Personalised dinosaur time travel book for kids: your child's Time Machine Picnic

What happens in your child's Time Machine Picnic

1. Your child lays out a picnic blanket with their family.
2. A tiny ticking time machine appears beneath the basket.
3. The blanket shimmers into a path to a prehistoric valley.
4. Your child shares a quiet picnic spot among gentle dinosaurs.
5. The time machine brings your child back just as the last crumbs are packed away.

How the first page could read

On a sunny afternoon, your child spread a picnic blanket beside Mum, Dad and a basket of sandwiches. Then, beneath the apple tree, a little clock began to tick. Tick, tock, tick. The grass shimmered, the sandwiches stayed safely packed, and a green valley appeared beyond the blanket.

Your child’s name, look and little details replace these words, and the whole story is written for their age.

Why this story works

This gentle dinosaur story starts somewhere familiar: a family picnic with a blanket, snacks and time together. For children aged 2–5, that cosy beginning makes the surprising arrival in a dinosaur valley easy to follow. Rather than racing from one danger to another, your child has time to notice long necks by the trees, little tracks near a stream and enormous tails swishing through the grass. The picnic basket gives the adventure a reassuring thread from beginning to end. Picture to Story can draw your child from one photo, so they appear at the centre of the 32-page book, with wording suited to their age.

Reading it together

• Before reading, ask your child what food they would pack for a picnic with dinosaurs.
• Pause at the valley scenes and invite your child to spot dinosaur tails, footprints and leaves.
• Use the ticking sound together each time the time machine appears, then let your child join in.

Suggested art style: Storybook watercolour

Soft watercolour keeps the prehistoric valley warm, leafy and calm while giving the dinosaurs a gentle storybook presence. A sidekick idea: a pocket-sized ticking clock with little brass feet. You can pick any of the four styles and change the details in the form.