A personalised book about learning to ride a bike

Learning to ride a bike is one of the first times a child notices what it feels like when the body suddenly understands something the head has wanted for ages. The road there often runs through grazed knees, frustration and a grown-up jogging alongside holding on to the back of the saddle. A picture book has room for all of it: the courage to climb back on and the joy of those first few metres without help. When your child sees themselves pedalling away in the pictures, it becomes a little easier to believe it will happen in real life too.

A bike book can begin with the bike standing new and shiny in the hall and end with a ride to somewhere your child has never cycled before. In between there's plenty to work with: a tumble on the gravel and a plaster, a hill that looks impossible, the bell ringing at a startled cat, a neighbour clapping from over the fence. Stabilisers, a balance bike or straight onto the pedals – the story can follow whichever route you have chosen. What matters is that it shows falling off and trying again are part of it.

Tell us what the bike really looks like: the colour, the basket, the stickers on the helmet. Write in where you practise – in the school playground on a Sunday morning, on the gravel track by the holiday cottage or in the park round the corner. Who was it that ran alongside and held on? A big brother or sister who can already ride can show how it's done, and the dog can run beside you barking at the wheels. Perhaps there was a particular day when it all clicked, a Tuesday in May or the last day of the summer holidays, and that day can become the book's finale.

At 0–2 the book becomes a rhythm of pedalling and ringing, perhaps on a tricycle or a balance bike. A story for 3–5 can be about one attempt that goes wrong and one that goes right. For 6–9 the challenge can be bigger, a ride to a friend's house on their own or a hill to conquer without putting a foot down, and at 10+ it can become a longer bike trip with a bit of suspense along the way.

After reading, draw a map of a short route and decide where you'll ride next time. Why not give the bike a name? For more, read the idea The bike that wanted to fly, where it's the bike itself that has plans.

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