17 Being New & Shy story ideas, each one a book your child stars in: A new school, a new colony and a hundred unknown faces, until one hello, one shared bench and one friend make the place home. Pick one, add a few details, and the illustrated book starts right away.
Every story is painted in a soft, hand-drawn watercolour look, with your child finding their calm inside the story.
Being New & ShyOn the first morning at the new school the gate looks enormous and every child seems to already know every other child. Mumma crouches down and says, 'You do not have to make ten friends. Just say hello to one.' Your child carries the hello all the way to the classroom, keeps it through the register, and finally lets it out at the bench beside a girl called Meher. Meher says hello back.
Lesson: One hello is enough for a first day
Being New & ShyIn the new class the teacher reads the register and stumbles on Your child's name, and two boys at the back laugh. Your child wants to slide under the desk. At home Dadi says, 'Your name is a good name. Teach it like a song.' Next morning Your child stands up and says it slowly, twice, clapping the beats. By lunch the whole class is saying it right, and the two boys are the loudest of all.
Lesson: Teach people your name instead of hiding it
Being New & ShyThe new colony has a park where the same children play every evening, and Your child watches from the balcony for four days. On the fifth, Papa hands over a ball. 'You do not have to talk. Just take something they need.' Your child walks down with the ball, stands at the edge and rolls it towards the game. A boy in a blue shirt shouts, 'One more player!' That is the whole conversation needed.
Lesson: Sometimes a ball says hello better than words do
Being New & ShyBua enrols Your child in the Saturday dance class and on day one there are twelve girls who already know every step. Your child stands at the very back moving nothing at all. The teacher does not call anyone out. She only says, 'Back row is allowed. Just move one hand.' Your child moves one hand. Next week both hands. By the fourth Saturday the back row has walked itself forward, feet and all.
Lesson: Start with one hand and the rest will follow
Being New & ShyYour child knows the answer. It has been known for a full minute. But the hand will not go up, and then Rehan says it and gets the smile. At break Sharma Ma'am says quietly, 'Next time put your hand up first and think afterwards. I will wait.' The next day the question comes and the hand goes up before the fear does. Ma'am waits, exactly as promised, and the answer arrives.
Lesson: Put the hand up first and let the words catch up
Being New & ShyAt the wedding, little cousin Anaya hides behind a curtain and will not come out for the dancing. Your child, who was exactly like that last year, sits down on the floor beside the curtain and does not pull at her. 'You can watch from here,' Your child says. 'I did.' They watch two songs together through the gap. On the third, Anaya's foot starts tapping, and they go in holding hands.
Lesson: The one who was shy knows best how to wait
Being New & ShyPapa's transfer letter comes in June and by July the whole house is in cartons and the family is in a new city where even the buses are a different colour. Your child hates all of it. Mumma makes a rule. One new thing every day. Day one the lift, day two the corner shop, day three the temple steps. By the end of the month the strange city has become a list of known places.
Lesson: One new thing a day makes a strange city yours
Being New & ShyLunch break at the new school is the loneliest twenty minutes of the day and Your child eats facing the wall. On Thursday Dadi packs extra aloo parathas and says, 'Take four. Two of them are not yours.' Your child carries them like a plan. At the bell Your child turns around and holds the box out to the quiet boy on the next bench. He takes one, then opens his own box and holds it out too.
Lesson: Share the extra paratha and a wall turns into a friend
Being New & ShyMumma gives a twenty rupee note and says, 'Bread, from the corner shop. Alone.' Your child's stomach flips, because the shopkeeper is a big man with a very loud voice. Your child practises the sentence all the way down the lane. Bread, one packet, please. At the counter it comes out in a whisper, and the big man leans down and answers just as quietly, as though it is a secret, and hands over the bread.
Lesson: Practise the sentence and the counter gets shorter
Being New & ShyThe whole colony is invited to Kabir's birthday and Your child does not know one single child there. At the gate the feet stop working. Didi says, 'I will come in for ten minutes and then I go. Find one person doing nothing and stand near them.' Your child finds a boy fiddling with a balloon by the wall. They pop it together by mistake and laugh, and nobody notices when Didi leaves.
Lesson: Find the other one standing alone and stand near them
Being New & ShyYour child chose the last bench on day one because nobody ever looks at the last bench. From there the board is blurry and the teacher's voice is far away. Chacha visits and hears about it. 'The back row is a good hiding place,' he says, 'and a bad seat.' On Monday Your child arrives early and takes the third bench in the middle. It is terrifying for one hour. Then it is only a bench.
Lesson: A hiding place is usually a bad seat
Being New & ShyAt Nana's village the cousins play cricket in the field and Your child, the city child, stands by the boundary bushes. Nana does not push. He hands over the ball and says, 'You bowl. Nobody has to talk to a bowler.' Your child bowls one over badly and the next one better. By the third over Munna is calling out field placings to Your child by name, and the bushes are far behind.
Lesson: Join in with your hands and the talking comes later
Being New & ShyThe new school takes attendance in the assembly line, out loud, in front of four hundred children. Your child's present comes out as a squeak and the teacher has to ask twice. Bhaiya hears about it and takes Your child to practise in the bathroom, where the echo makes everybody sound brave. Loud, louder, loudest. On Monday Your child says present so clearly that the girl in front turns around and says, 'Nice voice.'
Lesson: Practise your loud voice where the echo helps you
Being New & ShyAfter three weeks Meher asks Your child home to see her rabbits. Your child wants to go and also wants to say no, because a new house has new rules and unknown people in it. Mumma writes down three things to remember. Say namaste to the aunty. Take off the shoes. Say thank you when leaving. Armed with three things Your child goes, meets two rabbits, and comes home invited again.
Lesson: Three things to remember make a new house easy
Being New & ShyAt the end of the term Mumma asks how many friends Your child has now. The answer is one. Just Meher. Your child waits for Mumma to look disappointed. Instead she says, 'One good friend is a full pocket. Some people spend years looking for one.' Your child thinks about the shared bench, the rabbits, the tiffin swaps and the walk to the bus, and decides a full pocket is exactly the right amount.
Lesson: One good friend is a full pocket
Being New & ShyYour child feels nervous about the very first day at a brand-new school, until a cheerful classroom plant named Sunny shares some gentle wisdom. Sunny explains that every single student once felt shy and scared on day one too. As the hours pass, Your child makes unexpected friends, learning that new beginnings are really doorways leading to wonderful connections and happy surprises.
Lesson: New beginnings are exciting opportunities, everyone feels nervous sometimes and that's okay, making friends starts with a smile and sharing, mistakes help us learn and grow, and brave steps lead to wonderful adventures.
Being New & ShyOn the very first day at a brand-new playground, Your child feels shy and almost invisible among all the laughter and games. A warm, waggy dog named Buddy shows the gentle secrets of friendship: smile hello, share your toys, and accept people just as they are. By staying curious and truly kind, Your child learns that being genuinely interested in someone else is the sweetest way to make a friend.
Lesson: Friendship begins with a brave first step, being kind and including others opens doors to connection, real friends like you for being yourself, and working together strengthens friendships.