Make their book
30th birthdays

Funny 30th birthday gifts

Thirty. Nothing has visibly gone wrong yet. A personalized picture book for adults reads like a card and lasts like a book: one photo, a few true things, and them as the main character.

Their first picture book in a while, and the first one about them.

Make their book

Hands hold a birthday cake whose number candles read 300

The book to blame

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A sample spread

GUESTS! Neighbors, the mailman and a man from the HOA gather around Steve’s woodpile.

People on the street come to see Steve’s wood.

Barb next door watches it from her kitchen window every Saturday, coffee in hand.

“I could watch him handle that all day,” says Barb.

The man from the HOA has sent two letters about how big it is. Steve keeps it up anyway.

Steve Has Morning Wood, pages 14–15. Finished art, printed as drawn.

How it works

  1. A hand drops a printed photo into the slop machine’s hopper.

    Feed it one photo.

  2. The slop machine shakes and steams, rivets popping off.

    It does its thing.

  3. A finished picture book pops out of the slop machine’s chute.

    A real book comes out.

The whole process

Questions

What’s a good funny 30th birthday gift?

Something that reads like a card and lasts like a book. Send one photo and a few true things about them and they’re the subject of a printed picture book for adults.

Gag gift or real gift?

Both, awkwardly. It’s a properly printed, bound book that happens to be a joke about one person.

For a man or a woman?

Either. You choose the pronouns the book uses for them.

How does it work, and what do you need from me?

You pick the book, send one clear photo of them and a few true things about them. We write and illustrate the book from that. You must confirm they’re an adult (18 or older), they’re willing to star in a gag book, and you have permission to share their photo.

Will it arrive in time?

We print and bind the book after you order it, so it isn’t instant — and we won’t promise a date here that we can’t keep for your address. Order with room to spare. If the day is close, write to hello@hellosorry.com first and we’ll tell you honestly whether it can make it.

Who it’s for

A hand in rings slides a tray of eight bright shots with paper umbrellas toward a hand holding a glass of water; the napkin reads “just one”

Best friend

You’ve been saving these stories for years. Here’s somewhere to put them.

More occasions

All occasions

Somebody you love deserves this. We’re so sorry.

One photo. One real book. A lifetime of them bringing it up at dinner.

Make their book

From $19.99 · Character redraws: free, up to six a day · Digital copy with every printed book