November 5, 2026 · Bas, co-founder

Personalized Sinterklaas book in rhyme: your kids save pakjesavond

Every child knows one thing about Sinterklaas: he is busy. A steamboat, a horse, thousands of chimneys and one evening to get it all done. But nobody asks whether the Sint is actually fit enough for the job. In this personalized Sinterklaas book in rhyme, that question finally gets asked, and it is not the Pieten who help him but two children.

A personalized Sinterklaas book where your child is the hero

On Sinterklaas, children are mostly the audience. They put out their shoe, sing a song and wait. In "Name & Name Save Pakjesavond" that turns around: two children notice that the Sint has eaten so many pepernoten that he no longer fits on his horse. If he misses the steamboat, there is no pakjesavond. So they get to work.

They lift chocolate letters shaped like their own initials to make the Sint stronger. They run with bags of pepernoten and they swim in the sea. Your child doesn't wait for something to happen, because your child is the one making it happen.

Why a Sinterklaas read-aloud in rhyme works so well

If you are new to Sinterklaas, here is the quick version: rhyme is everywhere. There is a poem with every gift and a song with every shoe. A story told entirely in rhyme fits straight into that tradition and reads aloud like a song.

Rhyme also helps in a practical way. Children hear from the rhythm which word is coming, which makes joining in easy. Pause before the last word of a line and let your child finish it. Toddlers love it, and older children try to top the book with a funnier rhyme.

Try doing voices too. A heavy, slightly out-of-breath Sint is a gift to any reader.

A Sinterklaas book for two children: siblings and friends

This Sint needs two helpers, so the book has two main characters. That solves a problem parents of two know well: who is the hero, and who gets the better part? Here both children have their own chocolate letter. It works for a brother and sister, two brothers, two sisters, two friends, or cousins who see each other at Sinterklaas.

The book is meant for children aged 1 to 9. The youngest listens to the rhythm and the pictures, the oldest reads along or reads aloud. It becomes a book the whole family pulls onto the couch.

A little exercise, a lot of laughs: what children quietly take from it

What works well in this story is that it is about getting fit without ever becoming a lesson. The Sint doesn't have to suffer, he only has to move a little, and the children show him how. Running with pepernoten, lifting, swimming: these are things children do all day anyway. There is no need to add a sermon.

Many parents look for a December story that is funny for children and not only about presents. This is one of those. It is about helping, about getting something done together and about a Sint who knows his own limits. Three-year-olds find it simply comic, seven-year-olds already see the joke in the exaggeration, and nine-year-olds read it aloud to their little brother or sister.

That last one may be the best part. A Sinterklaas book that an older child wants to read aloud all by themselves is rare.

If you are reading with a child who is new to the Dutch tradition, because you have just moved here or because one parent grew up elsewhere, this is also an easy way in. The rhyme carries the story, the pictures carry the setting, and you can explain the steamboat, the horse and the pepernoten along the way without it feeling like homework. Sinterklaas is much easier to love when it is a story and not a list of rules.

When to give a Sinterklaas book

Don't hand it over on pakjesavond itself. Your child will have a hundred other things in their hands, and the story is forgotten by the next day. Give it at the start of the Sinterklaas season, when the first shoe goes out, and read a little each evening. The excitement builds up to December 5th.

Each book is made and printed for your children, which takes time. Order well ahead of pakjesavond and check the expected delivery time at checkout.

Turn reading time into a small Sinterklaas moment

After reading, put out a plate of pepernoten and ask who would help the Sint first. Let them find the chocolate letters of their own names. And if your child asks whether the real Sint also eats that many pepernoten, be honest: he just might.

Want to see the book, or have one made for your two children? You can find the Sinterklaas book here at Kids Chapters. Happy reading, and enjoy the Sinterklaas season.