Children shine in enterprising mothers’ hit storybooks

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

The venture   sells personalized storybooks in which the child is the protagonist of the story.

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

The co-founders, 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 also available in  Singapore and Hong Kong.

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

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.

At present, “Look It’s About Me” has four titles available: 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 say each book is unique to each child as they are individually handcrafted, unlike traditional storybooks which are mass-printed.

Tatiana and Kathleen say 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.

“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 stress 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,” says Kathleen.