A personalised book about a secret mission

Knowing something nobody else knows is a powerful feeling for a child. Secret missions are built on exactly that: a code, a signal, a place to meet a contact. A book about a secret mission lets your child be the one who creeps about, decodes the clues and completes the task without anyone noticing a thing. It sharpens attention and imagination at the same time. And because the mission is often about doing something kind on the quiet, your child gets to feel both clever and important.

A secret mission can be big or very small indeed. Your child might be tasked with delivering a parcel to the neighbour without being seen, cracking a code that leads to a hidden present, turning the kitchen into a surprise party before anyone gets home or finding out who keeps leaving kind little notes in the letterboxes along the street. The equipment is part of it: binoculars, a pen with invisible ink, a notebook full of code names. The mission can also be to protect something, like a den the big kids must never find.

Ask your child what their agent name would be and write it in. Headquarters can be wherever your child likes to hide: under the stairs, in the wardrobe, behind the sofa. A brother or sister can be their partner, and a parent the boss who is only ever heard as a voice on a walkie-talkie. If your child has recently done something in secret, like making a present on the sly, it fits nicely as the book's mission. If the family is expecting a baby, there's the idea The Big Sibling's Secret Mission.

The youngest love whispering and tiptoeing, and the mission can be to hide a teddy until someone finds it. Pre-schoolers can manage a few simple clues in a row, preferably as pictures rather than words. School-age children can crack real codes in the story, and readers of ten and over appreciate a double agent, a false clue and a last page that turns everything upside down.

The simplest code moves every letter one step along the alphabet: A becomes B, B becomes C and so on. Another code swaps letters for numbers: 1 is A, 2 is B. Write each other a message after reading and let your child decode it. You can also write in lemon juice on paper. When the paper is gently warmed – by a grown-up – the writing turns brown and appears.

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