The Child in Your Care Becomes the Hero of Their Own Storybook

A book made for one child, with their name on the cover and their face on every page — theirs to keep, in every home and every chapter. For foster parents, kinship grandparents, aunties, caseworkers and everyone who shows up.

Why a book that is truly theirs matters in care

A child who enters foster or kinship care usually arrives with a small bag and a few things that matter out of all proportion to their size: a stuffed rabbit, a pair of light-up sneakers, a name written on a lunchbox lid. Caregivers learn quickly that the question “which things are mine?” sits close to the surface for a child whose address has changed.

A book made for one child answers that question plainly. It is theirs. It was not handed down or borrowed from the shelf in the living room, and it does not belong to the house. It goes in the bag, wherever the bag goes next.

Mainstream children’s books also rarely show what care actually looks like: a grandmother raising a seven-year-old again at seventy, an auntie by love rather than by blood, a foster dad who has learned every bus route to the visitation center, a caseworker who visits on Tuesdays and always brings a sticker. Those are the ordinary rhythms of so many homes, and children in them almost never get to see a hero whose life is shaped the same way. A personalized storybook lets you name those people and put them alongside the child, without a single page that pretends to know how their story will end.

That last part matters. The adults around a child in care have to be honest about what they can promise. A book that says you are the hero here, right now is a promise every caregiver can keep.

What Akoni does differently for foster and kinship families

Akoni Books starts with one photo of the child. Caregivers often do not have many; one clear photo, even one you take on your phone today, is enough. The illustrator draws the child from it, face, hair and skin, and keeps them consistent on every page in the art style you choose. Before you pay, you see a free preview of the cover and the opening pages, so you can check the likeness first. The photo is deleted within 24 hours; it is used only to illustrate the book, never shared and never used to train AI models. If your agency has rules about a child’s photo, check them before you upload.

When a caregiver and child do not share the same features, you do not have to find the words for a texture or a shade; the photo carries it. Coils, braids, a fresh fade, freckles, glasses, a gap-toothed grin: what is in the photo is what appears in the story. There are nine art styles — Whimsical Watercolor, Bold Cartoon, Soft Pastel, Anime / Ghibli, Modern Flat, Pixel Art, Retro Golden Book, 3D Cinematic and Paper-Cut Collage — so a nine-year-old can have something that looks like a game and a three-year-old something soft.

The people around the child enter the story by name, not by photo. Each book has one hero. On the create page, open Deeper customization and use Include in the Story to name everyone else — Grandma Jo, Auntie Marisol, the foster brother who shares the bunk bed, Mr. Daniels from the agency, the dog — and they are written into the story and illustrated from your description. Some families keep it simple and let the child ride a dragon alone. That is a fine book too.

A keepsake that goes where the child goes

Every book has a bookplate and a dedication page, and for a child in care those two pages may end up meaning more than the story. The bookplate says whose book this is. The dedication is written for the child by the story writer and signed from whoever you choose — “From Grandma”, “From Auntie Marisol”, “From everyone at the Tuesday table” — so the name that matters is there in print, wherever the book is read next.

Every order includes the Hero Pack: printable coloring pages, wall art, a certificate, stickers and bookmarks starring the child. Wall art with their face on it goes up in a new bedroom in five minutes and makes the room feel like theirs. Coloring pages are useful on a caseworker’s visit or a long drive to a family visit.

The digital PDF is $9.99 and is ready in minutes after purchase. The softcover is $29.99 and the hardcover $39.99, both 8” × 8”, and printed books ship in 5–7 business days with shipping included. A bilingual edition — English paired with Spanish, French, Portuguese or Mandarin Chinese on every spread — is $10 more on any format, for a child whose first language is not the one spoken in the home they are in right now. Three hardcovers are $99, for a foster family with a full house or an agency, CASA program, congregation or community group buying for several children. Each child gets a book that is only theirs. If the 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.