70th birthday gifts for Mum or Dad
Your Mum or Dad has 70 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 70th birthday gift ideas for Mum or Dad, this is one the whole family will read, the grandchildren most of all.
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.
Seventy years of memories. The stories the grandchildren ask for over and over, and the ones nobody has thought to ask about yet, all gathered into a beautiful hardback book the whole family can share.
It’s a present for your Mum or Dad, and a gift for every generation after them.
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.
70th birthday gift ideas for Grandma or Grandad
Looking for 70th birthday gifts for women or men, for him or for her? By seventy the cupboard is usually full. Another photo frame or personalised mug is lovely for a week. This is the one the grandchildren will still be reading when they’re grown up, and it answers every “what was Grandad like when he was young?” in his own words.
How we compare
A book for the whole family should be a proper one, printed here, with enough copies to go round.
| 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, and the grandchildren will tell them so. Ask what school was like in their day and you’ll get an hour of stories nobody’s heard.
“When my daughter gave me the gift I thought, ‘I haven’t got anything interesting to write about, are you sure?’ But she said yes, all those little details are exactly what they want. It’ll be lovely, for my children and the grandchildren too.”— Avril C.
What if they’re not great with technology?
We’ve made it really simple. A question arrives by email each week, and they answer just by replying. If they’d like company, a son, daughter or grandchild can sit alongside them, or join as an invited storyteller to follow along and add their own memories. Alyson is always on hand if they get stuck.
What if they don’t fancy it, or only answer a few questions?
That’s completely fine, and there’s no risk to you. Even a handful of answers makes a lovely book, and the grandchildren will treasure every page of it. If it’s 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 70th birthday?
On the day, they receive a lovely gift notification with your personal message, and the book grows from there. Most people spend three to six months on it, and some families like to save the finished book for a later get-together. Once they’re happy, the hardback is printed and posted to them within 10 to 14 days.
Can the grandchildren get involved?
Yes, and it’s one of the loveliest parts. Alongside our questions, your Mum or Dad can add any of their own, so the grandchildren can send in theirs: what did you get up to at my age, how did you learn to drive? And extra copies are £50 each, so every family can have one.
“…the thing that I found really quite heartwarming is seeing the children read it and come to me and asking me questions, and sometimes a few tears, sometimes lots of laughter about things.”— Valerie S.
Seventy is when the grandchildren start asking
By seventy there are usually grandchildren old enough to be curious, and old enough to remember the answers. That changes who the book is really for. It stops being a present for one person and becomes the thing the family reaches for later, when somebody wants to know what their grandad actually did in the years nobody talks about, or where Grandma’s Sunday dinner came from.
They usually have the time to answer properly, too, which is what fills a book rather than a chapter. Retirement has settled in, the diary is their own, and a question a week becomes something to look forward to.
And grandchildren make the best audience. They ask the questions the rest of us stopped asking years ago. A book means the answers are kept in their grandparent’s own words, with the photos to go with them.
Three of the questions they might be asked
What did Sundays look like in your house when you were growing up?
What did you do with your first proper wage?
What would you want your grandchildren to know about you?
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 70th birthday gift for the whole family
One purchase. No subscription, no surprises. The gift arrives in their inbox when you choose, and extra copies for the grandchildren are £50 each.
Looking at a different milestone? See the 50th birthday, 60th birthday and 80th birthday life story book pages, or a book for your parents.