A personalised book about music

Music reaches children long before words do. They drum on saucepans, sing the same line over and over and start swaying the moment the radio comes on. A book about music makes your child the one playing: finding a note, keeping the beat, singing out loud in front of others. It suits the child who has just started music lessons and the child who mostly sings in the bath. The book is about sound, but also about daring to be heard, and how it feels when several people play together and it suddenly sounds just right.

In a music book, your child can start a band with their brothers and sisters, with saucepans, a guitar with three strings and an audience of cuddly toys. They can find a song that someone has lost and piece it back together bit by bit. Your child can give a concert for Grandma over the phone, or sing to a friend who's sad until the friend joins in. An instrument might even be alive and have strong opinions about what gets played.

It doesn't have to be a big stage and spotlights. A music book can just as well be about playing the same piece every day and hearing it slowly get better.

Which instrument does your child play, or dream of playing? Violin, piano, recorder, ukulele, a drum made from an ice-cream tub – whatever exists in real life comes most alive in the book. Write in the song your child sings all the time, the choir, or a concert you've been to together. If someone in the family plays, they can have a part, and a brother or sister can be given whichever instrument your child thinks suits them best. Even a child who doesn't play anything can be the hero of a music book: the one who always hears the birds first, or recognises a song after two notes.

The text for 0–2 sounds almost like music: boom, ting, toot and clap. In the version for 3–5, there's a concert that nearly goes wrong but is saved. Children of six to nine can have a book about practising, about nerves and about talking things over with their bandmates. From ten, a longer story works well, where your child writes a song of their own and finds the courage to perform it.

Try making an instrument in the kitchen after reading. Line up a few glasses with different amounts of water and tap them gently with a spoon – the more water in the glass, the lower the note. Anyone who loves moving to music will find more in Dance.

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