guide
A personalized book for toddlers: how to make one they love
Toddlers love books about the things they know best: themselves, their people and their day. A personalized book gives them all three. Here is how to keep it right for a very young listener.
Very few words per page
For a toddler, one or two short sentences per page is plenty. Simple words, named things, and sounds they can copy: splash, woof, yum.
Tinytold is made for children from about three. For a younger toddler, choose the shortest text setting and read it together, pointing at the pictures as you go.
Fill it with their own world
The best toddler books are about ordinary moments: bath time, the park, breakfast, saying goodnight to grandma. Use the real names of the people and pets in their life.
Toddlers are delighted to find things they know. A favourite toy on every page turns reading into a game of spot-it.
Repetition is the point
A repeated line on each page lets toddlers join in long before they can read, and that feels like a big achievement to them.
Expect to read the same book many times. Keep it short enough that the fifteenth reading is still a pleasure for you as well.
Clear, gentle pictures
Young children find it easier to follow simple pictures with one clear subject. Soft, uncluttered styles work well, and the main character should look the same on every page so they can find themselves.
A printed copy holds up well to small hands. Print a booklet at home and keep it on a low shelf they can reach.