A personalised book about learning to count

Counting begins long before numbers: on the stairs up to the flat, on the fingers that show how old you are, in the biscuits that have to be shared fairly between brothers and sisters. A book where your child is the one doing the counting turns numbers into something you do, not just something you read. It's easy to point and count out loud together, and when it's your child's own things being counted – the cuddly toys, the cousins, the cats in the yard – the numbers start to matter for real. And then you want to count them all over again.

A counting book can be a countdown to something big – ten, nine, eight – or a count up that ends at your child's age. Each spread can have something new to keep track of: pancakes in a stack, steps up to a tower, ducklings swimming after their mother. Counting can also solve problems, as when six strawberries have to be shared between three friends, or when someone needs to know exactly how many stepping stones it takes to cross the stream. A missing animal, a lost sock or a whole pile of apples gives the counting a reason.

Every family has its own numbers. It might be the house number, the number of the bus to nursery, the number on a football shirt or how many teeth have come out so far. How many of you are there at home, and how many legs do your dog and your two guinea pigs have between them? Write in things like that, and your child becomes the one who knows the answer in the book. A child who has just turned four can count to exactly four somewhere in the story. And if your child has a collection – pine cones, pebbles or little cars on a shelf – it can be counted on the last page.

At 0–2, counting is a chant, a rhythmic one-two-three your child hears long before the words mean anything. For 3–5, a calm plot works well, where each thing is pointed at and counted once. At 6–9, adding and taking away can become part of the plot, and for 10+ the numbers can form a code or a puzzle that takes several pages to solve.

After reading, take the counting outside: how many red cars do you see on the way home, how many steps is it to the playground? Baking offers plenty of chances too, when spoonfuls have to be measured and buns shared out into equal piles.

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