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Arts & Entertainment

Local Couple Publishes Personalized Children's Books

Deephaven residents are on mission to use books to show children that it's really the inside that counts.

Maia and Allan Haag of Deephaven entered the world of children’s book publishing after receiving a personalized book for their oldest son when he was born. Unimpressed with the quality of the book, “We thought we could do something better,” Maia Haag said. It was 1998 and the idea was born for high-quality, personalized books with a message.

What resulted was I See Me! 

Maia is the CEO, and along with a team of virtual professionals (they all work from home offices), she runs the business side of the company. She is also the author of many of the books. Allan and his firm, Haag Design, Inc., handle the creative side, from company letterhead to design and production of the books to finding illustrators.

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“We make sure we end up with a quality product so that we can have the best personalized book,” Allan explained.

“We have been a great team,” Maia Haag added.

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The mission of the company is “to celebrate the uniqueness of each child through the personalized story books that build their self-esteem,” Maia Haag said. But what exactly is a personalized book?

The company’s first book and current best-seller, My Very Own Name, written by Maia, offers a good example.

The book celebrates the arrival of a new baby, and each page reveals a different animal bringing a letter to eventually spell out the child’s first and last name. Each letter corresponds with a personality trait.

“It’s not just having a personalized book,” Maia said. “You’re reading about what makes you so special.”

My Very Own Name took five years to complete—typical for an I See Me! book, which can take three to five years to finish.

“Most corporate publishers don’t go for that,” Allan said.

Another book, My Very Own Pirate Tale, has oil painting illustrations, which took three years. An illustration must be made for every letter in the alphabet, plus more, and Allan explained that if a child has repeated letters in her name, they don’t want to repeat animals.

As parents themselves, the Haags feel that they are very aware of what their customers need and they try to meet those needs. So their books are both educational and entertaining. Every book has an encyclopedia in the back of all the animals, or in the case of My Very Own Fairytale, flowers and berries, that were included in the book.

Both Maia and Allan stress the importance of their family. They have three children: Austin, Griffin, and Logan. Their oldest, Austin, 13, offers creative ideas and reviews books before they are finalized.

“He sometimes catches things we don’t always see,” Maia said.

Working from home has its challenges, but they clearly enjoy what they’re doing.

“Our most gratifying comment is ‘I’ve never seen anything like it,’" Allan said. "With the millions of books out today, it’s really rewarding.”

Maia and Allan Haag are offering a special free shipping on I See Me! personalized storybooks for Lake Minnetonka Patch readers. Use code MTKAPATCH on www.iseeme.com during check out to receive free shipping on standard domestic deliveries. Expires 9/30/2011.

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