Just So Stories

Penguin Australia

August 2023

• ISBN: 9781761043284
• Imprint: Puffin
• RRP: $19.99

I say it often, I miss my chookies (and there have been quite a few at numerous times over the years). Chooks have such personalities, and some of mine definitely did.

Just such a hen is Gloria – indomitable, resilient and tenacious. She is her own chicken in every sense.

In this rollicking rhyming story, Jacqueline has given young readers a blueprint for how to treat those who beat to the march of their own drum.

She was brave, she was bold, never did what she was told.

When headstrong Gloria is accidentally trapped under the house, the family fear the worst after seeing the hawk hanging about. The other chickens immediately start laying the blame on who has ostracised (as opposed to ostrich-ised) Gloria so much that she didn’t head back to the coop at the proper hour. But Gloria the Great is no pushover chook, she has survived on minimal rations, and made just enough noise to be heard over the regular household hullabaloo.

It is funny and boisterous, and kids will love the bouncing rhythm, [and the Gloria Gaynor reference will not be lost on adult readers!]. They will also love Kate Isobel Scott’s so-expressive cartoon style illustrations {I totally love that a couple of the chooks are adorned with jewelry. [I used to say about my last girls, who were always jumping the fence, that I was sure they were heading to the bus-stop with handbags to go shopping for bling].

This one gives so much scope for important conversations about accepting everyone, making everyone feel welcome, and recognising that we ALL have our own quirks and foibles. I don’t know about you, but every day I wonder about the rampant intolerance on display in society, and find it truly disturbing. I’ve said many times that it is up to us as educators to help our little people grow into good humans, and accepting others ‘warts and all’ (thanks for that one, Cromwell) is part and parcel of that.

Thank you Jacqueline! This second picture book proves just how versatile you are as a writer who speaks to readers of all ages, and I, for one, can’t wait for more. Highly recommended for your Smalls from Prep upwards.