Sep 11, 2015 By Suzanne Elliott 4 min read

Marlo Lancaster had an idea for a children’s book rolling around in her head for years.

Lancaster, a former elementary school counselor, decided to take a year off when she was pregnant with her first child, Jack, now 7. She wanted to do something special for her son on his birthday. It also helped that her husband, Todd, was a graphic artist and senior digital designer at Thermo Fisher Scientific (the Lancasters also have a 4-year-old daughter, Matilda).

Since most children like books, they thought, why not do a personalized birthday book?

“I thought it was a great idea,” said Todd during an interview at the couple’s Upper St. Clair home. “Most of the stuff out there was kind of cookie cutter.”

The Lancasters began discussing ideas and concepts and knew they were on to something that could become a viable, and possibly commercial, venture.

It took four years, a lot of head butting and a lot of late nights, but the Lancasters accomplished their goal earlier this year when they began printing “Birthday Village,” a 31-page personalized book for children 8 and younger. Marlo wrote the book and Todd did the illustrations.

The way the book works is simple. The buyer is asked to fill out an order sheet on the couple’s website, www.birthdayvillagebook.com, and provide the full name of the child, nickname, a dedication, what they call their parents, names of siblings, and of course, the child’s birth date. There are separate books for both boys and girls. Cost of the book is $30 and the Lancasters said it usually takes two weeks to complete an order.

The book’s plot essentially takes the child on a balloon trip to Birthday Village. When the cupcake-shaped balloon lands, he or she is greeted by Val Garvin, the mayor of Birthday Village, who tells them about the village and gives the child the highlights of what to expect on the journey.

The Lancasters used the names of family members in their book. Val Garvin was the name of a Pittsburgh band from the 1930s that Marlo’s grandfather played drums for.

“There was not even a Val Garvin in the band,” laughed Marlo.

From there, the child is given a birthday buddy who takes them through the rest of their journey. The buddy also asks the child to choose their favorite birthday dinner and cake.

The two visit places like the Magical Gardens, where they are given their birthday month flower and learn other birthday month flowers. They then go to the Four Seasons Forest, which features trees for every season. It also educates the child on the seasons and which one is occurring when their birthday takes place.

Toward the end of the book, the pair meets Ned the Number Guy and H.B., who tell the child on which day of the year their birthday falls and what is their half birthday. The child also gets to see pictures of their birthday month gemstone, as well as gemstones from the other months. Their zodiac sign is identified, too.

“The story flows,” said Marlo, explaining that the day gets darker as the birthday journey progresses.

To keep costs down and because each book is personalized, the Lancasters print and bind each book. They acquired a binding machine that they funded through indiegogo.com, a crowd-funding website. Todd said they were able to raise $2,600 with the help of 50 donors.

“We made budget,” he said.

Marlo said around 200 books have been sold so far. Todd said he has several original children’s stories that he, too, would like to put into book form.

“It is really awesome to see kids talk about the book,” he said.