A Christmas gift made by the whole family. You invite up to 25 people; each records one short video. Every person becomes a page in a hardcover book — their photo, their own line, and a code that plays their video — under the tree before December 25.
Create their book — $79Delivered by your date, or we reprint or refund. No app for anyone to install.
The whole family, in one book under the tree.
Every decade of his life, told by the people who were in it.
The people from every chapter of his working life — in one book, on his last day.
Fifty years together. Told by everyone who was there.
From all of her children. From all of his. The things nobody says out loud — said.
He doesn't need another thing. He's never been given this.
She already has every photo. What she doesn't have is everyone's voices, in one place, on her shelf.
Start her bookHe means it about things. This isn't a thing — it's everyone he loves, saying it out loud.
Start his bookWhen the family is spread across countries and time zones, this is how everyone is in the room on Christmas morning.
Start their bookNo accounts, no passwords, nothing to learn. If they can point a phone at a page, they can hear everyone.
Each page is one person — their photo, their name in big type, and a line from them.
A code beside every photo. Any phone camera reads it — no app, no login.
Their video plays — their voice, their laugh, the pause before the punchline.
This is the screen your family sees when they tap your link — one prompt, one button. If they can answer a phone call, they can do this.
“Tell us about a Christmas at Grandma’s house you’ll never forget.”
It arrives by text, WhatsApp, or email and opens in their browser. Nothing to install, no account to make.
One question, answered out loud — like telling the story at the table. Not happy with it? Record again, as many times as they like. Then they add one line for their page — “Merry Christmas, Grandma” — in their own words.
That's their whole job — about three minutes. Their recording becomes their page, and we handle the reminders for everyone else.
They open it at the table,
everyone they love around them.
The first page is scanned — and a grandson, two time zones away, is suddenly talking at the table, and the whole room goes quiet to listen. After the celebration, the book goes on the shelf, where it stays: years from now the grandchildren will take it down, scan a page, and hear that laugh again.
8 × 10 in hardcover — cloth-look deep green, gold title
Up to 25 contributors — one page each: photo, their line, their video
Premium Story Edition — their story printed on the facing page, in richer color
Smaller books, filled beautifully — family photos, a timeline, the family tree, written messages
Extra copies $49 — one for each sibling, same book
Yours to keep — every video also delivered as a downloadable file
Share it with family and friends — WhatsApp, text, email. That's the last coordinating you do.
Each person answers one prompt on their phone in about three minutes. Our reminders — gentle, then firmer — chase the stragglers, and you watch who's done from one page.
We lay out every page, print and bind the book, and it arrives before the day. On the day itself, a digital reveal is ready too — just in case.
People tell their best stories in the language they lived them in. So your family records in theirs — Telugu, Hindi, Spanish, Tamil, Punjabi, and more — no script, nothing to translate on the spot. On their page, their line prints in their own words, with the English just beneath it, so a grandchild who doesn't read the language still gets the message. And the code beside their photo plays the whole story in their actual voice, exactly as they told it.
«Ese verano, el barco casi no vuelve.»
“That summer, the boat almost didn't come back.” — his line, in English beneath
Scan the code on his page, and his video plays — his voice, his language, his laugh.
Their photo. Their line. Their voice, one scan away.
Our first sample book is being made right now — the same presses, paper, and binding your book will use. The day it arrives, real photographs of it replace the illustrations on this page, page by page, so you can judge the real thing before you spend a dollar.
Because a photo book is one person's photos, uploaded in an evening — that's why the photo sites can take orders in mid-December. Printing is their only step, and printing is fast.
This book starts with up to twenty-five people. Each of them has to find a quiet moment and record their video — around jobs, time zones, and grandchildren. Then those recordings become pages, and the pages become a printed, bound book that still has to ship. Recording is the one part that can't be rushed in the final week, so our deadline is set by the family, not the printer.
Two minutes at the form below. We send you one link to share with everyone.
Contributors finish by this date. The book is built from everyone who's in — no waiting on stragglers.
Printed, bound, and delivered before Christmas morning — guaranteed, or we reprint it free or refund you.
Ordering Premium? The same chain, with priority handling, runs to a December 2 order date for Christmas.
Standard $79 · Premium $99
The price includes the book, printing, and US delivery. There is nothing to pay at print time, and no subscription — ever.
Premium — the Story Edition — prints each person's story on the facing page of their photo, in richer color, with room for more pages and priority handling for tight dates: order as late as December 2 for Christmas. Every printed story is checked against the recording itself before the book ships.
Gifting it together? Four siblings splitting Premium pay about $25 each.
Our guarantee: if the book doesn't arrive by your date, or you don't love it, we reprint it free or refund you. If a word we printed is ever wrong, the reprint is free too. A missed birthday is not something we ask you to risk.
Founding preorder — we'll email you a secure payment link to complete your order. No charge today.
We'll write to your inbox with your payment link and the invite link to share with your family.
Every family has the videos — scattered across phones, buried in chats, one phone upgrade away from gone. We started Kept by Heart because the shelf outlasts the phone. A book gets opened. It gets handed around the table. And with everyone's voices inside it, it becomes the thing the family keeps.
— Praneeth, founder
The book prints on the deadline with everyone who has recorded — that rule is set out before you pay, so there are no last-minute surprises. You never chase anyone: our reminders do the work, most families get nearly everyone, and your page shows exactly who is still missing. A book with fewer people isn't a thin book, either — we fill it beautifully with family photos, a timeline, and the family tree.
Yes — the dates on this page are built backwards from the printer's real production and shipping times, with buffer. Christmas orders placed by November 20 (contributors recorded by November 29) are guaranteed before December 25; Premium orders by December 2 carry the same guarantee with expedited handling. And if we ever miss, the guarantee above applies — plus a digital reveal of everyone's videos is ready for the day itself, just in case.
$79 for Standard or $99 for Premium — that is the whole cost. Printing, the book, and US delivery are included. Extra copies of the same book are $49 each.
Standard gives each person one page: their photo, a line from them, and the code that plays their video. Premium — the Story Edition — prints their full story on the facing page, in richer color, with room for a longer book, plus priority handling and the later December 2 Christmas cutoff. Every printed story is checked against the person's recording before the book ships.
No. Your link opens in their phone's browser. They read one prompt, press record, add one line — done in about three minutes. The person receiving the book needs nothing but a phone camera to play the videos; their photos and lines are right there on the page.
Yes — and they should; the best stories come out in the language they were lived in. Their line prints in their own words with the English just beneath it, and the video keeps their voice and language whole. Printed stories in the Premium edition are in English for now — writing a family's words down in another language is something we'll only offer when we can do it flawlessly.
Their photo and their line are on paper forever — that part needs no technology at all. The codes point to our own web address, kept stable for the life of the book; permanence is the entire point of the product. And as a backstop that doesn't depend on us at all, your family also receives downloadable copies of every video.
From the day you order until the contributor cutoff for your date — for Christmas, that's November 29. You'll see a live count of who's recorded the whole way.
If it's our error or the printer's, we reprint free and fast — that's covered before you ever need to ask. For Premium, every printed story is checked against the recording before shipping; if a wrong word ever reaches a page, the reprint is on us. And if the book simply isn't what you hoped, the guarantee applies: reprint or refund.
Order by November 20, and on Christmas morning they'll hold a book with everyone they love inside it — their faces, their lines, their voices. On their shelf. Forever.
Create their book — $79