A personalised book about the police

The police are one of the first jobs children recognise, with the uniform, the blue lights and sometimes a dog. Lots of children like the idea of someone who keeps things in order and helps people who are having a hard time. A book about the police lets your child hunt for clues, question witnesses and solve a case that ends well. It's seldom about chasing villains and more often about finding what has gone missing and making sure everyone is all right again. It gives a reassuring picture of who comes when something has happened.

A police book can be about a lost cuddly toy, a bike that has vanished, a mysterious footprint in the snow or a rabbit that has escaped from the zoo. Your child can draw a 'missing' poster, question a parrot that only repeats the last thing it heard, stop the traffic while a family of ducks crosses the road and, on the last page, return what was missing to the person who had been searching. The police can also be the ones who help a child who got lost in a shop find their family again, and that can make a calm and reassuring story.

Give the book a place you recognise: the high street, the school playground, the park behind your house. If your child has really lost something and found it again, that can become the case itself. A brother or sister can be a colleague, the dog a police dog and Grandma an important witness. Your child's own rucksack can be the bag where the magnifying glass is kept. Perhaps there's a police station in town that you often walk past.

The youngest only need a car, a blue light and a friendly officer helping someone get home. At pre-school age, a puzzle with two or three clues works well, clues your child can spot in the pictures before the hero finds them. School-age children enjoy drawing their own conclusions and sometimes getting it wrong, and for a ten-year-old the case can have several suspects and a solution nobody saw coming. If your child loves riddles more than uniforms, there's also the theme A Secret Mission.

The police have dogs trained to follow a scent trail, search for people who have got lost and find things someone has dropped. A dog's nose is far more sensitive than ours. Play sniffer dogs at home after reading: hide something with a strong smell, like a piece of orange peel, and let your child search with their nose first and their eyes afterwards. And talk about how anyone who gets lost can always ask a police officer for help.

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