Personalized Birthday Story
- Full sample story · 5 min
- One price: $9.99
- Read by our storyteller or in your own voice
A birthday is a long, loud, wonderful day, and by bedtime most children are still fizzing. A story that is all about them, read in a calm voice with the lights down low, is a lovely way to end it. Your child is the hero, their dog or favorite toy turns up, and the dedication tells them who the story is from.
It makes a thoughtful present from grandparents, aunts, uncles and godparents, especially the ones who live too far away to come to the party. The story arrives as an MP3 to keep and a page to print, so it can be played again next year, and the year after that. Listen to Lily's story below first, so you know exactly what you're giving.
Listen to a sample: Lily's story
This is a complete gift story, written for Lily (age 5) from Grandma and Grandpa, read in the same voice and style as the one you'll receive. Your child's story is written for them alone after you order.
Tap any sentence in the story to start reading from there. It stops at the end.
Lily and the Five Birthday Visitors
For Lily, on her fifth birthday, with love from Grandma and Grandpa.
Lily and the Five Birthday Visitors
It had been a very big day. Lily was five now, and five, everybody agreed, was a very good number. There had been strawberry pancakes for breakfast, a yellow cake with five yellow candles after lunch, and so much singing that Biscuit the dog had joined in and howled. Now the cake was back in its tin, the house was quiet, and Lily was in bed in her yellow pajamas, with Peanut the elephant tucked under one arm.
"Goodnight, birthday girl," said Mom, and switched off the big light. Lily closed her eyes. Then she opened one of them again. Somebody was scratching at the door.
It was Biscuit. He trotted in looking very pleased with himself, with something in his mouth, and dropped it on the bed. It was a sock. A big, gray, slightly chewed sock. "Is that a present?" whispered Lily. Biscuit thumped his tail. It was his best sock. It was also Dad's sock. "Thank you, Biscuit," said Lily, because you should always say thank you for a present, even a soggy one. Thump, thump, went the tail, and Lily was sure it meant: Happy birthday, Lily. You're five now. Five is a very good number.
The second visitor came tapping at the window. It was the wind. It couldn't come in, so it sent a song through the gap at the top, a low, soft hum, whoo-oo, whoo-oo, the kind of tune you can only hear when you are lying very still. Lily lay very still. "Happy birthday, Lily," hummed the wind. "You're five now. Five is a very good number."
The third visitor was the moon. It climbed up over the roof next door, round and yellow, which Lily thought was very kind of it, since yellow was her favorite color. It laid a stripe of soft light across her blanket, all the way down to her toes. "That's for you," said the moon. "A path, in case you want to go anywhere in your dreams. Happy birthday, Lily. You're five now. Five is a very good number."
The fourth visitor was so small that Lily almost missed it. A moth, as soft and brown as a cookie crumb, landed on the outside of the window and opened and closed its wings. Once, twice, three times, four times, five times. "Peanut," whispered Lily, "that's how moths say happy birthday. Five flutters, because I'm five." Peanut didn't argue. Elephants know a lot about birthdays.
"That's four," said Lily, and she counted them on her fingers. "Biscuit, the wind, the moon, the moth." She held up her thumb for number five and waited. Nobody came. The wind hummed. The moon shone. Biscuit had climbed onto the end of the bed and was snoring into Dad's sock. Lily waited, and waited, and her eyes grew heavy, as heavy as a warm blanket.
The fifth visitor came so quietly that Lily didn't hear it at all. It was Sleep. It tiptoed in on soft, slippered feet, sat down beside Peanut, and gave Lily the best present of the whole day: a long, warm dream. In the dream there were strawberry pancakes as big as umbrellas, and a yellow boat on a calm blue lake, and Grandma and Grandpa were in the boat, waving and calling her name.
"Happy birthday, Lily," whispered Sleep. "You're five now. Five is a very good number." But Lily didn't hear that either. She was already smiling, fast asleep.
Happy birthday, Lily. Sleep tight.
What you get
- The narrated story as an MP3 to keep: it plays on any phone and works on a Yoto Make Your Own card or a Toniebox Creative-Tonie.
- A printable keepsake page with the dedication and the whole story.
- Read by our British storyteller, or in your own voice if you record it once (only your own voice, with a separate consent step).
- For bilingual families: add a Chinese version with Mandarin narration at no extra cost.
Tell us about the child
One price, $9.99, paid once; no subscription. We write the story after you order and read it aloud; if writing or narrating fails, you aren't charged.
Personalized Birthday Story: common questions
- What exactly do I get?
- An original birthday story with the child as the hero, opening with your dedication and read aloud by our storyteller. You get the narrated MP3 to keep, which plays on any phone and can go onto a Yoto Make Your Own card or a Toniebox Creative-Tonie, and a printable keepsake page with the dedication and the story. Both are saved in your account.
- How long does it take?
- Usually a couple of minutes. As soon as you've paid, we write the story and record the narration, and it appears in your account when it's ready, so it's fine to order on the birthday itself. If the writing or the narration fails, you aren't charged.
- Can I hear it before I buy?
- Yes. Lily's story on this page is a complete birthday story, written in the same style and read in the same voice as the one you'll receive. Your own child's story is written only after you order, because it is made for them alone, so there's no preview of it, but the sample shows you exactly what to expect.
- Can it be a gift from grandparents who live far away?
- Yes, and it's one of the nicest ways to use it. Put their names in the "from" box and the dedication will say so. Once the story is ready, send the MP3 and the keepsake page to the child's parents, or play it over a video call at bedtime on the birthday.
Stories are written by AI from what you tell us and checked by moderation; narration is AI. Sample stories are our own.