A personalized book about the amusement park

For a lot of children, the amusement park is what a big day looks like: music coming from every direction, queues that make your tummy flutter and a height marker beside every ride. In a book, your child can go on everything at their own pace, linger on a page for as long as they like and feel the swoop in their stomach without it ever becoming too much. The book also holds what belongs to a day like that – wanting to but not daring, and then daring and wanting to go again straight away. Before a visit, it shows what lies ahead. Afterwards, it becomes a memory to leaf through.

The dodgems are a good place to start: your child steers, Grandad crashes and the laughter echoes under the tin roof. Then perhaps the hall of mirrors, where your child is as tall as a lamp post in one mirror and as flat as a pancake in the next. Maybe they ride the big wheel and see the whole town from the top, or win a cuddly toy bigger than themselves at the tombola and give it away to someone who needs it more.

The story doesn't have to be about the tallest rides. A child who would rather take the little train round the pond is every bit as much the hero.

Have you already been, or is it a trip you're planning for the summer? Tell us what you did or what you've got in mind: which ride became the favourite, who came along, the ice cream that melted all down a hand. If there was something your child didn't dare do at first and then did, that makes a lovely turning point for the story. An older brother or sister who is tall enough for more rides can join in too – it gives the book something to work out together. Do add a detail only your family will understand, like Mum always going dizzy in the teacups, or the cone of chips you share on the bench by the pond.

The youngest reader gets sounds and colours: round and round, up and down, the balloon is red. A four-year-old follows the whole day, from the gate to the sleepy drive home. Choose 6–9 and there is room for a little problem with proper dialogue, like the rabbit in the hall of mirrors. For a twelve-year-old, the park can become the setting for real suspense, perhaps an evening after closing time when the lights still come on, one by one.

Once you've finished reading, you could draw a ride of your own and think up a name for it. Lots of real rides have a minimum height, and measuring yourself against the door frame at home becomes a game in itself. If it's the sweets and the colours that appeal most, Candy Land 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 amusement park 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 hardcover book, printed and sent to your door, or straight to the child as a gift. Do add the audiobook or the coloring 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.