Wanting to make the reading experience more engaging for children, a 63-year-old writer in Yamato-Koriyama, Nara Prefecture, has been creating customized picture books in which her customers can play a starring role.
Writer Reiko Mizoe holds two of her custom-made children's picture books at her office in Nara.Since December, Reiko Mizoe has produced around 500 books featuring stories that include characters named after the children the books are intended for. The books, available for 2,300 yen excluding postage, also contain a short personal message printed on the inside cover.
Over the past 30 years, Mizoe has published around 20 books on mothers and children. But since turning to custom-made children's books, however, the project has become her life's work.
Mizoe publishes the books with the help of her two sons, who assist in the printing process and are also responsible for her Internet Web site at www.yuubook.com
One of Mizoe's stories for boys, for example, is about a young fellow who rescues the queen of the fairies, who is trapped inside a clock. There is a different version available for girls, she said.
Mizoe said her next customized book, which is about Christmas, should be finished by winter.
"One good thing about this project is that I no longer need to ponder over what to name my main characters," she said with a chuckle.