Three words that strike terror into the hearts of children (and joy into their parents!)

For this week's slightly belated #ReadItMD13 Theme Week we're looking at books designed not only to get your children back into something educational, we're also looking at books that can help children who are nervous about "starting big school" - sitting down with a new teacher, new friends and a whole new school.

So let's kick off by diving back into the archives for some of our favourite school-based books.

"I Want A Friend" by Tony Ross (The Little Princess Series) is a fab little book that sees the normally bombastic and quite mischievous Little Princess slightly on the back foot as she starts big school for the first time. Seeing everyone else seemingly happy and carefree and playing with their friends, The Little Princess realises that even being royalty doesn't mean that things are easy. Soon though she meets someone else in the same boat, a child who also doesn't have a special friend, and then another - and another, until there's a whole gaggle of children who come together and realise that searching hard for a friend is tricky, and often the best friends are right under your nose. A very nice little book for helping children through those anxieties about meeting new people and making new pals at school.

Oh how we love Splat the Cat! Rob Scotton's wiry haired little moggy has been on lots of adventures since his first book but in his very first outing we find out that Splat also had a tricky first day at school.

Read and re-read by us, we loved Splat packing Seymour his trusted mousey sidekick into his lunchbox as he (grudgingly) sets out to learn how to be a cat at cat school, and all the things that cats should and shouldn't do. Chase mice? What a terrible thought!

Soon though Splat teaches his teacher and classmates a few lessons too - that mice aren't food, they're friends - and there's really no need to chase Seymour around when he's such an adorable olive-nosed little fellah.

Splat will soon be popping up again in the next book "Scaredy Cat Splat!" which should be hitting shelves in time for Halloween.

In Emma Chichester-Clark's fabulous "Blue Kangaroo" books we meet the lovely Lily and her rather special 'friend' - a blue kangaroo. Again, a book that deals with the anxieties and worries of that first day at school, Lily decides to take Blue Kangaroo with her on her first day. We loved the way Emma 'voices' Lily's concerns as being Blue's (you'll see what we mean when you read this wonderful book). Lily actually ends up enjoying herself so much that she forgets Blue Kangaroo entirely, leaving him at school to have a lot of fun all on his own overnight!

We always expect the very best from Emma and we get it in spades - and it's a timely reminder for me to hunt out the rest of the Blue Kangaroo series as this one was utterly brill!

During the holidays, one of the hardest things to keep going was Charlotte's interest in self-reading.
With the aid of the Oxford Learning Tree Phonics range, it's easy to get back into the swing of things and in particular the "My Phonics Kit" starter pack is fab for taking children away from the books and onto the computer for some enhanced reading, phonics activities and learning.

There's also a whole host of brilliant exercises, stories and activities on the fantastic Oxford Owl website. Like most parents, we really struggle to marry together reading for learning and reading for pleasure (in fact it's a real concern when Charlotte's confronted with a new Biff Chip and Kipper book and can't actually distance herself from the fact that it's a 'school' book and not a 'home' book - despite the stories being pretty good fun in some of the advanced Stage 4 books). These sites and resources really do help though, so they're worth diving in if you're trying to get your children back into a bit of a learning routine to help ease them back into school without a huge jolt.

There'll be more from us on the subject of getting back to school or starting school for the first time as the week progresses so stay tuned!

Ahoy Jim Lad! What on earth could ye do on 'Talk Like a Pirate' Day if ye be a keen book swabbing blogger who sails the seven seas of children's books in search of booty?

Well you could stop talking silly and publish a lovely list of essential piratical books to tickle the fancies of any scurvy coves who pass by your blog. So that's exactly what we're going to do!

1) Pirate Girl by Cornelia Funke and Kerstin Meyer (Chicken House Books)


A young girl sets sail to visit her grandmother, and falls foul of the stinkiest, nastiest pirates ever seen. They soon put her to work swabbing the decks, darning their stinky socks and cooking for them in the galley. But the girl is smart, and has a secret plan to escape. For she is no ordinary girl, she is Pirate Girl.

An absolutely lovely little tale showing pirates as the rather daft, rather stinky and rather inept coves they really are.

ReadItDaddy Review Link to Pirate Girl



2) The Pirate Cruncher by Jonny Duddle (Templar Books)


Jonny Duddle is a past master at drawing pirates and now there's even a movie based on Pirates vs Scientists. We love The Pirate Cruncher though, mostly due to Jonny's fantastical pirates and creatures beautifully and deliciously painted in this book.

The Pirates band together to search out lost treasure (this tends to happen a lot in pirate books, unsurprisingly). But there's a sting in the tail of this tale, as the treasure is not what it seems, and the hapless pirates soon meet up with....(Dramatic drum roll) The Pirate Cruncher! ARGHH! Such a superb book!

It's probably one of the most important days in your child's life. That first step over the threshold of their new school. "Big" school, not Nursery or Preschool. Charlotte's about to take that step and she's understandably nervous (to say nothing of how ' cat on hot bricks' my wife and I are!) So recently we've been piling through several books designed to soothe the nerves, showing how the bookworld's favourite characters got on when they first started school.

Here's a top five of our favourites (in no particular order).

1) "I Want a Friend! (A Little Princess Book)" by Tony Ross

Tony Ross' "Little Princess" has soared in popularity, boosted by the success of the TV show but when we first reviewed this book, we weren't quite prepared for just how sensitively (and cleverly) this book deals with a child's first nerve-racking day at school. The Princess goes incognito, and soon finds it quite hard to make new friends and settle in. But she's not the only child there with the same problem - and soon enough, the Little Princess learns that sometimes you might not find a friend when you're looking really hard - they might find you instead.

Very touching little book, probably the best LP book to date.


2) First Week at Cow School by Andy Cutbill and Russell Ayto

This was a recent addition to our reviews list and we loved its mix of raucous humour and cow in-jokes. Daisy the Chick-Cow is off to school and her nervous mum Marjorie is there to make sure her offspring does OK in her first week at cow school. She struggles, but thanks to some timely intervention by Daisy's chicken chums, things turn out rather well for the cow that emerged from an egg all those books ago.

Funny and colourful. We loved it.




3) Topsy and Tim Start School by Jean Adamson and Belinda Worsley

The Topsy and Tim books are fantastic, serving up life lessons with two of the most enduring and popular characters in children's books. Now the subject of a series of iPhone / Android apps as well as a successful book series, they show no signs of dropping in popularity.

This book shows what happens when the twins have their first day at school. Looking out for each other, and helping each other to take in the flurry of information that comes with their first day at school, Topsy and Tim find out that school is fun and interesting and nothing to be scared of. Of the books we looked at for this list, this is probably one of the books that probably matches most children's actual first school experience and one they can identify with more easily than most.

4) Cactus Annie by Melanie Williamson

It's extremely unlikely that your child will be enrolling in Cowgirl school in September, but just in case, here's a fun book recommendation featuring a cute little cowgirl called Cactus Annie. She's not much use on a horse, she can't rope cattle for toffee and her first few days at school don't go particularly well. With an end-of-term contest looming, can Cactus Annie brush up her skills to save the day? Yep you'll have to read on to find out.

Reading between the lines and dancing between the lovely illustrations from Melanie Williamson, the lessons in this book are exactly the same as the lessons all children will encounter at their proper school. Dressing things up in cowgirl clothes just makes it all more fun.

5) Splat the Cat by Rob Scotton

This book was given to us through the excellent BookTrust programme, and it's become one of our staple favourites at home. The story of Splat, a slightly fuzzy and worrisome cat and his first day at school is a comedic take on the sort of things cats get up to. Learning about chasing mice, drinking milk and being slightly sneaky, Splat soon finds out that having a mouse for a best friend can cause all sorts of problems. Poor Seymour.

Lovely artwork and a great story from Rob.