Just So Stories

Scribble Kids Books / Scribe

February 2024
ISBN: 9781761380389

$24.99

I got some work with a Year 1 class last week and, as I do, picked a couple of new books from my review shelves to share. This was a choice simply because of its bright and happy feeling cover.

With complete serendipity, it worked perfectly as these little people had been sharing a reader all week about a monster making lunch for himself and his friends, with all sorts of odd ingredients.

You can easily imagine how they laughed, and squealed, and grimaced at such concoctions as “Sprinkly Hundreds Penne” with its combination of sugar, sardines, sprinkles and pasta or “Peanut Butter Flowers”: boiled cauliflower, grapefruit, peanut butter, and tomato sauce. Papa Milo is the best pancake maker ever, but not so good with other dishes. And, because Dada Henry is staying in bed, covers over his head, not wanting pancakes – Milo, the twins and Gwendolyn the cockatoo, are trying every inventive dish they can create with which to tempt him. Finally, it seems that “Jelly Hearts” were the answer.

Really, it was nothing to do with Dada Henry not wanting pancakes, it was just because he wanted some time. I think we can all relate to that, can’t we? The luxury of just being quiet, still, peaceful and away from the hurly-burly is a precious thing, especially in a busy life. We were able to have a profitable conversation about those moments or days, when we just want to be left alone – and the reassurance that that is perfectly normal.

After we finished reading this delightfully crazy cooking saga, the children busily got on with writing recipes for their own creative sandwiches and I can assure you, there were some very weird and wonderful ingredients. All in all, it was a lot of fun as well as one of those happy chance moments in teaching. I give this a big recommendation with loads of olives, chocolate syrup, honeycomb chips and seaweed flaks on top for your little readers from Prep – Year 3.