A personalised book about the seasons and the weather

Weather is the first natural phenomenon children really notice: the cold that nips at their cheeks, the rain that makes puddles to jump in, summer evenings that stay light long after bedtime. Where the year turns clearly, each season brings its own clothes, sounds and games. A picture book in which your child walks through the whole year ties it all together, and the same place can look completely different in January and in July. Your child can then discover that for themselves through the window, and the words for what is happening find a context.

A seasons book can follow a single place through the year: the apple tree that stands bare, blossoms, bears fruit and drops its leaves, or the window where your child watches snow, rain and sunshine take turns. The weather can become characters – a rain cloud that won't stop crying, a wind playing tricks with the washing. Each season has its games to show: sledging, puddle-jumping, swimming in the lake, piles of leaves to fling yourself into. Each season can also have its own tone in the pictures: white, pale green, yellow and rusty red. If you live far enough north, the book can show the sun that never sets in summer and barely appears in midwinter.

It becomes your child's own year when the place is right. Do you live by the sea, in a town with streets that shine in the rain, or in a house by the woods? Is there a special tree in the garden, or a hill where you go sledging every winter? Write in the snowsuit in the right colour, the summer holiday spot, the apple-picking at the neighbours' and the month of your child's birthday, so the birthday can become one of the high points of the year. Are the winters where you live white and crunchy, or mostly grey and wet? The book can show your own climate.

At 0–2 the weather becomes sounds and feelings: splash, crunch, whoosh and warm. A child of 3–5 often enjoys pairing weather with clothes – wellies for rain, a hat for snow. At 6–9 the story can ask why leaves change colour or where migrating birds go, and at 10+ a storm can bring suspense to the plot.

After reading, keep a weather diary for a week and draw the day's weather every morning. Take a photo of the same tree in each season and put the pictures side by side. And around Midsummer you can talk about how long it stays light that particular evening.

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