Just So Stories

New Frontier

June 2024

ISBN: 9781922326966

RRP: AU $26.99/ NZD$32.99

New South Books

Imagine a time when all the world stops,

when all of the clocks no longer tick-tock.

and all of the maps are starting to fade,

as the need to be somewhere drifts far away.

What an absolutely beautiful book this is! The lyrical text creates its own visual imagery, while the delicate and evocative illustrations build on this. Does anyone else miss the times of Covid lockdowns? I don’t mean, of course, the worry so many of us had and I do get that for some the isolation, especially for long periods, was awful.

But from my own PoV, once I knew The Kid and I were pretty safe, the whole gearing down was a relief and a respite. Quieter days, slower days, at home still-in-slippers days, pottering with odd jobs and catching up on stuff that always seemed to get waylaid in the hurly-burly of long commutes, working full-time, raising a teen, running a house – all that normal life stuff that seems to take over.

This is a gentle reminder for us all to slow down and that’s important, even for Smalls. It’s no secret that anxiety levels in kiddos have skyrocketed in the past decade, whether young ones or older ones. We really do need to push back against the education systems that overloading both students and teachers, and the relentless media deluge, and the tsunami of information constantly bombarding our brains.

I know myself, that since quitting the heinous full-time job two years ago, working less (certainly driving less) and now, this year, working only when I choose to, I am so much calmer than I have been for years.

I’ll guarantee that just reading this aloud will create an ambience of tranquillity (it would be a great choice to settle the wild hordes after a rowdy break) and it would easily lead to discussions on how we might ‘slow down’.

I wasn’t very familiar with Jennifer Goldsmith’s artwork, but it truly is sensational and whoever was responsible for the design of this book- fantastic layout and text arrangements! – brava!

Penny’s words will resonate with many, adults and children, and I foresee this receiving much acclaim from awards listings in the next year. Just beautiful!

I’m highly recommending it to you for readers from around 4/5 years upwards.