When we created My Mini Buddies, we wanted to create the most wonderful personalized children's book in the universe. We wanted to teach them a thousand and one things about the world and its people and we wanted it to stay with them forever. So we came up with our first Around the World book and decided to personalise it to reinforce reading skills, empathy, and all the benefits of personalisation on children's learning and development.
All of these powers are within reach of every little hand, in every one of our books. The power of personalisation will continue to amaze you. Here are the reasons why.
Benefit 1: It boosts reading skills
All children, whatever their name, can be the hero or heroine of our stories. Seeing yourself in a book has a powerful effect on children, and makes it more obvious to them that they are welcome in the written word. Feeling like you belong is a key step towards identifying as a reader.
It is magical to see a child's eyes shine and widen when they realise they are the hero of their own adventure. As the pages turn, the amazement helps them to immerse themselves in their reading and learning. Reading personalised books allows children to see themselves as readers from an early age.
Benefit 2: It builds self-esteem
Our story is written to help children build and develop a positive self-image. A story that makes them brave heroes and adventurers, especially with our "Round the World".
Benefit 3: It accelerates learning
Personalisation has the (magical) power to improve children's ability and motivation to learn. When they are immersed in the story, it becomes easier for them to acquire new words and knowledge. And they retain them more easily! A study of kindergarten students found that those who were read personalised stories spoke more and for longer. Another study showed a significant difference in word acquisition when reading personalised text compared to non-personalised text. Yippee!
Benefit 4: It helps children empathise
Stories help children understand the thoughts, feelings and motivations of the people around them. For children, this means that when they are the hero of their own adventure, their brain literally makes them embody the character's behaviours. Helping others, solving problems, being curious: meeting the different protagonists of our stories helps children to be able to empathise with others in everyday life.
Benefit 5: It promotes diversity
There is no room in our stories for assumptions or prejudices. Our readers are simply children. Toddlers with a thousand different names. Little darlings who live all over the world in a variety of family structures. Boys who love flowers and girls who love dinosaurs. In short, our adventures are for everyone!
Benefit n°6: It gives children a taste for reading!
A study conducted with children aged 9 to 10 years old showed that when they read personalised stories, their reading comprehension improved by more than 40%. Yes, yes, you read that right: 40%! The researchers concluded that the relevance of the text at an individual level made the stories more interesting, easier to understand and, above all, more fun.
And we want all children to discover the pleasure of reading. At My Mini Buddies, we don't hesitate to introduce budding readers to words as varied as narwhal, Kehops, pyramids, iceberg, Machu Picchu,... Or new ideas such as world travel, respect, kindness and the fact that making mistakes is a good thing, because it helps you grow.
At My Mini Buddies, we never stop learning new things. For example, what our little readers like most about our stories, and what we could do better. Every piece of feedback we receive is valuable. Nothing makes us happier than to see the effect our books have on children. It is worth all the trouble in the world!