LuluStories offers 10+ distinct art styles — from soft watercolour to bold anime to rich cinematic 3D. Choose the look that matches your child's personality, and the AI does the rest. Every style, every page, perfectly consistent.
A storybook isn't just words—it's a world. The illustration style shapes the mood, emotion, and experience. Soft watercolours create warmth for bedtime stories, cinematic 3D brings adventures to life, and anime delights young animation fans.
Choosing the right style makes the story feel truly made for your child.
At LuluStories, your chosen style stays consistent from the first page to the last, creating one beautiful, immersive world throughout the entire book.
Soft, warm, and timeless. Watercolour illustration has a hand-painted quality that feels gentle and classic — like the storybooks you remember from your own childhood. The colours bleed and bloom at the edges, giving each page a dreamy, organic texture. Best for: toddlers and young children, bedtime stories, gentle adventures, gifts from grandparents.
Rich, detailed, and visually immersive. Cinematic 3D produces illustrations with depth, lighting, and texture that feel closer to an animated film than a traditional picture book. Characters have weight and presence. Scenes feel like places you could step into. Best for: ages 4–10, adventure stories, children who love animated movies, printed hardcovers where the visual quality really shows.
Painterly, magical, and full of wonder. Inspired by the visual language of the world's most beloved animation studio, this style blends soft natural colour with expressive characters and richly detailed backgrounds. Every page feels like a still from a beautiful animated film. Best for: imaginative children, nature and fantasy adventures, families who love Ghibli films, children aged 4–12.
Bold, expressive, and vibrant. Anime-style illustration features the characteristic large eyes, dynamic compositions, and vivid colour palette familiar from Japanese animation. Characters are expressive and energetic, and the visual style carries a sense of movement even on a still page. Best for: children aged 6–12 who love animation and manga, action and adventure stories, children who want something different from a traditional picture book.
Bright, bold, and instantly cheerful. The Western cartoon style — think classic animated television — uses clean outlines, flat colour, and exaggerated expressions to create illustrations that are joyful and immediately engaging. Simple enough for the youngest children, energetic enough to hold older ones. Best for: toddlers and early readers, funny and adventurous stories, children who love classic cartoons.
LuluStories offers additional illustration styles beyond these five — including styles suited to specific themes, moods, and age groups. When you start creating your story, you'll see the full range available and can preview how your chosen style looks before generating the complete book.
One of the most striking things about choosing an illustration style on LuluStories is seeing how dramatically different the same character looks across styles. The same child — the same uploaded photo, the same face — becomes a watercolour painting, a cinematic animated character, a Ghibli-world adventurer, an anime hero, and a classic cartoon star.
This is worth taking a moment to explore before you commit. When you create your story, you can see previews of different styles before generating the full book. There's no wrong answer — the right choice is simply the one that feels most like your child.
Not sure which style to pick? Here's a simple guide based on age and personality.
For gifts from grandparents, Watercolour is consistently the most loved choice. It feels classic, warm, and timeless — the kind of illustration style that feels appropriate in any home and evokes the best qualities of traditional picture books. For any age or occasion, the preview feature means you can always see how your child looks in a style before committing to the full story.
Whatever style you choose, your child's illustrated character looks the same on every page — same face, same features, from illustration one to the last. This is what separates LuluStories from general AI image tools.
The chosen style isn't just applied to the character — it defines the entire visual world of the book. Backgrounds, colours, textures, and mood are all consistent with your chosen illustration style.
Before the full story is generated, you can preview how your chosen style looks. If it's not quite right, switch and try another — there's no cost to exploring.
Every LuluStories illustration style is designed to print at high quality. Whether you're ordering a premium hardcover in Watercolour or Cinematic 3D, the printed result looks as good as the digital version.
Start creating for free. Upload a photo, choose a style, and see your child illustrated in their own personalised adventure — in minutes.
Start creating — it's free