Personalised book about missing a friend at school: your child Sends a Thoughtful Note

What happens in your child Sends a Thoughtful Note

1. At morning register, your child notices a friend’s empty chair.
2. Your child asks classmates for one kind message each.
3. Small memories, drawings and funny moments fill a pile of paper.
4. Your child arranges the messages into a bright, thoughtful note.
5. The note reaches the absent friend, who knows the class has been thinking of them.

How the first page could read

On Monday morning, your child noticed an empty chair beside the classroom window. It belonged to a friend who usually brought a bright grin and a pencil case full of tiny stickers. “Your friend is away today,” said the teacher. Your child looked at the quiet chair and had an idea.

Your child’s name, look and little details replace these words, and the whole story is written for their age.

Why this story works

At five to eight, children are starting to notice how an absent friend changes the shape of an ordinary school day. This gentle school-based story gives your child a practical response: listening to classmates, collecting their words and making one caring note. The focus stays on thoughtfulness rather than fixing the reason for the absence, so it suits many everyday situations. Seeing their own face in the illustrations places your child at the centre of a familiar classroom moment. The finished 32-page book includes 15 illustrated story spreads, with wording that grows with the child’s age.

Reading it together

• Before reading, ask your child what they might say to a classmate who is away.
• Pause when the classmates share messages and invite your child to suggest one kind sentence.
• Afterwards, make a real note or drawing together for someone your child has missed.

Suggested art style: Coloured pencil

Coloured pencil gives the classmates’ notes, drawings and handwritten messages a warm, tactile feel. A sidekick idea: Pip, a tiny paper-plane doodle. You can pick any of the four styles and change the details in the form.