Why the theme A trip to the farm makes a good book
An adventure that suits the child
On a farm, everything is real and bigger than a child expects. Up close a cow is enormous, the pig really does grunt and root about, and the milk comes from an animal rather than a carton in the fridge. Children love the animal noises and doing something with their hands – feeding, brushing, collecting eggs. A book about the farm puts your child right in the middle of the work for a whole day, from the cockerel's first crow to the evening milking, and helps them understand a bit more about where the food on their plate comes from.
A day in wellies
There's plenty to do on a farm, and all of it fits in a book. Your child can carry buckets of food to the pigs and hear them slurp and snuffle. The horse might need grooming, with your child standing on a stool to reach its mane. There could be a ride in the tractor with the farmer, the engine rumbling so hard the whole seat shakes. Or a hunt for a goat that has slipped out through the gate and is hiding among the gooseberry bushes.
A farm changes with the seasons: lambs in spring, haymaking in summer, the harvest in autumn and animals tucked up indoors in the warm all winter. The story can take place at any time of year.
The animals you know
If you've visited a farm – a relative's, a city farm, a farm shop with animals in the paddock – the book can start there. Write in your child's favourite animal, what the animals were called and who came along. If grandparents live in the countryside, they make natural helpers. And if your child has their own idea about what the newborn calf should be called, or what a lamb has for breakfast, let that idea come along into the story.
Moo, oink and cock-a-doodle-doo
The very littlest love to point and copy, so at the youngest age the animal noises carry the whole book. A pre-schooler follows the day in order, from the morning jobs to supper. Between 6 and 9, your child gets a task to solve together with the farmer. For ten-year-olds and up, the farm can be shown over a whole year, with a little drama when a storm blows in.
Talk about breakfast after reading: which animal did the milk come from, and the egg, and the cheese? A cow gives milk after she has had a calf, which is good to know when you're standing next to her in the cowshed. If your child would like to meet animals that don't live on a farm, The Zoo could be the next book.
Your child is the hero
You fill in the child's name, age and what they like, and upload a photo. The story about the farm 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.
From eBook to hardback book
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.
How the story could begin
The cockerel crows before the sun has even climbed over the barn roof. You pull on your wellies, the green ones that are a bit too big, and step out into the morning mist. The gravel crunches under your feet. Somewhere a sheep bleats, and another one answers. The farmer is already standing by the hen house with a basket on her arm. “Would you like to collect the eggs today?” she asks. Inside the hen house it's warm and dim and smells of straw. Carefully, you slide your hand under a brown hen. She clucks a little but doesn't move. There's an egg, still warm. Then another. But in the last nest, right at the back in the corner, lies something else. It's an egg, but it's as blue as the sky and so big you need both hands to lift it. And it's moving.










