A personalised book about the zoo

At the zoo, animals from other parts of the world come so close that your child can hear them chewing. It's one thing to see a lion in a book and quite another to stand on the other side of the glass while it yawns. Children often fall for one animal in particular and want to stay there for ages. A book about the zoo lets your child do just that, and go behind the scenes as well: help with the feeding, learn the animals' names and see what ordinary visitors rarely get to see.

In a zoo book, your child can help at feeding time for the sea lions and watch them catch fish in mid-air. They can weigh a tortoise with the keepers and write the weight down in a folder. Your child might get to stay after closing time, when the animals make their evening noises and the lamps come on along the paths. Or a small animal has escaped from its enclosure, and it's your child who finds it under a park bench.

The zoo is full of details to look at, too: glass walls where animals and children look each other in the eye, signposts with maps, an ice-cream kiosk, a playground shaped like a whale.

If your child has an animal they talk about constantly, let the whole book revolve around it. Write in which zoo you've visited or would like to visit, who came along and what you ate. If there was an animal you never got to see because it was asleep, the book can let it wake up just for your child. If your child bought a cuddly toy to remember the day, it can come along in the story, perhaps with strong views about which animals are best.

One animal per page, with its name and its sound, is just right for the youngest. Children between three and five walk round the zoo in a clear order, with a little surprise at the end. A nine-year-old can let the panda's key lead to a riddle that has to be solved before closing time. From ten, there's room for a longer story about caring for animals and the responsibility that comes with it.

When the book is finished, invent a mixed-up animal of your own, like a giraffe with penguin feet, and decide where it lives. Talk about where animals come from: almost all penguins live in the southern half of the world, while polar bears live far in the north. So the two would never meet in the wild. If it's the big animals that appeal most, The Savannah could be the next book.

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