Christmas gift for a 7-year-old: a personalised children's book

Your seven-year-old may be reading word by word, sentence by sentence. A book starring them is a good reason to keep going. Four to seven sentences per page, short lines of dialogue and a mission to complete make it an adventure to read independently or with a grown-up beside them.

Create a book for a 7-year-old

Hardback in time for Christmas: order by 3 December

When reading starts to click

For many seven-year-olds, this is when letters turn into words and words into sentences. Sometimes progress is slow, sometimes it's suddenly fast, and every child is different. Seven-year-olds want to know how things really work and collect facts about sharks, planets or football teams. Friends and rules matter, and anything that feels unfair can bring out strong feelings. Their sense of humour is growing too, and riddles and silly words are often a hit. A book for this age needs a story that keeps moving, so children want to find out what happens, and dialogue that breaks the text into small chunks. Seeing their own name on each page can encourage them to keep going.

Would you like to see a finished book before you decide? Browse our example books.

Two themes for a new reader

In the library, the shelves become a world of their own. Perhaps a book opens a door, or a dragon is hiding behind the atlas. It's a lovely choice for a child who's just started borrowing books independently. If your child would rather work magic, choose wizard school, with a wand, spells that go wrong and a classmate who needs help. Every spell they read aloud is a little reading practice too.

Choose a theme

What to include in a seven-year-old's book

Let your child make some of the decisions. Seven-year-olds often have strong opinions about which style looks best and who should be in the story. Add interests the adventure can draw on: perhaps your child knows every kind of shark, or always has a torch in their coat pocket. Classmates can appear if their parents agree, as can siblings, a granny or the family dog. Honesty and friendship are good messages when so much happens in the playground. In the foreword, you could write how proud you are of their reading, knowing they may be able to read it themselves.

Reading alone or aloud together

Many seven-year-olds enjoy reading one page and listening to the next. Try taking turns: you read the narration and your child reads the hero's lines. The book is just as good on a Saturday morning or during the holidays as it is at bedtime. As a seventh birthday present, it celebrates your child as a reader. They could show it to someone special, a grandad or a teacher, and read a page aloud. If a sentence feels too difficult, you can change it afterwards. And once they've finished the book, you can make a sequel with the same heroes.

Remind me before the birthday

Not quite yet? We e-mail you two to three weeks before the child's birthday, in time for a printed book. Once a year, nothing else.

You turn the reminder on in the e-mail we send. We keep only the address and the date, see the privacy policy.

Questions about books for 7 years

The 6–9 age range gives you four to seven sentences per page, with dialogue, in language written for children who've started reading. Many seven-year-olds read some of it themselves and the rest with a grown-up.

You can rewrite it. Every sentence can be changed afterwards, before you order the printed book.

Yes, if their parents agree. There's room for up to five characters, each with their own photo.

Yes. A finished book can be translated into one of 39 languages free of charge, keeping the same pictures.