A personalised book about Hanukkah

Hanukkah is a festival of light that lasts eight evenings, and each evening one more candle is lit. It's a celebration children can follow with their eyes: the menorah grows brighter and brighter until all eight are burning. Add the dreidel, doughnuts and potato latkes fried in oil, chocolate coins and songs. A book about Hanukkah lets a Jewish child see their own festival in a picture book, with themselves at the window where the menorah stands. For children who don't celebrate it, the book can be a warm way to get to know it.

The shape of Hanukkah suits a picture book beautifully: eight evenings, each of which can have its own event. The child can light the candles, play dreidel for chocolate coins with brothers, sisters and cousins, fry latkes with a grandparent and hunt for a candle that has vanished just when it's needed. One evening can be about giving: a chocolate coin for a new friend, or a visit to a neighbour who would otherwise celebrate alone.

The story can also travel back in time, to the city where the oil once lasted far longer than anyone believed it could.

Write in how your family celebrates: who lights the candles, which songs you sing, what goes in the frying pan, whether there are presents and on which evening. If you have a special menorah, perhaps one handed down, describe what it looks like and which window it usually stands in. Many families place it where it can be seen from the street, so the light is shared with others.

If you celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas, or the family has roots in several countries, the story can hold all of that. The whole family, pets included, can be in the pictures.

Hanukkah remembers how the Temple in Jerusalem was rededicated more than two thousand years ago. According to the story there was only enough oil for one day, yet the lamp burned for eight. That is why candles are lit for eight evenings and food fried in oil is eaten. The dreidel's four sides carry Hebrew letters that together stand for something like “a great miracle happened there”. The festival follows the Jewish calendar, so it lands on different dates each year, usually in December.

For the youngest, the candles and the counting are enough. Pre-schoolers love the dreidel, the wait for the next evening and counting how many candles to light, and school-age children can have the whole story. Play dreidel after reading, with raisins, nuts or chocolate coins as the stakes.

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