Every parent knows the party bag. A balloon that is flat by bedtime, a toy that breaks on the drive home, sweets confiscated before they are eaten. Most of it is in the bin by Tuesday, and nobody remembers who gave it. A few families have done something different with The Bridge in the Sky, and it has gone down better than we expected. Every child who comes to the party is handed a book as they arrive — with their own name on the cover and their own face on every page. Why it works The moment a child opens it is the whole thing. They are not reading about someone else's adventure; they are the one on the bridge. It is the opposite of a generic favour, because it could not have been given to anyone else. It also changes who the gift is from. A party bag is an afterthought. A book with each guest's face in it is a present from the birthday child to their friends, which is a lovely thing for a small child to get to give. And it lasts. A picture book goes on a shelf and gets read at bedtime for months. It is the only party favour we know of that a parent is pleased to find in the car afterwards. The best party bag is the one still in the house a year later. How to do it without the stress Ask each guest's parent for a photo, and ask properly. You are sending a picture of their child to be illustrated, so say what it is for and let them say no. Most are delighted to be asked. Give yourself three weeks. Gathering photos from a dozen families always takes longer than it should, every book is drawn and checked by a person before it prints, and delivery takes one to two weeks after that. One clear photo per child, facing the camera. A blurry group shot from the last party will not give you a good likeness. For more than five books, email us at hello@glibooks.com. Party orders are easier to handle directly, and we can make sure every book is ready in time. The honest part It costs more than a bag of sweets, and it is a picture book written for children up to about six, so it suits younger parties best. For a group of nine-year-olds it would miss. But if you have ever stood at the door handing out plastic you knew would be thrown away, this is the version where every child goes home with something they will keep. About the book The Bridge in the Sky is set on the canopy walkway at Kakum National Park in Ghana. The hero is frightened of a rope bridge high above the rainforest, and crosses it anyway. Each child's photo is used only to illustrate their book, and is deleted once it goes to print.