A personalised book about goodnight

A bedtime story does something different from most books: it isn't meant to wake you up, it's meant to land. The rhythm is slow, the pictures soft and the ending still. Reading a story in which your child snuggles down, switches off the light and falls asleep becomes part of the evening's routine, like pyjamas and the glass of water. Your child recognises their own room, their own pillow and the people who usually sit on the edge of the bed. It gives a sense that the day is over and everything is as it should be.

Even a bedtime story can have a plot, as long as it moves at a calm pace. Your child can take a quiet walk through the house and say goodnight to everything that sleeps: the cat in its basket, the pot plants, the bike in the shed. They can sail away in a boat made of clouds and come back before anyone notices. A cuddly toy who can't sleep can get help from your child counting sheep, until both of them are yawning. The idea The star that could not sleep is built on the same thought.

What decides it is the ending. The last page of a bedtime story should end in a dark room, slow breathing and a feeling that everyone is where they ought to be. Better to put the little bit of excitement in the middle of the book than near the end.

Describe your bedtime routine, and the book can follow it: the bath, the pyjamas with rockets on, the story, the song that's always sung last. Write in the cuddly toy's name and who usually reads. If your child shares a room with a brother or sister, they can lie in the next bed and whisper one last question. If your child has their own night light, a special blanket or a habit with the water glass, those are exactly the kind of details that make a child recognise themselves.

For a baby or a two-year-old the text becomes almost a lullaby: hat off, light out, night-night, little one. A four-year-old gets a short journey that always ends in bed. Slightly older children can have conversation and a dream-walk that resolves gently before sleep arrives. Once your child has turned ten, the book can be read over several sittings, a chapter an evening, with a soft suspense that rests until the next day.

Talk for a little while when the book is finished. What was the best thing that happened today? What will you dream about tonight? Keep the answer short and the voice low.

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