The Tour at School: A reassuring (and funny!) guide for anxious children starting at a new school or nursery.

By Author / Illustrator

Katie Clapham, Nadia Shireen

Genre

Friends and family

Age range(s)

Publisher

Walker Books

ISBN

9781529505740

Format

Hardback

Published

03-07-2025

Synopsis

The hilarious and heartfelt debut picture book from Katie Clapham, illustrated by Nadia Shireen, will help kids feel better about those first-day-at-school nerves, as well as encouraging all children to create a safe and welcoming space for others.

Because, really, starting school can be scary. And being a New Kid in a new school can also be very scary. Luckily, this book will help soothe first-day nerves, make kids feel excited about the challenge and also show children how to be the PERFECT Tour Guide and make any New Kid feel right at home. And did we mention this book is very funny? Because it really is.

So, come along and join THE TOUR with Katie Clapham and Nadia Shireen. First stop? The toilets. Because they're great for singing in. (And also for weeing.) And don't forget to show them the library and its one MILLION books (remember to use your quiet mouse voice!), the playground (where you can play Worldwide Hairdressers!) and ... the EMERGENCY MEET UP PLACE (just in case anyone gets lost). But REMEMBER, sometimes when you're a New Kid it can all be ... a bit too much. And that's when the New Kid doesn't need you to be a tour guide anymore, they need you to be ... a friend.

Find out more in our indepth Q&A with author Katie Clapham. The Tour at School is illustrated by Nadia Shireen, creator of the bestselling, highly acclaimed Grimwood series and Barbara Throws a Wobbler.

"A fun and pacy picture book on the important job that is showing a new kid around school, aka giving them 'The Tour'. Shireen's illustrations ramp up the chaotic energy." - The Bookseller. "A simultaneous knee-slapper and heart-warmer that is sure to become a read-aloud hit. A first purchase for collections, offering a humorous, inviting, and fresh approach to the new kid experience." - School Library Journal. "A remarkably sweet, funny, and thoughtful picture book. The depiction of school-life is brilliant, with noise, business, games and chaotic fun, all illustrated beautifully to match the energy of a primary setting." - Booktrust.

Download Extract

Reviews

Maria

The Tour at School (Because You're the New Kid!) is the perfect book to share with children who are new to school or who are welcoming someone to their school too! This colourful, vibrant book depicts a new, shy child starting a new school and luckily they have a friendly tour guide to escort them and show them the important parts of school such as the toilets, the emergency meet up place, the playground, library and all the key places in school.

This book guides a new child through all the new and possibly worrying new places, sights and routines in an imaginative but supportive way. The new child is shown all the key areas of school and all the wonderful opportunities they will experience from "the soap smells like strawberries" to "Gary the fish!"

The Tour at School picture book also shows the new child and the reader that everyone has worries about school and that we all have "emergencies" and may need the emergency meet up place and friends to help us through the worries. This book has so much detail in the text and illustrations about school life with large and small pictures depicting the games and activities that permeate through the day at school and also some of the hilarious things that happen, such as Marcus the dog!

This is a wonderful story to share with new children starting school and also those children who are tour guides/school council and is a fantastic book to read to a class who are welcoming a new child. This is a great way to understand the worries children have about starting school and also helps children to show empathy when they are welcoming new children too. This story is inclusive, warm hearted and very funny. This needs to be in every school so that every new starter feels welcomed and confident.

The final important message of the story is that we all need friends. What a powerful message! Thank you Katie and Nadia for a wonderful book!

Picture book / Reviewed by Maria, teacher

Wendy

The Tour at School (Because You're the New Kid!) is a brilliant book for any point in the year but will be especially useful in September! It follows a very confident young lady as she gives the (very nervous) new kid in school a tour. She makes each area come alive with an anecdote, usually related to her. We all get the tour thread to needle until she reveals that she, too, was once the nervous new kid and shows him a special place outside he can go whenever he feels lost or lonely and she promises to come and find him.

We have a group of children in my school that we train as buddies for the new kids, and this book will be an invaluable part of their training now. We'll use it to discuss what's too much information, what is not enough and to recognise the signs of anxiety and how to help them feel better.

It's a book that is perfect for a school or classroom library, rather than one for a gift, but you will certainly get your use out of it. At £12.99 it's not cheap but the illustrations are eye-catching and funny - you can always rely on Nadia Shireen for that - and the text hits just the right note. Use it as a project to design a 'welcome to our school' guide and you won't go far wrong. Highly recommended.

Picture book / Reviewed by Wendy Kelly, teacher