Jekyll Book Theme

Jekyll Book Theme is a Jekyll static site generator starter theme that converts a folder of Markdown chapter files into an all-in-one single-page book site. The theme is a ready-to-fork template pack from the Henry Themes project, distributed as a public-domain GitHub repository.

What is the Jekyll Book Theme?

The Jekyll Book Theme is a starter template for publishing classic books (such as Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, A Tale of Two Cities, or The Trial) as a single-page website. It takes Markdown chapter files and a YAML configuration file as input, and a Jekyll build produces a static _site/ folder containing one index.html book page and one compiled css/style.css file. The theme is created by the Henry Themes project (henrythemes), and a live demo with the full Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde text runs at henrythemes.github.io/jekyll-book-theme.

Key Features

The template's features are visible in its repository layout and documented workflow, covering the full path from Markdown chapters to a finished book page.

• All-in-one book page — The index.html template renders every chapter from the _chapters/ folder onto a single page with a linked table of contents, instead of generating one page per chapter.
• Two-step setup — Adding a book requires only replacing the Markdown files in _chapters/ and editing the title and author fields in _config.yml; no other configuration is documented.
• Ten sample chapters — The template ships with 01.md through 10.md from Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, demonstrating the expected file naming and source-linking conventions.
• SCSS style pipeline — Styling is organized into css/_settings.scss (variables) and css/style.scss, which Jekyll compiles into a single css/style.css in the build output.
• Public-domain license — The theme is dedicated to the public domain, so it can be used, modified, and redistributed without restrictions or attribution.
• Fork-friendly template pack — The repository layout (_config.yml, _chapters/, _layouts/default.html, css/, index.html) is small enough to understand and modify in a single session.

Who is it for?

The theme serves anyone who wants to publish a book-shaped site without building a Jekyll layout from scratch, from self-publishers to learners.

• Self-publishers of public-domain texts — Publish a classic book (found via Project Gutenberg or the worldclassics GitHub account) as a clean, readable single-page site without building a layout from scratch.
• Jekyll beginners — Study a minimal, complete Jekyll structure — config, chapters, master layout, SCSS, and index — to see how a Jekyll build fits together.
• Educators and literature fans — Produce an online edition of a classic story with a chapter table of contents that links to each section on the page.
• Theme developers — Fork the theme to experiment with its SCSS variables, master layout, and book page template as a base for other single-page projects.

What can you do with the Jekyll Book Theme?

With this theme, a single Jekyll build turns plain-text chapters into a publishable book site with a linked table of contents.

• Publish a book on GitHub Pages — Drop your Markdown chapters into _chapters/, set the title and author in _config.yml, and host the built _site/ folder on any static host or GitHub Pages.
• Create a reading edition of a classic — Load any public-domain text — the bundled Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde chapters, or texts from Project Gutenberg, which has collected over 40,000 books in plain text since 1971 — into the chapters folder.
• Learn Jekyll conventions — Trace how _layouts/default.html, css/style.scss, and index.html combine into a complete static build and how _config.yml supplies the book metadata.

How does the Jekyll Book Theme work?

The workflow is documented in two steps. First, replace all the text files in the _chapters/ folder with your own Markdown chapter files. Second, change the title and author in _config.yml to match your book. Running a Jekyll build then outputs the _site/ folder with the all-in-one book page and its compiled stylesheet.

Pricing

Free — the theme is dedicated to the public domain, so there are no licensing fees, payments, or usage restrictions.

FAQ

Is the Jekyll Book Theme free to use?

Yes. The theme's license states it is dedicated to the public domain, so you can use it as you please with no restrictions whatsoever, including for commercial or academic projects.

How do I add my own book to the theme?

Replace the Markdown files in the _chapters/ folder with your own chapter files, then update the title and author fields in _config.yml. The bundled sample chapters (01.md to 10.md) show the expected file naming and source-linking format.

What does the generated site output look like?

A Jekyll build produces a _site/ directory containing an index.html all-in-one book page and a css/style.css stylesheet compiled from the SCSS sources. Every chapter appears on the single page, with chapter links in the table of contents.

Where can I find public-domain books to publish with this theme?

The theme's documentation links to the worldclassics GitHub account for ready-to-use classic texts and to Project Gutenberg, the largest free classics library in plain text, with more than 40,000 books collected since 1971.

Is this theme for blogs or multi-page sites?

No. The template pack is structured around a single book page — it contains one master layout, one style page, one index page, and a chapters folder. There is no blog post layout, pagination, or multi-page navigation in the documented structure.