60th birthday gifts for Mum or Dad
Your Mum or Dad has 60 years of stories. This is how you capture them.
A professionally printed hardback book of their life, in their own words. If you’re looking for 60th birthday gift ideas for Mum or Dad, this is one for the start of their next chapter.
That covers everything: the guided questions, a question emailed each week, Alyson’s personal help, and one premium near-A4 hardback. Extra copies for the family are £50 each.
Nearly A4 · premium hardback · up to 200 pages · printed & bound in the UK
A real page from a finished YourStory book
See the questions first
Get a free sample of the book and the questions we ask, sent straight to your inbox.
Sixty years of memories. The career, the moves, the children, the friends who stuck. All the stories behind them, gathered into a beautiful hardback book just as life opens up with a bit more time to tell them.
A new chapter is coming. This is how you capture the chapters so far.
How it works
You buy the gift
It takes about five minutes. Choose when the gift notification reaches your parent, on the morning of their birthday if you like, and add your own personal message.
They tell their story, at their own pace
Each week we email your parent one of their questions. They simply reply to that email with their answer and it goes straight into their book, or they can log in to answer whenever suits them. Most people start with our Perfect Path, ten of our most popular questions, then choose from over 200 more covering their whole life, or add as many of their own as they like. There’s no deadline and no pressure.
We make the book
They add their own photos and choose how the book looks. Once they’re happy, we print it as a premium hardback and post it to them within 10 to 14 days.
“I’m Alyson, and I run YourStory with my Brother David. I read every story before it goes to print* because this isn’t a factory, it’s a family.” *if you’d like me to
We started YourStory after losing our Dad young and watching our Nana’s memories fade. We know what it means to capture a life while there’s still time.
Real families, real stories
A proper book
Most memory books are the size of a paperback. Ours is nearly A4, 189mm by 246mm. The kind of book you display rather than tuck away in a drawer. Premium hardback, printed and bound in the UK, up to 200 pages.
What’s included
- A free read-through by Alyson before it goes to print, if you’d like one.
- Complete privacy. No one sees the book unless you choose to share it.
- Easy access, by email or login, whenever and wherever.
- Want to stay involved? Join as an invited storyteller to log in, follow along and add your own memories as the book takes shape.
- A premium hardback, printed and bound in the UK.
- A genuine 30-day money-back guarantee from the day you buy: if they would rather not do it, just email us within 30 days for a full refund.
No risk to you: a genuine 30-day money-back guarantee from the day you buy. If your parent would rather not do it, just email us within 30 days for a full refund.
Unlike US subscription services, there’s no annual fee and no auto-renewal. One payment, printed and bound here in the UK.
60th birthday gift ideas that aren’t flowers or chocolates
Whether you’re looking for 60th birthday gifts for women or for men, a gift for her or a gift for him, sixty is when the usual presents run out. They’ve had the spa day, the engraved pen and the weekend away. With retirement on the horizon, or already here, what most people want more of is time, and something worth spending it on. This gives them both. It gets read, and then it gets kept.
How we compare
If they’re about to have more time, they shouldn’t have to spend it racing a deadline.
| Us | USA services | DIY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Printed & bound | In the UK | Shipped from the USA | You arrange it |
| The book | Near-A4, full colour, up to 200 pages | Smaller, black & white as standard | Varies |
| Pace | No deadline, your own pace | 12-month deadline | Your own |
| Renewals | One-off, never auto-renews | Auto-renewing subscription | None |
| Personal help | Alyson reads every book | App or FAQ only | None |
The bits you might be wondering about
What if they don’t think their stories are interesting?
They always are. By sixty there’s a whole working life, a family and a few reinventions to draw on, and each question is there to bring out a story they’d never think to tell you unprompted.
“I had some doubts over gifting the book because quite frankly nothing interesting has ever happened in my Mum’s life! However the end product is fantastic.”— Clare R.
What if they’re not great with technology?
We’ve made it really simple. A question arrives by email each week, and they answer simply by replying or logging into their account. Alyson is always on hand if they get stuck.
“My heart sank slightly when my daughter told me she’d sign me up to your story because I’m not very techy. But it’s all been much easier than I expected.”— Sara L.
What if they don’t fancy it, or only answer a few questions?
That’s fine, and there’s no risk to you. There’s no deadline, so a slow start before retirement is no problem, and even a handful of answers makes a lovely book. If one’s ever looking a little thin, we’ll gently nudge them with a few more prompts. And if your parent would rather not do it at all, just email us within 30 days for a full refund.
Will it be ready for the 60th birthday?
The gift arrives on the morning you choose, with your personal message, so nothing has to be finished by the birthday. They can start gently and pick up the pace once they have more time; most people spend three to six months on it. Once they’re happy, the finished hardback is printed and posted to them within 10 to 14 days.
What if they’re still working?
Most people turning sixty are. One question a week fits easily around a working life, and there’s no deadline, so they can start slowly now and do more once they’ve retired, when there’s time to really enjoy it.
Sixty doesn’t feel like a looking-back age
Most people turning sixty are still working, still busy, and still firmly in the middle of things. But retirement is usually on the horizon, or has just arrived, and with it comes something they haven’t had for decades: time.
That’s what makes sixty such a good age to begin. They have enough behind them to have plenty worth telling, from the first job to the children to the friendships that have lasted, and the energy to enjoy telling it. As work winds down, a book of their own life is a lovely thing to have on the go. It gives the new free time a shape.
This is not a summing-up and it is not a goodbye. It’s a record of the chapters so far, started at the turn of a new one, by someone still very much adding to it.
Three of the questions they might be asked
What was the first job that taught you something you still use?
Who shaped you most, and did you ever tell them?
What has changed in your lifetime that you never saw coming?
A bit about us
YourStory was born out of a desire to keep our family memories alive. Having lost our Dad young, and witnessed our Nana’s Alzheimer’s journey, we know how it feels to want to preserve a life story before the chance is gone. We’re proud to be a UK based, Sister and Brother run business, here to help you capture the stories that matter while there’s still time to ask.
We donate to the Alzheimer’s Society for every book published.
A 60th birthday gift for their next chapter
One purchase. No subscription, no surprises. The gift arrives in their inbox when you choose, and they can carry their story into the next chapter at their own pace.
Looking at a different milestone? See the 50th birthday, 70th birthday and 80th birthday life story book pages, or a book for your parents.