How to Create a Book for Kids (With ReadKidz + Free Mini Tutorial!)

Have you ever wished you could just whip up a personalized book for your kids or students—with their name, their quirks, and even their voice? I recently discovered ReadKidz, and let me tell you: this children’s book creator made it ridiculously easy to create a book for kids from scratch (and then turn it into a mini movie!). I’ve created a number of social stories which I love, and this tool is a game changer for those!

Whether you’re a parent looking to craft a bedtime favorite, a teacher building leveled readers for your class, or a homeschooler in search of a DIY kids book project, ReadKidz has you covered.

Two spreads of a watercolor-style children’s book are laid flat on a white surface, surrounded by neon props like star erasers and markers. Pages show a boy in bed, on the school bus, and interacting with a talking backpack.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by ReadKidz. All opinions, ideas, and printable resources are my own—designed to help educators and parents create meaningful, personalized stories for kids.

Why Create Your Own Book for Kids?

There’s something magical about a story that speaks directly to a child. When they see their name in print—or even hear their own voice narrating the tale—they light up. Creating your own book isn’t just fun, it’s a brilliant way to boost:

Reading fluency
confidence
emotional connection to stories

I’ve made tons of printable readers before, but ReadKidz takes it up a notch. You’re not just making a printable kids book—you’re building an interactive book for kids that feels like it jumped out of a Netflix special.

What is ReadKidz?

ReadKidz is an easy-to-use children’s book creator that lets you:

Write your own story
Personalize characters (skin tone, hairstyle, outfits, and more!)
Add AI voices to your books
Export the finished book as a digital file or video
It works right in your browser—no downloads or complicated design tools required. It’s honestly one of the best book creator apps for kids I’ve used!

A children’s book lies open to a spread featuring a schoolyard conversation between a boy and girl, and a classroom moment with a teacher. Surrounded by neon pencils and paperclips on a white background.

🔗 Try ReadKidz here (they offer a free sign-up with book credits so you can test it out first)

Fun Reading for Kids

Interactive Stories for Ages 3-12
Start Free Trial – Books Kids Love
www.readkidz.com

Who Is This Tool Perfect For?

This isn’t just for authors-in-the-making! If you’re a…

Teacher: Make classroom readers, behavior social stories, or seasonal SEL books.
Parent: Personalize bedtime stories starring your child as the hero.
Homeschooler: Create your own educational books to fit your unique curriculum.

Think of it like Canva meets Storytime.

Colorful promotional graphic with a laptop showing a ReadKidz story page. Purple and yellow design highlights the text “Make a Book with Your Students—In Minutes!” and “Personalized Book Tutorial + Free Teacher Printable.”

How I Created My Own Book (Step-by-Step Mini Tutorial)

Let’s dive into how I made my first story with ReadKidz—and yes, I’ve included screenshots too!

1. Choose a Theme

Pick a template or start from scratch. I used a blank one because I had a specific social-emotional theme in mind.

2. Customize Your Characters

This was so fun! I gave my character hair and personality to match one of my students. You can also pick the roles you’d like for each character to personalise it even further.

A sleek black laptop displays the ReadKidz character creation screen, with placeholder silhouettes for three roles and a timer counting down during the generation of character descriptions.

3. Write Your Story

You can type directly into each page panel. I kept mine to 1–2 sentences per page to make it an easy reader for kindergarten. However, the storybook you will see that I have created generated a longer version (just to show you what this program can do).

Laptop screen showing three illustration style options on the ReadKidz platform: Sketchy Doodle, Chihiro’s Wonder Realm, and Simple Cartoon Style, with soft purple backgrounds and whimsical characters.

4. Add Voice Recordings

You can add recordings with AI voices within the plaform. This is such a game-changer for digital storytelling for kids.

5. Export Your Book

Once finished, I exported the book as both a PDF and a video file. You can even share the link directly with families!

ReadKidz allows users to convert their finished picture books into videos. As long as the picture book is finished with images, text (subtitles), and voice-over, and the overall pages is over 12, users can easily turn their books into videos.

💡 Want to see my finished book? I’ll be sharing it in my next newsletter!

Bonus: Turn It Into a Story Video!

After exporting, I used Canva to drop the book pages into a simple video template. I added background music, and BAM! Now I’ve got a little story movie. You can also create the story video with the AI voices within the platform.

This makes it easy to:

Share with parents
Create lesson hooks
Upload to private class platforms like Seesaw or Google Classroom

The program created this video for me in 2 minutes!

Make your own here!

Story Ideas to Get You Started

Need some inspiration? Here are some book writing ideas for kids:

A story about handling big emotions (like jealousy or fear)
A book about their school routine
A holiday adventure with them as the star
Kindness stories with classroom friends
A “my family” personalized book

You can even let the kids brainstorm and dictate—it becomes a writing lesson + tech lesson all in one!

Why I’ll Keep Using ReadKidz

After using ReadKidz, I can confidently say this tool makes it SO simple to make a children’s book that’s both meaningful and educational. I’m already planning themed stories for every major holiday—and my students are hooked.

📥 If you’re ready to create a book for kids that they’ll never forget, I highly recommend giving ReadKidz a try.