Kids shine in enterprising mothers’ hit storybooks

MANILA, Philippines - The popular old adage “mothers know best” would best describe how the Philippine market got its first glance at personalized storybooks.

Tatiana Pena Montenegro and Kathleen Assad Lamata, two enterprising mothers who at one time saw delight in their daughters faces upon being made the princesses of their own bedside fairy tales, started a unique business called “Look It’s About Me” in August last year.

“Look It’s About Me” sells personalized storybooks in which the child is actually the protagonist of the story.

The aim of the business was simple—to encourage children’s love for reading by creating beautifully written and illustrated hardcover storybooks that would enhance and capture their imagination.

“We thought it would be amazing to create a real hardcover book that is professionally bound where the child is the protagonist of the story.  It is amazing to see the reaction of children when they read about themselves,” says Tatiana.

Despite the fact that majority of the children of this present generation enjoy hi-tech stuff like e-books, tablets, and computers, Tatiana and Kathleen dared to pursue with their unique business venture.

The two co-founders, after all, believe that a tablet or e-book cannot create the special feeling that reading a book wherein the child is actually part of the story can bring.

And it seemed Tatiana and Kathleen’s motherly instincts did not fail them as the business proved to be an immediate success in the market.

“Look It’s About Me” personalized storybooks are not only available in the Philippines at present but are currently sold in Singapore and Hong Kong as well.

“The feedback from customers is amazing. They find the content and the quality of our products exceptional, they are happy with the service we are providing. But most important of all, the children love their personalized books,” Kathleen said.

As the first manufacturer of personalized storybooks in the Philippines, Tatiana and Kathleen said they began their venture by hiring skilled local artists to illustrate and teamed them up with a very talented and award winning author in the name of Natalia Diaz to write the stories.

“First of all, we came up with themes that we believed children would like and be very interested in. The writer then came up with rhyming stories based on our ideas. Once we had the stories the illustrator worked directly with us to create different styles for each book,” Tatiana said.

Their products were officially launched in November 2012.

According to its owners, “Look It’s About Me” personalized storybooks made learning fun for children while also helping increase their self-esteem.

“It is also a great bonding activity between parent and child. We haven’t changed our initial concept at all and are very happy to see all the positive feedback we have been receiving not only from our customers but from the public in general, as well,” says Tatiana.

“The customers love the idea of a personalized book and understand how special the child will feel if they receive such a gift. It is nice to give a present with a personal touch that will always be remembered,” Kathleen added.

At the present, “Look It’s About Me” has four titles available, namely My Super Duper Birthday Party (where forest animals come together to prepare a party for the child), My Magical Christmas Adventure (where the child receives a special invitation from Santa to visit the North Pole and visit Santa’s workshop), My Great Space Race (where the child is taken on a journey around the milky way discovering planets, while participating in an exciting space race) and My Underwater Adventure (where the child goes on an underwater adventure to save some sea turtles stuck in a net).

Each storybook is sold at P1,200

The owners said that each book is unique to each child as they are individually handcrafted, unlike traditional storybooks which are mass-printed.

Tatiana and Kathleen said their plan is to be able to offer two more new titles for the coming Christmas season.

They are also looking at increasing their product offering to other personalized products.

Besides their personalized storybooks, “Look It’s About Me” also offers other unique finds such as personalized placemats, personalized coloring books, and personalized wrapping papers which are all perfect for birthday parties.

“We are constantly thinking of new ideas.  We are already working on book number six, we are at the illustration stage so it won’t be long before we launch it. At the same time, we are working on other story ideas that we will start developing pretty soon,” Tatiana said.

“The great thing with this product is that it is all encompassing. It’s really meant for kids up to age 10. However, in terms of who’s going to buy it, I would say it would include the parents, ninangs (godmothers), lolas (grandmothers) because the products make great memorable gifts for birthdays, Christmas, baptisms, and graduation gifts, among others,” she added.

“Look It’s About Me” personalized storybooks are available through its online portal at www.lookitsaboutme.com and are also available at Fully Booked (High Street branch) and Tie Me Up Buttercup in Greenbelt 5.

Besides Singapore and Hong Kong where the products are currently being sold, the owners stressed that they also have plans to further promote their products to other countries abroad, particularly the English speaking countries as they see them as a very good market.

“We know that to grow we can’t only focus on products but on service and geography as well,” said Kathleen.