The Second-Newest Kid

On the child's first morning at school every corridor is a maze, every face is new, and their shoes feel two sizes too loud. The plan is simple: survive until home time without being noticed. But halfway through the morning the classroom door opens on someone even newer, a smaller kid clutching a rucksack like a life raft, and the teacher asks for a volunteer to show them around. The child knows exactly how the new kid feels, and that knowing turns out to be a kind of map: showing someone else where the pegs, the toilets and the good window seats are is how the school quietly becomes theirs too. By the bell the child is not the new kid anymore; they are the one who knows the way.

Your child is the hero

• Their name is woven through the whole story
• The hero is drawn from a photo you upload, so it really looks like them
• Choose from 3 art styles
• Read the full story before it goes to print