![\""Narwhal](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/TVP-Z-DB-NARWHAL-KINDERGARTEN-ROEDER-01.jpg\")
He’s got so much trouble fitting in! But then he’s not alone, either. (Dial)<\/p>\nBy now it\u2019s sunk in: Summer vacation is over and school has begun. As the excitement of Day 1 fades, the worries rear their heads. What if I don\u2019t know my way around? What if I don\u2019t make any friends? What if I need help? As it turns out, those are universal questions, and there are some great new books that reassure young readers (and their families) that friendship and acceptance are the answers \u2014 and go a long way to helping with the worries that surface with the inevitable new situations.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Tour at School\u201d by Katie Clapham, illustrated by Nadia Shireen. (Ages 3-7. Candlewick Press. $18.99.)<\/p>\n
If only every school tour were like this one! When it\u2019s your job to show a new person around school, \u201cthere are lots of things to remember because they don\u2019t know ANYWHERE and you have to tell them about EVERYTHING.\u201d<\/p>\n
The very enthusiastic young tour guide (showing a newcomer the most crucial elements of her elementary school) leaves nothing out: the cool echo in the bathroom, the imaginary hairdressers on the playground, and, of course, the emergency meet-up place.<\/p>\n
The most important question she answers, however, is what happens after The Tour \u2026 when, just maybe, it\u2019s time to become friends.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
\u201cNarwhal vs. Kindergarten\u201d by Vanessa Roeder. (Ages 3-7. Dial. $18.99.)<\/p>\n
This book about fitting in gets right to the point \u2014 the one on the head of Hugo the narwhal. His spectacular horn means he doesn\u2019t fit into the bus, balloons are always popping in his presence, and Silly Hat Day is just a disaster. In fact, \u201cHugo couldn\u2019t make it through one day of kindergarten without finding himself in a pickle.\u201d<\/p>\n
He’s got so much trouble fitting in! But then he’s not alone, either. (Dial)<\/p>\n
But as it turns out, neither could any of his classmates: The armadillo curls into a ball at the least opportune times, the snake struggles to play ball without any hands, and the octopus just keeps inking.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s not the end of the story. With each problem, Hugo and his classmates find \u201cclever solves, clear fixes, positive solutions, and practical answers\u201d \u2014 including a very funny improvised batting helmet for Hugo. Together, he and his friends realize that they all have special qualities and that they all can give each other a hand (or trunk, or tentacle).<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
\u201cToto\u201d by Hyewon Yum. (Ages 4-8. Neal Porter Books. $18.99.)<\/p>\n
This gentle and sensitive story about hiding \u2014 and sharing \u2014 something special will resonate with young people who wear their differences where everyone else can see them.<\/p>\n
Here, \u201cToto\u201d is not the little girl\u2019s name; it\u2019s the name of the pink birthmark on her forehead, the one she\u2019s had forever, the one that makes her wonder how she would look without it. \u201cWould I look pretty? Would I look plain?\u201d Her family says it\u2019s a special blessing, but she notices that \u201csometimes people only see Toto, not me.\u201d<\/p>\n
So when she starts school, her mother cuts bangs that hang over her forehead, hiding most of Toto from view. And all is well at school \u2026 until the day she hangs upside down on the monkey bars, and her new best friend sees Toto. In a stunning spread that lingers on the embarrassment and vulnerability of the moment, author\/illustrator Hyewon Yum shows Toto\u2019s unexpected debut before a new friend \u2014 and the tremendous power of a loving response.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
![\""Mabel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/TVP-Z-DB-MABEL-MAKES-MARKO.jpg\")
She’s messy, creative and always full of energy, and now she’s concocted a friend. (Penguin Workshop)<\/p>\n
\u201cMabel Makes (Up) a Friend: The Elephant in the Room\u201d by Cyndi Marko. (Ages 5-8. Penguin Workshop. $13.99.)<\/p>\n
Mabel is in a real fix. Second grade is starting, and not only is she in a different classroom than her friends but she\u2019s also riding another bus, because she moved to a new neighborhood. Messy, creative and endlessly energetic, she feels lost \u2026 until a new friend shows up to help her out: Mr. E the make-believe elephant. (\u201cNuts,\u201d he laments. \u201cI was really hoping I was real.\u201d)<\/p>\n
Sometimes everyone is too busy for Mabel. Sometimes she\u2019s too distracted to realize her real friends are reaching out to her. And sometimes she just needs some quality time playing Crash Kittens Racing with Mr. E.<\/p>\n
Funny, scattered and very relatable, Mabel tries to find her own way through her many dilemmas in this graphic novel \u2014 and just as she starts to find her way, another conflict appears, setting up a Book 2 that Mabel fans will be eager to tackle.<\/p>\n