For grown-ups
Learning to swim gifts

Personalized learning-to-swim books to make a splash

Help a nervous swimmer feel brave with an underwater adventure where your child is the confident star.

Water can feel scary until a child pictures themselves loving it. A personalized swimming or under-the-sea story replaces the nerves with excitement about the deep blue.

Great learning-to-swim gift picks

Making a Splash - personalized children's book coverAdam Makes a Splash

Your child steps up to the water's edge, a little nervous, and learns to float, kick, and glide.

Ages 4-8

From $14.90
The Mermaid's Song - personalized children's book coverSofia the Little Mermaid

Deep below the waves, your child discovers a shimmering tail and a voice that can calm the whole ocean.

Ages 2-6

From $14.90
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Common questions

Can a book help a child who is scared of the water?

A story where the child is the brave swimmer who has fun in the water gives them a positive picture to carry into their first real lesson.

When should I give it?

Before the first lesson, so it is reassurance rather than a reward. A printed copy takes six days to the UK and nine to ten inside the US from approval; the digital edition is ready immediately if lessons start this week.

They are frightened of putting their face in the water. Does the story deal with that?

Not as a lesson - it is a story, not a teaching manual. It casts your child as the one who goes in anyway, which is the version of themselves worth handing them before a lesson rather than after.

Will it actually look like them?

  • Reference portrait: Deep brown skin, tightly coiled hair, age 5The illustrated character kept from it: Deep brown skin, tightly coiled hairDeep brown skin, tightly coiled hair
  • Reference portrait: Fine, fair, barely-there hair, age 1The illustrated character kept from it: Fine, fair, barely-there hairFine, fair, barely-there hair
  • Reference portrait: Straight black hair with a fringe, age 7The illustrated character kept from it: Straight black hair with a fringeStraight black hair with a fringe
  • Reference portrait: Curly ginger hair and freckles, age 4The illustrated character kept from it: Curly ginger hair and frecklesCurly ginger hair and freckles
  • Reference portrait: Round glasses, age 6The illustrated character kept from it: Round glassesRound glasses
  • Reference portrait: Long braids with beads, age 8The illustrated character kept from it: Long braids with beadsLong braids with beads
  • Reference portrait: A visible hearing aid, age 5The illustrated character kept from it: A visible hearing aidA visible hearing aid
  • Reference portrait: A baby with no hair, 6 monthsThe illustrated character kept from it: A baby with no hairA baby with no hair

Skin tone, hair texture and freckles all carried through - including the cases most generators get wrong. See it up close

See inside a finished bookWhat happens to the photoHow we compare

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Make them the hero of their own learning to swim story.