The blog

About reading aloud, photos, gifts and books where the children are in the story themselves.

Preparing your child for a new sibling: before and after the birth

It’s easy to think of a new baby as a gift for your older child. To them, it can feel more like someone moving into their room without asking, and never moving out. Here’s how to help, whether you have a two-year-old who doesn’t understand, a three-year-old who wants a bottle again or a school-age child who says nothing at all.

Let your child make up a story: how to create stories together

When children make up their own stories, they practise skills that help with reading and writing later: putting events in order, explaining why something matters and choosing words. You don’t need to prepare anything, just listen and write. Here’s how to get started from around age three, what the research says and how a story can become a real book.

Christmas books for children aged 1, 4 or 10: choosing the right story

A one-year-old wants to point at Grandma. A four-year-old wants to save a dragon. A ten-year-old definitely doesn't want anything that seems babyish. A book with the child as the hero can suit all three, but the stories need to be written very differently. Here's how it works, and how to get your book in time for Christmas.

Last-minute Christmas gift for children: a book ready in minutes

Christmas is only a few days away, it’s too late for delivery and there’s still a name on your list. A personalised children’s book starring the child is ready to read as an eBook within minutes of payment. Here’s how to make it, and how to wrap a gift you can’t hold.

Christmas stories to read aloud in Advent: ten minutes on even the tiredest evenings

December is busy, and for a four-year-old waiting for Santa, it can feel very long indeed. Reading aloud won't make the rush disappear, but it can bring a little calm at the end of the day. Here are some classics, a way to count down with your child's own book and a few honest words about the evenings when reading just doesn't happen.

Christmas gift for a godchild, niece or nephew: a book with you in it too

You’re not their parent, but you’re someone special. Perhaps you taught them to fish or always have a spare hat in the car. A book with the child as the hero and you alongside them makes a Christmas gift about the two of you. Here’s how to create one without stepping on their parents’ toes.

How to take the photo that gives the best likeness, even of a child who won’t sit still

The whole book is drawn from a single photo, so that photo matters a great deal. It doesn’t have to be a nice one. It needs to be sharp, show the face straight on and show the child as they look on an ordinary day.

Reading aloud: why it matters, and how to make it happen on an ordinary Tuesday

Reading aloud gives words, closeness and a quiet moment in a day that is otherwise full. Most people know that. The hard part is making it happen when dinner was late, someone refuses to brush their teeth and you are nearly asleep yourself by page two. Here is what the research says, what reading together can look like at different ages and how it can find a place in the day that lasts.

A personal present for a birthday party: six ideas that won’t end up in a drawer

At a party with ten children the pile of presents is torn open in five minutes, and three of the parcels contain the same building set. A personal present doesn’t have to be big. It should show that someone has thought about this particular child. Here are six ideas, and you can do most of them without us.

Siblings, cousins and the dog in one book – without anyone being left out

There’s room for five characters in a book. Here’s how to bring siblings, cousins, grandparents and pets into the same story, and make sure no one is left standing in the background. Children notice. Every time.

A book of their own for starting nursery, moving, a new sibling or a dentist visit

The unknown can feel less daunting when a child has been there before, even in a story. Here’s how to make a book that prepares them for something new, with your child overcoming the challenge by the final page.

A Christmas gift for your grandchild: a book starring them and you

You want to give something that lasts beyond Christmas, not another plastic toy. A book with your grandchild as the hero and you alongside them is a gift they can bring out again next December. Here’s how to plan ahead, choose a story, write a foreword and get the book to the family.