A book for a moment

How to make your child a book about something coming up, such as starting school or a new baby, and why it waits for you before it reaches their shelf.

Making booksUpdated

You can make a book for one of your readers about something that is coming up in their life. You pick the moment from a short list that we wrote, and we make an ordinary book about it, with a character your child would meet in any of their books.

This is being switched on in stages. If you do not see it on your reader's page yet, it has not been switched on for your account.

The moments you can choose

  • Starting school, at nursery, at school or at a new school
  • A new baby in the family, a brother, a sister or twins
  • Moving house
  • A visit to the doctor, for a check-up
  • A visit to the dentist
  • A new pet, such as a puppy, a kitten or a fish
  • A wobbly tooth, for readers aged 5 to 9
  • Going on a trip, by plane, train, car or boat
  • Grandparents coming to stay

Some moments are only offered for some ages, so the list you see depends on your reader's age group. Harder moments, such as an illness or somebody dying, are not on the list. If your child asks for a story about something like that themselves, Safety alerts explains what happens.

Making the book

  1. Go to Readers and choose your child.
  2. On their page, press "Make a book for a moment".
  3. Pick the moment. Some moments ask one more question, such as who the baby is. You can leave it out.
  4. Choose who the story is about from the list of characters, or leave it to us, and choose how long it should be.
  5. Press "Make the book".

There is nothing to type. The story is about a character, such as a fox or a bear, and it never uses your child's name.

What happens next

The book is made and checked in the same way as any other book, and it uses books from your plan in the same way as any other book of that length. The same daily limit applies to it as to the books your child makes.

When it is finished, it waits for you. It is not on your child's shelf until you read it and put it there, whatever you have chosen for their other books. We email you when it is ready, and it is listed under "Waiting for you" on your reader's page. Looking over a finished book explains how to read it through and put it on the shelf or put it away.

What we keep

We keep which moment you chose, and the answer to its one question, on the book. It is kept for as long as the book is, and it goes when the book goes. It is included in a copy of your data.

Next in Making books: A hero who looks like your child

Was this article helpful?

  • How a book is made

    The steps a book goes through between your child pressing "Make it" and the book reaching their shelf, and when a person reads it.

  • The book maker

    The five questions your child answers to make a book, the extra choices on the first step, and what they see while the book is made.

  • How long a book takes

    Why we do not promise a time for a new book, what your child sees while they wait, and the emails that tell you how it went.

  • When a book cannot be made

    What happens when our checks stop a book, when a book cannot be finished, or when a person needs to read it first, and what happens to the books it used.

Still need a hand?

Write to us at support@taletykes.com and a person will answer. There are no bots and no ticket numbers.

For anything urgent about a child's safety or privacy, write to privacy@taletykes.com. Short answers to common questions are on the questions page.