Legacy books for parents and grandparents keep a life for the family, and they come in five main kinds: fill-in journals the parent completes, prompt books that print a year of the parent's answers, memory books of letters from family and friends, memoirs written from interviews, and a researched family book that adds the records and the generations before.
Most legacy books are given as gifts, and the choice is easier once it is clear who will do the work: the parent, the family, a writer or a researcher. This guide compares the kinds and their published prices. It then shows how to make one yourselves and how to plan back from the date.
Key points
- A legacy book, or memory book, keeps one person's life and words for the children and grandchildren.
- The kinds differ most in who does the work: the parent, the family, a writer or a researcher.
- Fill-in journals cost about $15 to $25, prompt books $49 to $199 a year, and memoirs written from interviews from $3,250.
- A family can make its own from recorded conversations and photographs, printed as a hardcover photo book.
- Only a researched family book checks the stories against records and reaches the generations before the parent.
What a legacy book or memory book is
A legacy book, also called a legacy journal, a memory book or a life story book, keeps one person's life and words for the family. The person may write it, or the family or a writer may gather it from them.
A family history book reaches further. It follows the whole family across generations, usually back past anyone living, and draws on records as well as memory, so a parent's legacy book often becomes one chapter of it. What a family history book is sets out those kinds.
The kinds of legacy book, side by side
| Kind | Who does the work | How long it takes | Published price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fill-in journalSuch as Grandmother Remembers | The parent, who writes the answers in the book | As long as the parent takes | About $15 to $25 |
| Fill-in book about a grandparentSuch as What I Love About Grandma | The grandchildren | An afternoon | About $10 |
| Prompt bookStoryworth, Remento, Loristry | The parent answers a question each week, and the service prints the answers | A year of questions, then printing | Storyworth $59 to $199 for the year; Remento $99 for the first year; Loristry $49 to $199 a year |
| Memory book from family and friends | One organizer gathers letters and photographs and has them printed | Six to eight weeks | The printing: a 20-page hardcover from about $30 to $85 |
| Written memoirStoryTerrace, LifeBook Memoirs | A writer interviews the parent and writes the book | Four to seven months at StoryTerrace | From $3,250 at StoryTerrace to $42,000 at LifeBook Memoirs |
| Researched family bookZichronos | A researcher finds and translates the records, interviews relatives and writes the book | Three to four months; a first edition in thirty days when the book is needed by a date | Set out in what a family history book costs |
Prices as each maker publishes them, checked October 2026. They change, so confirm on the maker's own site before buying.
Fill-in journals and "tell me your story" books
A fill-in journal is a printed book of questions with room for the answers, which the parent or grandparent writes in over weeks or months. Some have been in print for decades, such as Grandmother Remembers, whose 30th anniversary hardcover lists at $21.95. Newer guided journals include Mom, I Want to Hear Your Story and its companion for a father. Most cost about $15 to $25.
Some parents find blank lines hard to begin. The answers come more easily when a son or daughter sits with them and writes while they talk, and the journal still holds the parent's own words.
Grandma books and personalized books for grandparents
A search for a grandma book or a personalized book for grandparents finds two other kinds. One is a fill-in book the grandchildren complete about the grandparent, such as What I Love About Grandma. The other is a picture book printed with the grandparent's name and the grandchildren's. Both suit small children, and neither records the grandparent's own story, so they sit well beside a journal or a recorded conversation.
Prompt books: a question a week for a year
A prompt service sends the parent a question each week for a year and prints the answers as a hardcover. Storyworth charges from $59 for one black-and-white book to $199 for two color books, for the year. Remento charges $99 for the first year with one hardcover, and $69 for each extra copy. Loristry has plans at $49, $99 and $199 a year, and the lowest gives a digital book only.
The book holds what the parent chose to tell. Nobody checks the names and dates against records. Remento vs Storyworth compares the services in detail.
Memory books from family and friends
A memory book for a parent gathers letters, stories and photographs from the people who know them: children, grandchildren, brothers and sisters, and old friends. One person asks each for a page by a set date and has the pages printed. It asks nothing of the parent, which matters when a parent is unwell, and it makes a fitting tribute book for a birthday.
Allow six to eight weeks, since people answer slowly. At Mixbook and Shutterfly a 20-page hardcover starts at about $30 to $85 depending on size, and each extra page costs about $1.80 to $2.75. Meaningful 80th birthday gifts covers who to ask and how to lay it out.
Written memoirs
A memoir firm pairs the parent with an interviewer and a writer, who turns several hours of conversation into a book in the parent's voice. StoryTerrace publishes packages from $3,250, with four copies and 60 to 120 pages, to $24,000 and more with twenty copies, and says it aims to finish each project in four to seven months. LifeBook Memoirs lists $18,000, $27,000 and $42,000, with 10 to 24 hardbacks.
Like a prompt book, a memoir is not usually checked against records, and documents in other languages stay unread. Hiring a biographer for a parent covers what to ask.
A researched family book
A researched family book starts from the parent's memories and goes on to the records. A researcher finds the parent's records and their parents' arrival, writes to archives abroad, translates what comes back, and writes the story with the parent's account beside what the records show. The book holds the family tree, maps of the places, the records with their translations, and a plain statement of what is still unknown.
It reaches the parent's grandparents and their towns, which the parent may know only from stories. At Zichronos most commissions take three to four months, and a standard commission includes five hardcover copies and a PDF.
How to make a legacy book for a parent or grandparent
A family can make its own life story book for a parent or grandparent, in these steps:
- Decide who writes. A parent who likes to write can fill in a journal; for one who would rather talk, sit with them and record while they speak.
- Choose questions in the order of a life, from the parent's own grandparents to the present, and add the family's own, such as the names in Hebrew or Yiddish and the shul.
- Set a regular time, such as an hour each week, and record every conversation so nothing depends on notes.
- Write up each answer in the parent's own words, and ask the parent to check the names and dates.
- Gather photographs for each chapter, and write under each who is in it, with the year and the place.
- Print one copy to check, then one for each branch of the family.
Checklist
- Full names of the parent's parents and grandparents, with their Hebrew or Yiddish names
- The family's town, in every spelling the parent knows
- Dates of births, marriages and the family's arrival
- Where the parent's parents and grandparents are buried
- Who in the family holds the papers and photographs
However the book is made, these details are what a researcher needs later. How to record a parent's stories explains how to keep the recordings safe.
Choosing for your parent or grandparent
- A parent who likes to write: a fill-in journal, or a prompt book for a year.
- A parent who would rather talk: recorded conversations, or a memoir written from interviews.
- A parent who is unwell or tires easily: a memory book from the family, which asks nothing of them.
- A family that wants to know where it came from: a researched family book, with the parent's memories as its starting point.
The kinds work together: a filled journal gives a researcher the names and towns to look for, and the parent's own words can open each chapter of a researched book.
Planning back from a birthday, an anniversary or a bar mitzvah
A legacy book is often given when the family gathers: a parent's 80th or 90th birthday, a 50th anniversary, or a grandchild's bar mitzvah. Count back from the date.
| Before the date | What to start |
|---|---|
| Four months or more | A researched book or a memoir, and recorded conversations with the parent |
| Two to three months | Letters and photographs from relatives and old friends for a memory book |
| Six weeks | Naming the photographs and laying out the pages |
| Three weeks | Sending the memory book to print, and deciding who presents each gift |
| The day itself | A journal or a prompt book, since the writing comes after |
When a researched book is needed in less than four months, a priority commission builds a first edition in thirty days from the family's papers, interviews and the records that can be searched directly, and printed copies arrive in time. Records that arrive later go into an updated edition, and a priority fee applies. Meaningful 80th birthday gifts has a fuller plan.
Sources: each maker's published prices and terms, checked October 2026, including StoryTerrace and its answers on timing, Mixbook, Shutterfly, and the publishers' list prices for the journals named.
Questions families ask
What are the best legacy books for parents?
The best one is the one the parent will finish. A parent who likes to write does well with a fill-in journal or a year of weekly questions. A parent who prefers to talk does better with recorded conversations or a memoir from interviews. A family that wants the generations before the parent needs a researched family book.
What is the best memory book for parents to fill out?
One whose questions fit the parent's life. Read the questions before buying: a parent from a Jewish home should be asked about the shul, Shabbos and Yom Tov, the family's town and the names in Yiddish and Hebrew. A notebook with your own questions can serve as well.
How can I start a legacy journal for my parents or grandparents?
Buy a fill-in journal or a plain notebook, and write the first questions in it yourself, about the parent's own parents and the house they grew up in. Set a regular time to sit together. If writing is hard for them, ask the questions aloud and write or record the answers while they talk.
What is the difference between a legacy journal and a family history book?
A legacy journal holds one person's memories, written by them in answer to printed questions. A family history book follows the whole family across generations and draws on records as well as memory. A filled journal is good material for a family history, since its names and towns are what the archives need.
How do I preserve my parents' life stories for future generations?
Record them while the parents can tell them, in their own voices, and write down the names, dates and towns they mention. Keep copies in more than one place. Then check the stories against records where you can, and print a book so that every branch of the family has a copy.
Where a parent's story leads
The names, towns and dates a parent writes in a journal are what the archives need. A Zichronos book starts from them and finds the records behind them, with the parent's own words kept beside what the records show. Family history book examples shows what such a book holds, and Inside a book shows the example's pages. What a family history book costs compares every kind of book, and How we work sets out the steps.
Gifts for other milestones are in milestones and meaningful gifts, and gifts for a parent who seems to have everything are in meaningful gifts for grandparents and parents.