Personalised children's book moving to a seaside town: your child Finds Their Place by the Sea

What happens in your child Finds Their Place by the Sea

1. The moving van arrives at your child's new house near the coast.
2. Your child spots a strip of blue sea beyond the rooftops.
3. A windy walk leads to the beach, where your child gathers special shells.
4. Another child joins your child to watch the waves and look for seabirds.
5. Your child places the shells in their new bedroom and knows the route home.

How the first page could read

On the morning the van arrived, your child stood at the new front gate. Wind lifted their hair and carried a salty smell from somewhere nearby. “Can we find the sea?” your child asked. A grown-up smiled and pointed past the rooftops, where a bright strip of blue waited.

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

Why this story works

For a child aged three to seven, a new coast can feel unfamiliar: different sounds at night, gusty paths and a horizon that seems very far away. This book gives your child small, recognisable moments to follow, rather than making the move one big event. They unpack, take a walk in the wind, choose shells and begin to notice landmarks on the route home. Seeing their own face illustrated from a photo can make the pages feel made for them, while the gentle sequence offers useful prompts for talking about what they have left and what they are finding.

Reading it together

• Read it before a beach walk, then let your child point out things from the story in their new surroundings.
• Ask your child which shell, view or sound they would choose to put in their new bedroom.
• Use the final pages to talk about one place that is beginning to feel familiar.

Suggested art style: Storybook watercolour

Soft watercolour washes suit the shifting coastal sky, sandy paths and gentle details of a new seaside home. A sidekick idea: a curious sandpiper on the beach. You can pick any of the four styles and change the details in the form.