Example book

Noah’s First Day of School

A book for the week before. Noah’s new bag is enormous, his shoes squeak, and nobody has explained what happens after the door closes — so this story does.

Aged 4
Starting school
Modern Picture Book

Make one like this

Starring Noah

Pages from the book

Noah standing in a hallway wearing an enormous school bag, new shoes, morning light — The bag was nearly as big as Noah. Inside: a lunchbox, a jumper, and one small worry he hadn’t told anybody about. Squeak, squeak went his brand-new shoes, all the way down the hall.

Mum kneeling down to eye level with Noah at a school gate, both holding the bag strap — “What if you forget me?” said Noah. Mum knelt right down, so their eyes were the very same height. “Noah,” she said. “I have never once forgotten you. Not ever.” And Noah held on to that, tight as a bag strap.

Sadie and Noah, two different children, noticing each other’s matching dinosaur bags in a bright classroom doorway — Then a girl called Sadie stopped and stared. She looked at Noah’s bag. Noah looked at hers. Two dinosaurs. Exactly the same one. “Rrrooaaar,” said Sadie. “Rrrooaaar,” said Noah. And that was how the whole day started.

What made this book Noah’s

Everything on this list came from what a parent told us, and every one of them changed the story rather than decorating it.

Noah’s name and his real school bag, dinosaurs and all
The exact worry his parents wrote down: “Will you come back?”
Granddad, who does the school run on Thursdays
The answer, on the page, in words a four-year-old can hold on to

More example books

Emma and the Secret Dinosaur Garden

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Emma and the Secret Dinosaur Garden

A gate at the end of the garden that was not there yesterday.

Jack’s Magical Space Adventure

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Jack’s Magical Space Adventure

Bedtime is at seven. The moon is at eight.

Olivia and the Moonlight Unicorn

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Olivia and the Moonlight Unicorn

A bedtime story that ends with everybody asleep. Including the unicorn.