By Julie Danneberg
Sarah Jane Hartwell buries her head under the covers and dreads the new school so badly she can barely make herself go, until one line at the door turns everything you assumed upside down.
Sarah Jane Hartwell pulls the covers over her head and won't budge. She doesn't want a new school, she doesn't know a soul, and she's already decided she'll hate it. Mr. Hartwell has to coax her out of bed, into the car, and up to the door while she drags her feet the whole way, stomach in knots. Then the principal meets her with 'Good morning. We've been waiting for you,' and calls her Mrs. Hartwell, the new teacher. All that dread you'd pinned on a scared little girl belonged to a grown-up the whole time.
If your child is the one dreading the first day, this is the book to hand them. The person most terrified of the new school turns out to be the teacher, and that flips the whole fear on its head: being scared on day one isn't a child thing, it's a person thing, and you get through it anyway. It's short, it's genuinely funny, and it practically begs for a second read so they can hunt down all the clues they missed the first time. An easy way into the subject without sitting anyone down for a talk.