Made in Chicagoland: Sourcebooks, Put Me in the Story

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (WLS) -- We hear a lot about the benefits of reading to children. But it's not always easy to keep a kid's attention. One Naperville publisher has a customized fix that fits for many.

The best way to get a kid excited about reading is to include him in the story.

"Kids who read these books, they read them over and over and over again, because it's theirs. It's their name, their story," said Dominique Raccah, CEO, Sourcebooks.

Raccah said books become less scary when children can relate to them. Books are less foreign and they're more personal.

The idea for the books came from authors whose best-sellers were being adapted by parents - who wanted their children to connect with messages like "I love you so" and "you're my best friend."

"What people were doing, they were putting the kids' photographs in and they were putting the child's name in. They were clearly personalizing these books," Raccah said.

The company's "Put Me in the Story" collection is so popular, it makes up nearly a third of Sourcebooks' business. This success is sweet for a company with humble beginnings.

"I started in a bedroom and I started with nothing," Raccah said. "It's been an incredible journey to build one of the largest independent book publishers in America."

"Put Me in the Story" has its own app that lets users create a personalized e-book called "The Night Night Book" for free. Parents can also order and pay for hard copies of other personalized children's books on the app.