaughters who loved seeing themselves in the story. This is one we have not had before so will look at getting them one each as they do love their books
Agree, these personalised books were never a thing when I was little too but glad they are now
You got me super excited about ordering a personalized book, I will do it now and gift it to the daughter of my best friend. Thank you so much for the amazing idea, I love it.
How lovely and you are welcome
This is so super cute! I LOVE personalized books for kids. They’re such a great way to get them excited about reading.
Absolutely, especially if you have reluctant readers
I remember having a personalised book when I was a kid and I loved it, I still think of it to this day. So this sounds like such a nice one, something she’ll be able to keep for a long time x
Agree, it makes a lovely keepsake for when she grows up
What a really cute idea for a child to see themselves in the book too.
I agree, perfect to encourage little ones reading too
I love the idea of a personalized book for children. I got all of my daughters something similar when they were in elementary school, and they thought it was the coolest thing ever.
I find younger kids relate more to the book if they can see themselves in it
I am so loving the sound of this book and personalized books for the kids are so cool! This is one I will have to check out for my niece as she would love having a book with her name in the title! I have to get one so thanks for the incredible review!
How lovely, I bet she will love the book Melissa
I have always loved giving personalized items as gifts. Love gifting books, too. That would be an awesome gift to give in my book, for sure. 🙂
Yes indeed, kids love to see themselves in books
We’ve ordered personalized books that have our kids name in it and a character that looks like them, but not a picture! That’s so much fun.
So glad you have, nothing like personalised books for little ones
I love the sound of My Christmas Adventure, my kids loved personalised story books when they were younger.
Such a fun book which my daughter loves and can relate to Jenny