A personalised book about something really funny

Children laugh at things that go wrong in the right way: a hat blowing off, a word coming out back to front, a grown-up making a fool of themselves without noticing. Laughter is also a way of becoming bigger than whatever is big and a bit embarrassing. A funny book with your child in it becomes one you long to read and want to read again, preferably three nights in a row. Your child gets to be the clever one who gets the joke straight away, or the one who causes all the chaos and then saves the day.

Humour in children's books tends to come from a few trusty places. It might be a back-to-front day when everything happens the wrong way round, animals behaving like people, or things in the wrong size, like a gigantic toothbrush or a car that fits in a teacup. It might be a plan that grows bigger and sillier with every page, until the whole town is involved. And it might be words that sound the same but mean something completely different.

Perhaps your child is the only one who can see that something is wrong, and the one who finally turns everything the right way round again. That gives the laughter a direction and the story an ending that feels good.

Every family has its jokes. Maybe your child once said something daft that you still laugh about, or a brother or sister has a face they pull that always works. Perhaps the cat sleeps in the sink, and Grandad tells the same riddle every Sunday. Write in things like these, and the book becomes a collection of your funniest moments. It doesn't matter if nobody outside the family understands why – it's your book. Even so, the funniest bits are usually the ones everyone can laugh at together, including whoever the joke is about.

Sounds, repetition and surprise delight the very youngest: no, not on your head, no, not in your mouth – yes, on your nose! At nursery age the physical and the utterly impossible are funniest, like an elephant in a bathtub. From about six come puns, mix-ups and lines that bounce back and forth. With a ten-year-old the humour can be drier, with a longer build-up and a punchline that only arrives on the last page.

Have your own back-to-front day after reading. Say goodnight at breakfast, eat pudding first, walk backwards to the postbox. Let your child decide what gets turned round, and see how long you can all keep a straight face.

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