A personalised book about time travel

Time travel raises the big questions in a playful way. What did this place look like long ago? What will people eat in a hundred years? Were there children in Viking times, and what games did they play? A book about time travel lets your child visit other eras and see them with their own eyes, and still be home before tea gets cold. It sparks curiosity about both history and the future, and it shows that there have always been children, and they have always played, cried and laughed, whatever year it was.

A time-travel book can stop in several places. Your child can help a Stone Age family light a fire, sail on a Viking ship, wander round a market in a medieval town, sit in an old-fashioned classroom writing on a slate, and then step straight into a future full of flying buses. Perhaps one object has to be brought back, or left in the right place, for everything to return to normal. If your child would like to stay longer in one era, there's the theme The Vikings, for example.

A lovely way to make the book personal is to let the journey travel through your family's history. Where did Grandad live when he was little? What year was Mum born, and what was the world like then? Old photographs, a treasured heirloom on the bookshelf or a town where the family once lived can all become stops. A brother or sister can come along as a travelling companion, and the inventor of the machine can be Grandma.

A small child can follow a simple journey with clear pictures: then, now, later. At pre-school age, two or three stops are enough, with a friendly character at each one and a clear way home. Six-year-olds and up enjoy it when the journey has consequences, like an object brought back that changes something at home, and ten-year-olds love playing with the idea of meeting yourself.

Every time we look at the stars, we're doing a kind of time travel. The light from a star has been travelling through space for so long that we see the star as it was when the light left it, often a very long time ago. Even from the nearest star after the Sun, the light takes more than four years to reach us. Go outside on a clear evening and look up together. Then talk about which time your child would most like to visit, and why.

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