New!
Many of our customers
want to buy a Camilions book for a future birthday,
or the holidays. To better assist you with future requests
we've created a reminder service. Just enter in the
form below the date you want to purchase, your name and your
e-mail address. We'll send a reminder note and a coupon 2
weeks before.
Book
Tour
Gift
Certificates
Are you a friend or a relative of a book-loving child? Do
you have a birthday
or holiday coming up and are looking for a very special
gift? A Camilions personalized children's book gift
certificate is the answer!
Limited
Time Offer
Send us your child's
photo, electronically or by mail, and we'll send you a
rendered picture file to see on your computer.
Fun
Advice Column by William Ash
Doing More With Digital Pictures
(September 2004)
No other medium has changed the way we record family memories
and events like digital photography. Or has it? Not too long
ago, mini malls across America were littered with one-hour
photo labs. These did big business developing film for
families who were snapping away at birthdays and holidays.
Many of these photos ended stacked away in drawers. Many others
ended in albums. The best pictures went into frames.
Today many of the photo labs are gone. The photo instrument
of choice by families is the digital camera. The photo
snapping has never been more copious and fervent. The
elimination of the cost of film and the instant delete/save
photo selection are tremendous advantages. So what are
people doing with all these photos?
According to one of our recent surveys most digital photos
a) sit stored in the camera's memory, b) sit stored in a computer's
hard drive, c) are rarely e-mailed to friends and family,
and d) are rarely printed to show or frame. Doesn't sound
much different than drawers and albums, after all, people
are known to adopt behaviors slowly. So what is next? What
will people do with their children's
digital photos?
Next really is today. Many, perhaps the early adopters, have
realized that their digital photos can become creative and
fun forms of expression. I've seen families create a
website newsletter where events are recorded and communicated
and great photos are shared. Software offers many photo creative
resources. All from fixing and touching up a picture,
to developing an artistic photo with filters. Today
there's software to create your own electronic cards that
include your photos into the design of the card. Some
other software allows one to change the facial expression
in a photo to make an angry face look happy! And of course,
children's digital
photos are being used for personalization. Companies can
make anything from a personalized tie, a t-shirt, candy wraps,
and my favorite; a photo
personalized children's book.
While making a website and learning to use software can be
complex, using your children's photos to make a personalized
book is really easy. All that a company like Camilions
needs to make a book is a child's photo. The rest of
the work is up to them. The result, a big smile from a child,
and a great use of that digital
photo that just sat in the computer or camera.
If your children's pictures are stored in a file, please
do something fun with them. There's never been as many choices
to be creative and fun as there are today!
Self Awareness, Confidence and Fun
(May 2004)
In a recent conversation with a child psychologist the topic
of Personalized Children's Books came to light. I have
something to show you, I said to the Doctor as I showed him
a sample of Camilions. The expert went on to explain
a few things that for the most part are common knowledge about
personalized children's books. This type of books are
great learning
tools, he said. Children in general have a short
attention span. With book personalization it is much
more likely that a child will show interest in an entire book,
and even re-read. I suspected that much, I said.
What he said next about the Camilions sample really surprised
me. The expert went on to explain that photo-personalized
children's books had an additional possible benefit.
Photo personalized books may increase a child's self awareness
and confidence. How is this I asked? Through the
physical role play that the book provides, the Dr. answered.
A child participates in the role play and interacts with other
characters in this Camilions book. Self-awareness, confidence,
role play and fantasy are all important aspects of a child's
cognitive development, he explained. Well, I had a last
question. How about the importance of fun? Without
fun, none of the other benefits will be in place, he replied.
I was satisfied with that answer.
Interview with William
Ash (February 2004)
Q.
What inspired you to create Camilions?
A. My inspiration is the limitless imagination
that children possess. When I had my first conversation
with Ms. Lind about this project, I was truly fascinated
with the potential of photo personalization. We jointly agreed
to create a fantasy that used photo personalization, but had
a strong essence of its own. With Camilions we have a fantasy
where the child is the central feature of the story. Still
the child participates in a Camilions story that will have
complications, action and drama just like in any other good
story. With the pictures, the text and the audio the experience
of this book really is very unique.
Q.
What is the main message in Camilions?
A. The main message in Camilions is and
will always be friendship. You see, Camilions
need friendship to be happy, and they seek to befriend
children because kids are just more fun. Still we see that
as the story progresses, friendship has a few complications
- friendship requires commitment, it requires care and sometimes
self-sacrifice. Still, a person who has friends is happier.
Q.
What is new and different in the Camilions books?
A. Photo-personalized children books,
that's pretty different, not many out there. Besides that,
the main difference in Camilions books is their format. Usually
books for young beginner readers consist of very little text
and a lot of illustrations. From there the next stage for
young readers is stories and short novels comprised mostly
of text. There is nothing in between, until now. Camilions
books are available in two versions. A version for children
ages 1-4 with the perfect amount of text for parents looking
for bedtime stories. As well as a version for children ages
5-7 with full chapter text designed with young readers in
mind. Why do it this way? Well, primarily because our belief
that parents
and children deserve a choice. Choice is the guiding principle
of personalization. Still, our books are really meant for
parent and child to enjoy a special moment together reading
a rich and engaging story, just like the times before TV.
Children will read his or her Camilions book many times.
Q.
Will there be more Camilions stories to follow?
A. Yes, Wentzel and Bo will take us on
many more adventures, one at a time. The Discovery at the
Zoo is only the beginning.
