A personalised book about the Middle Ages

The Middle Ages are a time children have often met in games and fairy tales, but they really happened. There were castles, markets, knights and monks, and across Britain traces of that time are still standing in churches, city walls and old street plans. A book about the Middle Ages lets your child wander among the market stalls, help the blacksmith and climb a castle tower. It gives a feel for what life was like without electricity or cars, but with plenty of craftsmanship, music and storytelling.

A Middle Ages book can let your child help a blacksmith, unmask a cheat at the market or carry messages between the castle and the monastery when the drawbridge has already been raised for the night. Perhaps your child becomes a jester's apprentice, or follows a squire training for his first tournament. The events are made up, but the castle, the market and the monastery are taken from the period. If your child would rather have dragons with their knights, the theme knights and dragons is a good fit.

Think about which craft your child would choose. A child who loves building can become the carpenter's apprentice, one who loves animals can look after the castle horses, and one who sings can travel with the minstrels. If you have visited a castle, a medieval fair or an old stone church, include it in your description. A brother or sister can be the squire, and Grandad can be the old watchman in the tower. The family pet can become the castle cat who keeps the rats out of the stores.

Small children enjoy pictures of horses, flags and towers. Children of nursery age love joining the market from morning till night. From six, a child can follow a little plot, like a saddle strap someone has cut. For ten-year-olds the book can show the difference between how knights lived and how life was for the peasants.

York is still ringed by walls from the Middle Ages, and you can walk along much of them today; they were built to protect the city. Many British churches also date from medieval times, so there may be one just round the corner. Afterwards you can build a castle from cardboard boxes, with a drawbridge you can raise with a piece of string. Talk about what it would be like to live without electricity: how do you cook, how do you see in the evening, what do you do when it rains? In the Middle Ages light came from tallow candles and the fire in the hearth.

You fill in the child's name, age and what they like, and upload a photo. The story about the Middle Ages is written for your very own child, and the thirteen pictures and the cover are drawn from the photo in the style you choose. Brothers and sisters, parents, grandparents or the pet can come along, up to five characters. If you would like to include something that has happened lately, a trip or a lost tooth, just write it and it is woven in.

The eBook is ready a few minutes after payment. Read it, change the text and ask for new pictures until you are happy. Then order it as an A4 hardback book, printed and sent to your door, or straight to the child as a gift. Do add the audiobook or the colouring pages. Start creating the book or read more about the prices. Would you like to see a finished book before you decide? Browse our example books.