Just So Stories

UWA Publishing

July 2024

ISBN: 9781760802899

RRP: $15.99

I had to wait a while to get my hands on this one but it was definitely worth the wait. This is the first in a four book series by relative newcomer Cassy Polimeni and it is a super start indeed.

Ella, and her family, has just moved house. She’s left behind the home and bedroom she loved, her best friend next door, and her school and is feeling pretty miserable about the whole deal. Fed up with looking at her (to her eyes) depressing new bedroom and boxes, she wanders out to the backyard to explore.

Finding a gap in the fence she finds herself following a little frog into the neighbouring yard where she discovers an entire frog colony all happily ensconced in a perfect pond. She is absolutely thrilled and in the following days spends happy hours watching the frogs and enjoying their company.

At her new school she makes a friend, Mai, and is delighted to find out that the class project is a frog pond! Things are starting to look up but then – disaster! When the next door yard is going to be cleared, the frogs and their habitat are in real danger. Ella knows she has to save them and with the help of Mai and her own family, they contrive an ecologically sound solution and completely salvage the situation.

We know that children can feel the effects of change deeply and profoundly. Cassy Polimeni conveys this overwhelming desolation and anxiety authentically as Ella struggles to adapt to her new situation. And while the threat to her much-loved frogs is worrying, it is also – in one sense- the saving grace in her own adaptation to a new environment.

I love that Ella is so caring and concerned but doesn’t stop there. She is equally determined to take action and have that action succeed. Cassy’s narrative is a blueprint for younger children to similarly take action and understand that they too can make a difference when they see something that needs ‘fixing’.

We all think at times that the problems or ills of the world are just too immense but, stopping to think that old adage of ‘If is to be, it’s up to me.’, can make more difference than we realise.

While this narrative has serious themes it is, at the same time, just a delightful read and your newly independent readers will thoroughly enjoy it. The accompanying illustrations are expressive and a boon to the burgeoning reader of extended texts as they help to define the meaning and actions. There’s also a terrific use of dynamic fonts throughout. Interpersed are frog facts which will give rise to inquiry questions and research. As a read-aloud for Year 1 or 2 children, it would spark so many discussions and ideas that could easily translate into environmental actions and create budding eco-warriors.

I can’t recommend this highly enough to you. As an excellent and engaging choice for those Smalls embarking on their chapter book journey or as an adjunct to your curriculum studies in science, civics and emotional intelligence, it will tick all the boxes. So hop to it! It’s a galumphing 5 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸 rating from us!

Living things live in different places where their needs are met 

Living things depend on each other and environment the to survive

Frog re-location ABC Education

Who are the creatures living in your garden? ABC Education

Animals that like wet weather ABC Education

Frogman NSW Dept of Education (from Catalyst)

Frog resources Literacy Hub

We have quite a frog fondness and have tried (unsuccessfully) to establish a pond (we did get visitors but no breeding *sad face*) but luckily our pond itself went on to host a frog habitat in a more conducive location. In our previous house, we often had froggy visitors (as you can see by the many photos!), and somehow, frogs have often cropped (jumped?) up.

I’ve done a successful unit of inquiry several times on corroboree frogs – some resources on the Freebies page

Get froggy for Book Week!! 🐸🐸🐸🐸

And my long-time favourite has always been Michigan.