A personalised book about Eid

For many children Eid is the biggest celebration of the year. After Ramadan, the month when the grown-ups in the family have often fasted from dawn to sunset, comes the day of new clothes, morning prayers, visits to relatives and tables heaped with sweet things. Children are often given small presents or money. A book about Eid lets a child see their own celebration told with the same ease as Christmas or a birthday. It matters to find yourself and your traditions in a picture book, and the book can help friends understand what Eid is, too.

An Eid story can begin the evening before, as the family waits for word that the thin sliver of the new moon has been seen and the month of fasting is over. Then comes the morning: washing, new clothes, perhaps a trip to the mosque. The pictures can be filled with everything that makes the day special – in some families henna on the hands, fairy lights in the window and a table laid for far more people than usual.

During the day the child might be given a task – helping with the food, tracking down a present that has gone missing, making sure a lonely neighbour gets to join in. So much of Eid is about sharing, and that can become the heart of the book.

Eid is celebrated in many ways, depending on where a family has its roots and how it lives. Write in what is yours: which dishes are on the table, which languages are spoken, which relatives you visit, whether your child gets Eidi – money or presents – and from whom. Grandparents, cousins and brothers and sisters can stand beside your child in the pictures. If your child has helped prepare iftar, the meal that breaks the day's fast, that can have a scene of its own.

If you would like the book to be about Eid al-Adha rather than Eid al-Fitr, just say so, and the story will follow the right festival.

There are two Eids. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha, the Festival of Sacrifice, comes about two months later. Both follow the Islamic lunar calendar, so they fall around eleven days earlier each year. In a few years Eid may land in the middle of summer, and further on in the depths of winter.

For little ones, lights, food and hugs are plenty. Slightly older children can follow the whole day, and school-age children can be given a mystery to solve before the evening feast. Afterwards, ask what your child would like to tell a friend about Eid.

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