Just So Stories

Boss Cat

Harper Collins Australia

June 2024

• ISBN: 9781460764046
• ISBN 10: 1460764048
• Imprint: HarperCollins AU
• RRP: $24.99

With Sarah’s bouncy text and Tom Jellet’s always humorous and distinctive illustrations, this is just pure fun – how very refreshing!!

All of our circle knows well enough that our last remaining animal of The Kid’s former zoo, is Whiskers – the kitten her mother gave K in the last weeks before she died. Wild from the start (I suspect a backyard feral litter) she is also known as the Demon Spawn, although when she was tiny I called her Satan’s Imp.

Over the past nine years she has mellowed out but I can still only describe her as snarky – and wilful – but she does have her more docile moments. In fact, she and Boss Cat are very alike, because when Whiskers had to deal with the other animals in the place – poodle and two other cats, she made sure they all knew who was top of the tree (even though technically most of them were in place before her!).

So this jolly romp made me laugh a lot and will do likewise for your Smalls as the family introduce a WHAT-IS-THAT?! to the household.

Napping on the sofa, one sunny afternoon,

I was very rudely woken by a slobbering buffoon.

‘Say hello,’ my humans said, ‘to our newest family member.’

I think I must have fainted then. I really can’t remember.

Boss Cat is distinctly unimpressed and manages to show that puppy and the family just who is in charge, until her latest ploy backfires on her at least. Of course, it provides lots of laughs and we all can use those.

But if you really want to dig down in the layers, it could open a very easy discussion on changes of all kinds, especially to family circumstances. I love it when the book provides some healthy conversation without being pointed or didactic [that’s been a bit of hobbyhorse I’ve been riding the past few weeks].

I’m giving Boss Cat a big 5 🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱 rating for Preps upwards, and it is fully endorsed by Whiskers aka the Demon Spawn.

Wild About Book Week

• Publisher: Larrikin House (July 3, 2024)
• Distributor: Simon & Schuster
• ISBN13: 9781922804754
• RRP: LIST PRICE: AU$ 24.99 / NZ$ 27.99

As a veteran of many Book Week costume parades – both as a t-l for the past 25 years, as well as some in which my own children participated – I can tell you, I LOVE Book Week, and I love the dress-ups. Even when the theme is uninspiring or just plain boring, there is always a spark to be found, even if it’s moving a little left of field.

And the contriving and plotting of costumes is just as much fun. I’ve dressed up every year, even when I was based in secondary or as Head of Library. I just wish I had photos of them all!

So with Book Week 2024 coming up, this will be a fun way to gee your Smalls up for your own festivities. Eagle-eyed kiddos will be able to spot visual and textual references to several firm favourite titles even if the end results of costumes are somewhat unique (makes me think of AI image generators getting things just that bit wrong!).

Again, this is a book that is pretty much just good fun [Huzzah!], with some super illustrations from Kruti . Read it before the holidays so you get your kids in the right space for the celebrations in Term 3, and to allow lots of time for planning and preparation. I would also be adding a page of ideas onto your library platform – I found this worked extremely well and scoop up all the free suggestions, printable masks etc from various publishers to help out time-poor parents.

I’ll be adding some of my suggestions for activities etc to my Freebies page as weeks go by. In the meantime, happy planning and happy sharing this delightful book with your kiddos from Prep upwards. It gets a jolly 4 📖📖📖📖 rating from me.