Ready, Steady, School!

‘Ready, Steady, School!’ is the story of a little girl called Pom who’s starting school in the following year, but is so curious about school that decides to visit the animals’ schools. She leaves home by the time schools start and only returns when they close.

This book presents school routines and rules that children will have to get used to when starting school. Those already at school will relate to all these and will connect with the story easily. It is great to encourage and support children in their return to school (for instance after half-term or even on Sundays) and to cope with any possible anxiety about returning after some time spent with family at home. I think it shows school from such a beautiful perspective, displaying it as a place to learn, play, make friends and experiment in a very warm, welcoming and positive tone.

Above all, this book reinforces good routines and safe behaviour at school, kindness, friendship and politeness - eg, it highlights you should drink water when exercising, put the hand in the air to speak in class or share with friends.

The artwork is spectacular, jam-packed with details, it’s the perfect book to explore with our little ones.

We say ‘YES’ to this stunning book and highly recommend it. We leave you with its final inspiring line:

‘School is going to be a terrific adventure.’

We follow Pom as they visit different animal schools, make friends and think about what they like about each one. There is so much to talk about with this – all the activities happening, finding the ‘odd one out’ on each page (plus lots of other items that pop up), talking about what school is like for us. The big format would make it a wonderful book for sharing in a group and talking about starting school. We read this over and over again….

This book is one of those gem that generates heaps of meaningful discussion. Our 4-year-old has been entranced by the pictures and it's been a great way to talk about starting school for him.

So much to look at as each group of animals enjoys the school day!

This is a really gorgeous book and ideal for my 4 year old daughter who is starting school in September. We’ve been reading it at every bedtime, taking a few schools at a time to focus on as there are so many details to look at and we always find something new. The stickers are a real bonus - my daughter loved finding the characters that matched the stickers and adding them to the book. It’s definitely contributing to her excitement about starting school.