Hachette
Imprint: Lothian Children’s Books
MAR 27, 2024 | 9780734421982 | RRP $19.99
I read this charming little book quite a few weeks ago but wanted to save it for this week. The publishers describe it as a cross between Winnie-the-Pooh and Blinky Bill. For me, yes, a little Blinky Bill for sure, but I mostly felt a vibe of our quirky Australian stories and characters from earlier years – books such as The Magic Pudding, Bottersnikes and Gumbles and The Muddle-Headed Wombat, but with a very distinctive and appealing First Nations feel to it.
There’s a truly delightful sense of playfulness and absurdity in this quest on which Wurrtoo embarks, accompanied by the funky koala, Kuula. Wurrtoo is in love with the sky. Ok, odd to start with but he is a very sheltered wombat, we need to keep that in mind.
Having escaped a terrible fire as a joey, he has spent the rest of his life ever-expanding his tunnel and keeping well away from any other creature. But he is quite determined that he should finally seek out Sky and marry her. He knows he has to cross from Kangaroo Island to the mainland to go the Forest of Dreaming, but how to get there, he hasn’t quite figured out.
When he saves Kuula and her tree from another fire, he is suddenly finding himself attached to this outspoken and sometimes outrageous koala. But it turns out she’s the very one he needs to undertake his great adventure, even if she does think he’s completely gumnuts.
Their adventures as they make their way to the sea and the crossing to the mainland, are often dangerous, and sometimes hilarious, but ultimately a quest that will bind their friendship tightly. Children will very much enjoy meeting some of the odd characters the pair meet along the way, and making judgement calls on these. They will also appreciate the lovely descriptive prose that will immediately enable them to visualise the setting. And they will very much be pleased about the ending of this narrative.
It is very exciting to know that Tylissa is a Brisbane writer and, certainly, I will be looking forward to more from her after this delicious debut. She explains that she wanted fairy tales and imaginative stories for her children, such as those she enjoyed a child, but with a solid First Nations flavour. She has succeeded in that admirably.
The illustrations from Dylan Finney, whose digital art has been making waves for some time, are a perfect match for the style of the narrative. All in all, with its compact and attractive binding, this is one super little package for your kiddos. Though it’s suggested for 9 years and up, I would suggest that these would need to be pretty competent readers as there is some vocabulary, and concepts, that will stretch them.
It’s an all-round joy and definitely one to add to your collection – it’s so pleasing to see more and more First Nations MG books coming through but this one is such a completely different genre from others, that it’s bound to be a real hit.
I give it a 5 🐨🐨🐨🐨🐨 (it’s a koala but it looks a lot like wombat) rating.
Just So Stories 
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