A personalised book about the Vikings

The Vikings are part of the history of Britain and Ireland as well as Scandinavia, which makes them all the more exciting. They sailed across seas, built ships that still impress today, carved runes in stone and told stories of gods and giants by the fire. A book about the Vikings lets your child set off on a voyage in a longship, see how people lived on the farm and perhaps ride out a storm. There are myths to put right, too: most Vikings were farmers, and they had no horns on their helmets. The truth is every bit as interesting as the myths.

In a Viking book your child can sail with the ship on a trading voyage, help on the farm when the harvest must be brought in before winter, or decipher a runestone that tells of a lost treasure. Perhaps a storm forces the crew ashore on an unknown island, or it's your child's job to keep the fire alive in the longhouse while the grown-ups are away. Not everything in the story happened, but the ships, the longhouses and the runestones were real.

Let your child have a Viking name, or keep their own. If you've spotted a carved stone on a walk, visited a museum with Viking finds, or your child has a wooden ship in the play corner, write it in. A child who loves building can help put the ship together, and an animal-loving child can guard the farm's goats. The whole family can be the crew – and nobody needs horns on their helmet.

The youngest get waves, sails and a dragon's head to point at. Pre-schoolers enjoy a simple voyage across the sea and a feast when the ship comes home. School-age children can have a storm, a riddle in runes and a choice that must be made, and ten-year-olds a longer story about leaving home to see the world. The story can also be about those who stayed behind on the farm.

Vikings from Norway and Denmark sailed west to Britain and Ireland, and many settled there: York was once the Viking town of Jorvik, and Dublin began as a Viking settlement. Their gods live on in the days of the week, too: Wednesday is named after Woden, or Odin, and Thursday after Thor. Try writing your child's name in runes on a flat stone with a marker pen. The ships could be both sailed and rowed, and they sat so shallow in the water that they could travel far up rivers. Vikings from Sweden more often headed east, across the Baltic and along the rivers of what is today Russia and Ukraine.

You fill in the child's name, age and what they like, and upload a photo. The story about the Vikings 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.