My First Day at School a personalised book with your child as the hero

The night before her very first day of school, Ruby could not sleep. She lay in bed with her eyes wide open, looking at the things waiting by her bed: a brand-new backpack with a zipper that went zzzip, and a pair of brand-new shoes with bright blue laces.

She turned onto one side. She turned onto the other. Her tummy felt fizzy, as if a whole flock of butterflies were fluttering around inside it. Some of the butterflies were happy and excited. Some were a little bit worried.

"What if I don't know where to go?" Ruby whispered to her teddy. "What if nobody wants to play with me?"

Teddy didn't answer, but he did look very kind. At last, much later than usual, Ruby fell asleep.

In the morning, Dad helped her tie her blue laces, and Ruby put on her new backpack. Then they walked to school together, hand in hand, along the street and around the corner.

The school was big. Much bigger than Ruby remembered. It had tall windows, a wide red door and a playground full of children, all talking and laughing at once. At the gate, Ruby held on tight to the straps of her backpack.

"It looks so big," she said in a small voice.

Dad crouched down beside her. "It does look big," he said. "But you are braver than you know. And I'll be right here at the gate when it's time to go home."

He gave her a hug, and Ruby walked through the gate.

At the classroom door stood a teacher with curly hair and a sunflower on her sweater. She was smiling at every child who came in, and she knew all their names.

"Good morning, Ruby," she said. "I'm Ms. Bell. We're so glad you're here."

Inside, the classroom was busy and noisy. There were tables with baskets of crayons, a corner full of building blocks, a soft rug, and shelves and shelves of picture books. Children ran this way and that, chattering and laughing. Ruby didn't run anywhere. She stood very still by the coat hooks, at the edge of it all, and held her backpack straps and kept quiet.

Then she noticed someone else.

At a table by the window sat a boy, all by himself. He had a sheet of paper in front of him, but he wasn't painting. He was looking down at his hands, and Ruby thought he looked exactly how she felt inside: like a whole flock of butterflies was fluttering in his tummy too.

Ruby took a deep breath. She walked over to the table and sat down next to him. Then she picked a crayon out of the basket, the brightest yellow one, and held it out.

"Do you want this one?" she asked. "It's the sunniest."

The boy looked up. Slowly, he smiled. "Thank you," he said. "I'm Noah."

"I'm Ruby."

So they drew side by side. Noah drew a big yellow sun, and Ruby drew a house with a red door, and they added a dog, a tree, and a rainbow. Soon they were giggling, and Ruby noticed that her worried butterflies had gone a little quieter.

After painting, Noah went to the block corner and built a tall tower. He put one block on top of another, higher and higher, until the tower was almost as tall as he was. Then, wobble, wobble, crash! Down it tumbled, blocks everywhere.

Noah's lip began to tremble. Some of the other children turned to look, and the room went quiet.

Ruby's cheeks felt hot. Everyone was watching. But she knelt down on the floor beside Noah anyway.

"We can build it again," she said. "Together. I'll hold the bottom so it doesn't wobble."

So Ruby held, and Noah stacked. One block. Two blocks. Ten blocks. Up went the tower, taller than before, steady and straight. When Noah put the very last block on top, the whole class burst out clapping, and Ms. Bell clapped loudest of all.

"Well done, you two," she said. "That was a very kind and very brave thing to do."

At play time the sun was shining, and everyone went out into the schoolyard. Ruby and Noah raced around the big tree, past the slide, all the way to the fence and back again. They played tag and hopscotch, and they laughed until they were out of breath.

When they came back inside, it was story time. Everyone sat together on the soft rug, and Ms. Bell opened a picture book about a little bear who went on a big adventure. She did all the voices, a deep growly one for the bear and a squeaky one for the mouse, and the children laughed and leaned in close to see the pictures.

Ruby looked up at the classroom window. Earlier that morning, Ms. Bell had helped everyone cut out paper butterflies in every color, and they were stuck all over the glass. Now a little breeze came in through the open window. And just for a moment, it looked as if the paper butterflies were fluttering their wings, lifting off the glass, and flying away out into the sunshine.

Ruby put her hand on her tummy. It was quiet in there. All the worried butterflies had flown away with them.

At home time, Ruby ran out of the classroom and across the playground with her painting held high above her head. And there at the gate, just as he had promised, was Dad.

"Look!" she called. "I made a painting! And I made a friend! His name is Noah, and we built the tallest tower in the whole class!"

Dad scooped her up and spun her round. "I knew you could do it," he said.

That night, Ruby packed her backpack all by herself and put it beside her bed, next to her new shoes. She snuggled under the covers with Teddy. Her tummy felt warm and calm.

"Teddy," she whispered, "I can't wait for tomorrow."

And this time, she fell asleep straight away.