A Pebble and a Hug: Why I Started Pebblehug
A dad on seeing the world from a three-year-old’s height, why our first two stories are about Mom and Dad, and what the name Pebblehug means.
I’m a dad. When I started Pebblehug, my kid was three.
My kid brought more surprises into my life than I could have imagined. I started crouching down to see the world from a three-year-old’s height, and found myself experiencing everyday life all over again, from a completely new angle. It has been one of the most precious things I’ve known.
These little years are a rare, happy time, and they pass quickly. Kids won’t always be this small. They won’t always reach up to be held, or say “Dad, look!” a dozen times a day. So I wanted to find a beautiful way to hold on to this time.
Who gives more to whom?
Of course I want my kid to grow up happy. But I’m more and more sure of one thing: at least in these early years, this small person brings our family far more joy than we could ever give back.
We teach our kids to talk, to walk, to name colors. They teach us to be amazed again, to be curious again, to laugh out loud at little things.
So I wanted to capture that feeling in picture books made for reading together: stories where a child explores the world with someone they love close by, and feels that love completely.
That’s how Pebblehug began.
About the name
A pebble is a small stone. It’s smooth and round and fits just right in your palm. It’s also hard enough to weather wind and rain, with a quiet strength of its own.
A hug is, well, a hug.
Put them together and you get something like a family: warmth and closeness on the inside, and a hard outer shell that protects everything soft within. That’s what caring for each other looks like to me. The more I say the name, the more it fits. I hope you’ll like it too.
The first book: Dad, Look!
I began imagining stories from the point of view of a dad and his child, and I kept coming back to the same discovery: maybe we don’t teach our children more than they teach us.
A puddle after the rain. A cloud shaped like a bunny. A line of ants moving house along the wall. My kid will suddenly stop, tug my hand and say, “Dad, look!”
It’s our kids who show us a richer world. Dad, Look! is about discovering that world together, child and dad side by side.
The second book: Mom, Will You Miss Me Too?
I noticed how much my kid depends on Mom, wanting to stay by her side every moment. And every time they’re apart, she can’t stop thinking about our little one.
Little ones miss their moms all the time. But don’t moms miss them just as much?
Mom, Will You Miss Me Too? is for the two of them. I wanted it to tell a child, and a mom, that while you’re apart you’re missing each other the whole time, and that missing someone is its own kind of happiness.
You’re in the story
In a Pebblehug book, your child and Mom or Dad are drawn into the story from your photos.
The idea came from my kid. Kids love looking at photos of themselves, and light up when they see themselves drawn as a character. When a child opens a book and finds themselves and someone they love right there in the story, the delight is impossible to hide.
For grown-ups, it’s special too. You’re not just reading your child someone else’s story. You’re reading a story with the two of you in it, together.
About your child’s photos
I’m a parent too. I know how much every mom and dad cares about their child’s photos and privacy, because I care just as much. At Pebblehug:
- Your photos are used only to make and check your book, never for advertising, sale or AI training.
- Photos and personalized books stay private. They never go into a public gallery.
- You can ask us to delete your photos, separately from your finished book.
Protecting your child’s image and privacy is what the pebble’s hard outer shell is for. Read how we care for your photos.
What comes next
Dad, Look! and Mom, Will You Miss Me Too? are where we’re beginning. I hope to keep making stories for reading together, and to bring more children and families joy and memories that last.
I also know one person can only make so much. One day I’d love to do this with more people who write and draw for families. We’ll share more about that here on the blog.
A last thought
Children grow up, and these years pass.
But maybe one afternoon, long from now, my kid, all grown up, will open a picture book starring our family and remember: there was a time when a small hand held ours and showed us the world all over again, and a love that someone took the time to hold on to.
I hope Pebblehug helps more families hold on to times like these. For me, this is something that truly matters. I hope it can be the same for you and your family.
