As a mom, I have always stressed the importance of reading to my son and have instilled a love of reading to him over the years. I am so proud when he picks up a book and truly enjoys reading it. I recently had the opportunity to customize a special book for my son, called My Heritage book.
The author of the book, and founder of kidsHeritage, Inc., Deanna Bufo Novak, created the My Heritage Book shortly after the birth of her daughter. She felt it was important for her daughter to learn about her different heritages and the importance of family traditions and family history. That is how the idea for the My Heritage Book was born.
The My Heritage book is a custom-made, hardcover book which can include up to four countries (the web site includes an extensive list to choose from) and is written for one American child.
I chose two countries to include in my son’s special book — Mexico and Poland. I was also able to customize a greeting to him at the beginning of the book. He was especially impressed by the special message from his dad and me on the first page. I loved seeing his sweet smile when he saw that the book was made just for him. What I also really appreciated about this book is that it wasn’t a typical story book. This book had a message, and an important and educational one at that—our family histories are meaningful and are part of who we are.
There were several things that really stood out to me in our My Heritage Book. The first was the detailed descriptions of the countries and their various traditions. It’s presented in a fun, yet informative way and really gives the child a sense of pride and perhaps even some familiarity to traditions that they may already know a little about. The second thing that made this book unique was the illustrations. They were simple, but still playful and a little whimsical.
Finally, what I really enjoyed was the discovery that the book brought to my little guy. Whether it’s teaching children how to pronounce new words, such as saying hello and goodbye in Polish, or filling out the family tree at the end of the book, this book offers curious children a connection to their family history that is truly special and different.
In my opinion, this book would make a wonderful keepsake gift to give to any child. The My Heritage book can be purchased online directly through the web site and is also available through a variety of other online and retail locations.
Disclaimer: Kristine Snyder has personally reviewed the product listed above. She has not received any monetary compensation for her review but did receive a free product to try out so she could evaluate and use it for her review. Her thoughts & opinions in this review are unbiased & honest and your opinions may differ.
This sounds like a wonderful book to have and cherish. I love the personalized greeting in the front , the family tree to fill in in the back and the information geered to an American child about other countries in his/her ancestry. In fact I wish these books had existed when my children were young.
I think this would be a great gift for anyone. My adult daughter is always trying to get my husband and I to write down stories and memories from our childhood. It’s very important for people to learn about their past and family histories. I know she would be interested in this as a keepsake, and I had never heard of it before. Plus, you could use this as a starting point to go beyond the country histories and culture and write down some of your own traditions.