Christening

On the day itself the baby understands none of it, and that is exactly the point of the gift: it is not for today, it is for the child who will ask, in a few years, who was actually there. A personalized christening gift turns that day into an illustrated book with their name on the cover and the people who came to meet them inside, drawn from their own photos.

What goes into the story

You do not need to fill a whole book. Four or five moments are already a story.

• Who chose the name, and why
• The godparents: what they promised to teach them
• The family who travelled to be there, and the neighbour who brought flowers
• The candle, the gown that belonged to somebody else first, the long lunch afterwards

Each moment becomes an illustrated page, with a dedication from you on the first one. You approve the text and every page before anything is printed, so the book comes out exactly as you intended.

From godparents, grandparents or the parents themselves

It is the classic gift from godparents, who tend to want something that outlasts a toy, but it works just as well from grandparents, or made by the parents to keep for themselves. In hardback it ends up on the shelf next to the first photographs, and it is still being read once the child can read it alone. If the christening is this weekend, the digital edition is ready in minutes and can be shown from a phone.

You can read a finished example first: The Traveling Candle, one candle passed from hand to hand and a promise from everyone who holds it. There are more in baptism stories, and the rest of the occasions to give a story.