A Personalized Book Starring Your Child and Your Pet

Yes, you can put the family pet in a book with your child. Magic Story makes two. In Two of a Kind, your child and their real pet share a whole day, from the first morning nuzzle to the last goodnight. In The Blame Bot, a funny story about owning up, adding your pet is optional, and it changes the story: your child blames the dog (or the cat) for a mess, then learns to make it right. You upload a photo of your child and one of your pet, we detect your pet's species and breed from the photo, and you see a free preview before you buy.

This is our guide to our own books. Below you'll find what's inside each one, which pets work, and ideas for a child who adores their dog, a family getting a new pet, and a pet you're remembering.

Which Magic Story books can include a pet?

The standard US one-time hardcover price is $44.99, plus shipping and tax. Your pet is a companion character that costs $4.99 USD extra for US orders, including on Two of a Kind, where the pet is required. Shoppers in other countries see their own prices at checkout. For other titles, check the companion options on the book's product page, and see our Help article on adding your pet to a book for the steps.

Two of a Kind: a day together, start to finish

Two of a Kind is one of our best sellers, and it's simple in the best way. "In a house full of wonder and rooms to explore, live two special friends who couldn't love each other more": your child and your pet. The rhyming story follows them through one ordinary, perfect day. They wake up together, share breakfast, watch the world from the window, turn the sofa into a boat, draw ("A sun that is purple! A tree that is blue!"), share a cookie and a treat, build a blanket fortress when it rains, chase sunbeams down the hall and count the stars before bed. It ends with "Goodnight, little heart," and your child's and pet's names together on the last line.

Your pet's name runs all the way through, and so does what kind of animal they are. In the hide-and-seek scene, your child calls out, "Where is that dog?" or cat, or whatever your pet is.

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  Crayons "A sun that is purple! A tree that is blue!"

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  A party "What a wonderful racket our two friends can make!"

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  Stars "They count every star in the ocean of sky."

The Blame Bot: the story where your child stops blaming the dog

The Blame Bot is about responsibility, and with a pet added, it gets personal. Your child lines up toy cars "in a perfect straight row," spins around, sends them flying, and then points at the pet who just woke up: "You did this. Admit it." A rusty old machine prints a ticket blaming your pet, and every new excuse makes the Blame Bot bigger, until your child is standing in Judge Bot's factory courtroom. What turns it around is a memory of the pet: "Those big trusting eyes, That sad drooping ear." Your child owns up, a blazing blue cape appears, and back home they kneel by the pet's bed to say sorry before the two of them clean up together.

According to the product page, your pet appears on 13 of the book's 28 pages: 10 side by side with your child and 3 on their own. It's a story to read after a day when someone in your house blamed someone else, whether that someone has four legs or not.

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  The blame "You did this. Admit it."

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  Owning up "I blamed you for something You didn't do."

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  Forgiven "Then wagged like a propeller."

You can also order The Blame Bot without a pet. Turn on the pet option on the product page to see the add-on price.

What kinds of pets can you add?

The Blame Bot's product page lists dogs, cats, birds, fish, reptiles, horses and small mammals. In both books, we detect your pet's species and breed from the photo, so there's nothing to choose from a list. If the breed in the preview isn't quite right, that won't stop the book being personalized, but the preview should still look like your pet. If it doesn't, our Help article on adding your pet explains how to get in touch.

For the best result, use a clear, well-lit photo with your pet facing the camera. Our photo tips cover your child's photo too.

A gift for a child who loves their dog (or cat)

For some children, the dog is their best friend, their audience and their pillow. A book that puts the two of them on every page tells that child their friendship matters. It's also a keepsake of the years when they're rarely apart, which pass faster than anyone expects.

There's good reason to take those bonds seriously. A 2017 systematic review of 22 studies found that pet ownership in childhood was associated with higher self-esteem and less loneliness, and with benefits such as perspective-taking and social competence (Purewal and colleagues, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health). The authors are clear that these are associations from a young field and call for better studies, so a book won't do any of that on its own. What it can do is give your child a story about their friend to read again and again, sometimes out loud to the friend.

Getting ready for a new pet

Two of a Kind celebrates life with a pet you already have, and it needs a photo of your pet, so it works best once your new dog or cat is home and settled. It makes a good keepsake of that first year together.

Before then, a few things help a young child get ready:

• Talk through what the pet will need. Food, water, walks, a quiet place to sleep, and who will help with each.
• Practice gentle hands. Show your child how to hold out a flat, still hand and let the animal come to them.
• Stay close. The CDC advises that children younger than 5 should be supervised whenever they're with animals, and that children should wash their hands after playing with them (CDC Healthy Pets).

When a pet has died

Two of a Kind isn't a book about loss. It's a happy story about an ordinary day together, with nothing sad in it. If you're looking for a keepsake of a pet who has died, it can hold those days in pictures, but every child grieves differently. Read the free preview first, on your own, and decide whether it's the right book for your child now or a little later.

When to order

Every Magic Story book is printed to order. In the US, printing takes 3 to 5 business days, and Standard delivery arrives 5 to 10 business days after you order. Checkout shows the estimate for your address before you pay. If it's a birthday present, leave a few weeks.

How a personalized pet book works

1. Add the photos and names. One clear photo of your child and one of your pet, plus both their names.
2. See a free preview. It shows your child and pet in a scene from the book, not every page, and needs no account or credit card. Read more about the free preview.
3. Get the hardcover. It's printed to order after you buy, then shipped to the address you choose.

Find your child-and-pet book

• For a day together: Two of a Kind.
• For a lesson in owning up: The Blame Bot.
• Browse more books for two in the Better Together collection.