Walker Books Australia
October 2023
Imprint: Walker Books
ISBN13:9781406384420
Australia RRP:$27.99
New Zealand RRP:$29.99
In case you haven’t yet met Madame Badobedah and Mabel who live at the Mermaid Hotel, you are in for a fine treat. And, in case you didn’t know, author Sophie Dahl has quite the pedigree. She is the daughter of Tessa Dahl and Julian Holloway and the granddaughter of author Roald Dahl, actress Patricia Neal, and actor Stanley Holloway. Her first children’s book, Madame Badobedah, was released in 2019, and was very warmly received by all those who love stories with adventure, fantasy, humour and a solid dose of eccentricity.
Now the grande dame is back to take Mabel on a new adventure involving a triceratops with a toothache, a couple of other dinosaur friends, a large emerald ‘borrowed’ from the Natural History Museum, more stories from Madame B’s extraordinary life, and some charming references to some highly regarded early adventurers: Mary Anning, Zora Neale Hurston and Amelia Earhart.
This extended, or long-form, picture book will be a terrific stepping stone for your newly independent readers as they begin to explore books with more prose, but still heavily illustrated.
As with the first in this series Laura O’Hara’s illustrations, with their muted colours and expressive characters, convey a ‘feel’ that is reminiscent of European-style children’s books.
It is delightful to read, and equally so to peruse and so, would also make a terrific read-aloud. The themes of imagination, friendship (despite age differences) and being adventurous will hold great appeal for readers from around six years upwards.
I give it a huge 🦖🦖🦖🦖🦖 recommendation, particularly for your kiddos from around Year 2.
Just So Stories 
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