Beyond Bedtime Tales: Personalised Stories as a Tool for Gentle Parenting

In the early years of a child’s life, a story is more than a bedtime ritual. It can shape behaviour, build emotional awareness and give children the language to understand their feelings. From this belief grew the project “A Story That Resembles Your Child”, founded by Sumaya Suleiman, a dentist with a deep passion for early childhood education.
Sumaya’s interest focuses on children from birth to six years, a period she sees as foundational for lifelong personality and emotional wellbeing. Her spark for personalised storytelling began at home. Preparing her son, Rayan, for weaning, she found existing books too generic — they didn’t reflect his personality, daily routine, or emotional needs. Rather than compromise, she wrote a story herself.

Using her writing skills and AI tools to generate illustrations resembling her child, Sumaya created a narrative that acknowledged Rayan’s emotions and guided him gently through the transition. Reading it daily, Rayan saw himself as the hero navigating change and within two months, the process was smoother than expected. Even a year later, he continues to ask for his story.
A similar experience followed with her daughter, who struggled with nursery bathroom routines. Sumaya emphasised emotional validation, incorporating familiar toys, places and dialogue reflecting her daughter’s thoughts. Through repetition and gentle reinforcement, her daughter gradually adopted the heroine’s behaviour with confidence.
Initially, Sumaya had not intended to turn this into a business. That changed after sharing her experience on Instagram, where mothers requested personalised stories for their own children. She then formalised the project. Mothers answer detailed questions about their child’s behavior, reactions, preferences and favourite phrases, which form the story’s core.

Sumaya writes each narrative to follow a careful sequence: acknowledging the challenge, validating feelings, introducing dialogue, presenting gradual solutions and celebrating progress. Illustrations are based on the child’s real photos, making the book a true reflection of the child’s world. Unlike semi-customised stories that merely change a name or image, each story is unique, created for one child only, aiming not for entertainment but genuine behavioural transformation.
She believes personalisation carries a unique magic. Seeing their name, image and emotions reflected, children feel valued and choose change by identifying with the story’s hero. Common themes include weaning, potty training, independent sleep and preparing for school, but each child’s story is distinct.

The journey required learning: creating educational solutions for varied situations and generating accurate illustrations demanded training, workshops and technical skill. Today, Sumaya receives messages from mothers noting positive outcomes: children sleeping better, adjusting to nursery more easily, or overcoming struggles with greater confidence.
For Sumaya, the project is more than a business, it is a mission rooted in conscious parenting. Through personalised storytelling, she offers families a compassionate tool built on dialogue, emotional validation and imagination powerful enough to shape a brighter childhood and future.