Crewtales Make your book

Your crew, in one book

A hardback Christmas picture book where your family and your pet are the heroes. You see every page before we print it, and it arrives before Christmas or we refund you.

Make your book

From £34 · $49, delivered

The Robinson crew saves Christmas

Illustration of a family of four and their golden retriever in the snow outside their house on Christmas Eve

A Crewtales picture book

An open hardback picture book on a wooden floor beside a lit Christmas tree

32 pages, drawn for one family

Your crew gets a Christmas Eve adventure: the sleigh breaks down in your town, and only your family can get the presents delivered before morning.

Each person has their own moment in the story, the pet included. Your surname is on the cover, your hometown is on the signposts, and your own tradition, whether that is pancakes at dawn or a walk on the beach, is written into the last chapter.

Hardback with a matte laminated cover and thick silk pages, sized to be read aloud at bedtime and kept for the grandchildren.

The last page lights your names

On the final spread, every name in your crew is written across the night sky over your house. Type yours and see.

Ella Sam Mum Dad Biscuit

From your sofa to their stocking

  1. 1

    Tell us your crew

    Names, ages and who is who, up to five people and a pet. Add a photo of each person, or pick their hair, skin, eyes and glasses instead. About five minutes.

  2. 2

    Meet your characters, free

    We draw your crew and send you their portraits before you pay a penny. Not quite Grandad? Tell us and we redraw him.

  3. 3

    Approve every page

    After you order, you flick through the whole book on your phone. Change a name, a picture or a line. Nothing prints without your yes.

  4. 4

    Home by Christmas

    Printed in the UK or the USA, close to you, and tracked to your door in 5 to 10 working days.

Hands holding a phone showing an illustrated book page, beside a mug of hot chocolate
Your proof arrives as a flip-through on your phone.
A cardboard book parcel on a snowy doorstep by a green front door with a holly wreath
Then it comes to the door, in a rigid mailer.

Every family fits

Two mums, two dads, a grandmother raising her grandson, twins, a dad in a wheelchair, a step-family with three surnames. You tell us who your crew is, and the story is written around them.

Pronouns and roles are yours to choose, and nobody is left out of the pictures.

Illustration of five different families walking down a snowy street at dusk

From a photo, or a few choices

Upload a clear photo of each person and we turn them into storybook characters. Rather not share photos? Choose their looks and we draw them from your description.

Photos are kept private, never used to train anything, and deleted 30 days after your book arrives. Photos of children need a parent or guardian’s yes.

How we look after your photos
A storybook family of four and their golden retriever, drawn from a written description

A book for every Christmas Eve

Made to be read aloud on the sofa, the night before, year after year. The little ones grow, the book stays the same, and one day they read it to you.

Add a second copy for the grandparents with your own dedication on the first page.

A parent and two children in red pyjamas reading a picture book on the sofa by the Christmas tree

The guest list

Everyone the story can name, call by their own word, and draw in the pictures:

  • Mum
  • Dad
  • Mama
  • Papa
  • Nana
  • Grandad
  • Granny
  • Pops
  • the twins
  • the baby
  • big sister
  • little brother
  • Auntie
  • Uncle
  • the dog
  • the cat
  • a stepdad
  • two mums
  • two dads
  • a grandmother raising her grandson
  • whoever sits at your table

Before you start

Will it really arrive before Christmas?

Order by 13 December in the UK or December 7 in the USA with standard delivery, and approve your proof within 12 hours. If it still arrives late, we refund you in full and you keep the book when it comes.

What if a character doesn’t look right?

You see your crew’s portraits for free before you order, and every page again before printing. Ask for as many changes as you need; a person checks each one.

How many people can be in it?

Up to five people and one pet in each book. Bigger family? Make a second book for the cousins, or write to us and we’ll work it out.

Do I have to upload photos?

No. You can describe each person instead, choosing hair, skin tone, eyes, glasses, beard and more. Many families do it this way.

Who draws the pictures?

The illustrations are made with AI from your details or photos, in one consistent painted style, and then checked by us before you see them.

What if it arrives damaged?

Send us a photo and we reprint it free. For a mistake in the book that we made, the same.

All the questions and answers

Kindly reply by 13 December

That is the last day to order with standard delivery in the UK. In the USA, it is December 7.

Make your book

Your character preview is free and takes about five minutes.