Kids with Two Dads Become the Hero of Their Own Personalized Storybook
One photo of your child becomes the hero of a story where Dad and Papa are simply Dad and Papa: packing lunches, doing the voices at bedtime, cheering from the sidelines.
Create Your Book →From a real photo to a finished book, starring your child — in minutes.
See your child as the hero in 9 art styles
Every art style is drawn from one photo of your child — so the moment they open their book, they see themselves on every page.
Story themes made for them
Hand-picked story directions that resonate. Pick one, or write your own — every Akoni book is fully customizable.
Pancake Saturday
A weekend-morning story where the hero runs the kitchen and Dad and Papa are the sous-chefs who keep flipping things too early.
Start this story →Two Goodnight Kisses
A bedtime story where Dad reads, Papa turns the pages too slowly, and the hero has to get every stuffed animal tucked in before the lights go out.
Start this story →First Day, Two Waves
The hero's first day of school: a new cubby, a new friend, and Dad and Papa counting down the hours until pickup.
Start this story →Backyard Campout
A tent in the yard, a flashlight each, and a hero who leads Dad and Papa on a nighttime expedition to find the owl they can hear but not see.
Start this story →Kids with Two Dads Become the Hero of Their Own Personalized Storybook
One photo of your child becomes the hero of a story where Dad and Papa are simply Dad and Papa: packing lunches, doing the voices at bedtime, cheering from the sidelines.
Why children with two dads deserve to see their family on the page
Ask a child with two dads what their family is like and you will hear about the dog. Or the tree house. Or the fact that Papa always skips a page and thinks nobody notices. What you will not hear is anything about family structure, because at home there is nothing to explain. Home is home.
The bookshelf has not caught up. Most picture books that show two-dad families are about having two dads, written to reassure or to introduce. Those books have a place, but children do not want to be introduced. They want to be the astronaut, the dragon-tamer, the kid who finds the lost puppy, with both dads small and proud on the launch pad below. And in the wider world of picture books, the parents who show up on the page are still, overwhelmingly, a mom and a dad. Kids notice who gets to be the family in a story.
The texture of your life is worth putting on a page as it actually is. Dad and Papa. Daddy and Baba. Papi and Pops. The names your child uses at home are the ones that belong in their book. Two Father’s Day cards drying on the counter. Two dads at the school gate, one holding the forgotten water bottle. However your family came together, the story never has to explain it unless you want it to.
A book where all of that is simply the backdrop, and your child is the hero in the foreground, tells them the truest thing a story can: this is your family, and you are the main character.
What Akoni does differently for families with two dads
Most personalized books work from a menu: pick a skin tone, pick a hair swatch, type a name, and the same avatar appears in the story every other family got. Where two dads can be added at all, they are another pair of avatars from the same list.
Akoni Books starts with one photo of your child. The illustrator studies that photo, then draws your child as the hero on every page: their real face, their real hair, whether that is curls, a fade, braids or a cowlick, and their real skin tone, held consistent from the cover to the last page. The photo is used only to illustrate the book and is deleted within 24 hours. You choose from nine art styles: Whimsical Watercolor, Bold Cartoon, Soft Pastel, Anime / Ghibli, Modern Flat, Pixel Art, Retro Golden Book, 3D Cinematic and Paper-Cut Collage.
Dad and Papa enter the story the way everyone else in your child’s world does: in your own words. On the create page, open Deeper customization and use Include in the Story to describe them. “Dad is tall with a red beard and glasses. Papa has short dark curls and wears a blue baseball cap.” The illustrator draws them from that description, with the names you actually use at home. Only the hero is drawn from a photo, and there is one hero per book, so the story stays firmly about your child. Siblings, a grandmother, the cat: name them there and they show up too.
The story itself is written for your child’s name, age and interests. Choose a theme, add a lesson or a setting if you like, and a story for a four-year-old who loves trucks reads nothing like one for a nine-year-old who wants to build a rocket.
A keepsake for Father’s Day, adoption day, and every ordinary bedtime
Some books get read once. This one gets requested. The night your child hears Papa read a story in which Papa is a character, doing the thing Papa actually does, is the night the book moves to the permanent stack by the bed.
It also solves a few gift problems families with two dads know well. Father’s Day means one present that has to work twice, and a book where both dads are on the page, given by the child on the cover, is the one nobody else can buy. Adoption day or the anniversary of the day your family became a family gets a story instead of a speech. Grandparents can order it, have the dedication signed “From Grandma and Grandpa”, and ship it straight to your door.
Every book has 16 illustrated story pages plus bonus pages: an activity page, discussion questions, a certificate, a coloring page and fun facts. There is a dedication page written for your child and signed from whoever you choose. Every order also includes the Hero Pack, free printables starring your child: coloring pages, wall art, stickers, bookmarks and more.
The digital PDF is $9.99 and is ready in minutes after purchase. The softcover is $29.99 and the hardcover is $39.99, both 8” × 8” squares printed locally by Gelato; printed books ship in 5–7 business days with shipping included. Three hardcovers, one for home and two to give, are $99. A bilingual edition in English and Spanish, French, Portuguese or Mandarin is $10 more on any format. If your child does not light up when they see themselves in the book, email us within 30 days of delivery and we refund you in full, and they keep the book.
Frequently asked questions
Are there personalized children's books that show a family with two dads?
Yes. Akoni Books makes personalized storybooks where your child is the illustrated hero and Dad and Papa, or whatever you call yourselves at home, appear on the page as part of the story. The book is written for your child's name, age and interests, for ages 2 to 10, around everyday themes like bedtime, a first day of school or a birthday, so your family is simply the family in the story, not the subject of it.
How is my child's likeness drawn in the book?
You upload one clear photo of your child. The illustrator draws them from that photo in your chosen art style, keeping their face, hair texture and skin tone consistent on every page. You see a free preview of the cover and opening pages in a few minutes, before you pay, so you can check the likeness. The photo is never shared or used to train AI models, and it is deleted within 24 hours.
Do I need to upload photos of both dads too?
No. Only the hero is drawn from a photo, and there is one hero per book. Parents, siblings, grandparents and pets are illustrated from the description you give under Deeper customization when you create the book, such as "Papa is tall with a gray beard, Daddy has locs and glasses." Use the names your child actually says, and those are the names that appear on the page.
How much is a personalized book, and what's included?
A digital PDF is $9.99 and is ready in minutes. A softcover is $29.99 and a hardcover is $39.99; both are 8" × 8", ship in 5–7 business days, and include shipping. Three hardcovers are $99, and a bilingual edition in Spanish, French, Portuguese or Mandarin adds $10. Every book has 16 illustrated story pages, bonus activity pages, a dedication page and the free Hero Pack of printables, and every Akoni Books order comes with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.
Does the story have to be about having two dads?
No. You can choose an ordinary adventure, a bedtime story, a birthday or a first day of school, and Dad and Papa are simply there as the parents, tying shoes or finding the missing sock, with nothing to explain. If you would like the story to mark something, an adoption day or a family anniversary, you can add that as the setting or lesson when you create the book, and it stays your child's story either way.