Just So Stories

New South Books

Greystone Kids

May 2024

ISBN: 9781778400629

RRP: AUD$29.99, NZD$34.99

This is a super addition to this week’s theme of ‘happy-ness’ with it’s quirky subject matter, lively text and vibrant, hand-drawn illos. I’m pretty sure I’ve not seen these creators’ work before, but it’s sensational, and I can guarantee you that your Smalls will go nuts for this.

This address is home to a whole bunch of anthropomorphic animals (and first of all, what a great opportunity to introduce that word and concept – in my experience, the ‘bigger’ the word, the more excited the Smalls get to practise it!), all of whom have their own special interests and activities.

Whether it’s rapping like Mouse, or vampire-dancing like Bat, cooking like Monkeys, or making music like the Spider family, they all have a sense of joy in their pursuits. At the end of the week, it’s time for a big block party with everyone contributing to the festivities.

It literally just bursts with joyfulness. But it’s not just a fun read. There is so much opportunity for some sneaky literacy lessons springboarding off this text: prepositions/phrases, onomatopoeia, direction vocabulary, questions, and rhyme all wrapped up in this exuberant book.

The text is sublime and the illustrations are perfect. It kind of has the flavour of books like those of Hervé Tullet and Miroslav Šašek – that very European style – and some are comparing it to Richard Scarry’s work with his charming, busy animals.

I would certainly love to see more from this pairing and I highly recommend it to you for your readers from Prep upwards. 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐