Suppose you have just read the three Katy books (What Katy did, What Katy did at school, What Katy did next) and have been wondering what happens next. Yes, there are two more Katy books rounding up the story of the Carr family beautifully but both have been either out of print for years or not easily available.

Those of you who have enjoyed the Canada-based Anne books by L. M. Montgomery (reprinted by Puffin) might like to read the story of Jane of the Lantern Hill by the same author, which again is not easily available. Or you might like to have a collection of just your own favourite stories or poems and have nothing else there.

With the summer holidays stretching before you and time not being a constraint, it is easy enough to do it if you know how to go about it.

First of all, decide which book you’d like to make. Clover by Susan Coolidge, the 4th book in the Katy series? There are many sites which have the e-text of well loved classics. Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg/etext/) is one of the best.

Rather than downloading the whole book at once, go to the beginning of the text. Select the first page. Select the format, font size and colour. I prefer Times New Roman, size 12 and dark blue colour for my e-books.

But you might prefer something else.  Or you might like to have each chapter in a different colour. Once you have made your selection, print it out page by page and chapter by chapter, glancing at the text as it is being printed.
Now for the cover and illustrations. As your printed book is of A-4 size, find a piece of cardboard of the same size.
Where is the location of your story? Clover, for instance, is largely set in Colorado . You could have a visual of the place on your cover. Go to Google search and click on visuals. Find a landscape of Colorado you particularly like and print it out in colour. Now stick this on the cover cardboard. You might put in a picture (of landscapes, flowers, figures) at the beginning of each chapter. For example, if it is an English story, you could print out some typical English flowers and English landscapes to go with the text. It will make your book more attractive and interesting. What’s more, it will reflect your own taste.

If it is your favourite book, wouldn’t you like to have something about the author as well? So search for info on the author. Her website is sure to have her photograph as well. Select how much of this info you would like to have in your book and print it out.

Find a matching piece of cardboard for the back cover. Perhaps you would like to write your own “promo” for this book? Do it and print it out and then stick it on the back cover.

You could have the whole book spirally bound. Or simply punch holes and thread a firm plastic string/ribbon/tone thread through the holes and tie up securely. So now you have the first e-book for your library! Follow it up with more. It does take time to re-create your own e-books but you will find that it is well worth the trouble!

Now for your favourite short story/poem collections. You will find most of them on the NET. Type the name of the story and author (try Google again!) and when you find it, print it out the same way. Then do up a page on each author/poet and place it before the piece. When you have all you want, bind up the pages together and you have your own book book.  These books will mean far more than copies bought from the shops because you have “made” them yourself.