Just So Stories

Penguin Australia

September 2024

Brand spanking new this week comes this terrific new series for junior readers who are the animal lovers in your crowd. Having raised mini-Attenborough for half her life and watched her obsession with all creatures great and small (quite literally – at one time she had 34 pets including all the fish and baby mice in our 3-br townhouse. Fun times!!) I know only too well, how many of your Smalls would love to have parents working at the zoo, and the opportunity to become volunteer keepers.

Meet Sophie and Ollie, besties whose parents do important work at Taronga Zoo. I’ve written about my love of Taronga from an early age so this series is quite special for me especially combined with The Kid’s animal history.

What makes this doubly special for me is that book 2 Party Time is based in Western Plains Zoo Dubbo – Taronga’s ‘other’ zoo. As it happens we lived in Dubbo for a decade from the time my eldest was a toddler until she was starting high school, when we moved to Queensland. Between the time the zoo opened in 1977 until we decamped in 1985 we visited many times. Since then it has grown and been developed exponentially and has become an even bigger attraction for those venturing westward.

I’ve loved reading both of these great little books. During the week I used the word wholesome in relation to a MG novel for which I was writing teaching notes, and it was pleasing to read these today and have that some thought.

There are times when we’ve all (kids included) had enough angst, drama and intense plots and just want something that has the comfort of warm buttered toast and tomato soup on a cold night (just me??).

Of course there is depth in these. They are laced with stealthy information and facts, they have humour and even some icki-ness – ooooooh poooooo!💩 –and they have real warmth and happy-making in them. The illustrations are also a great addition to the text without being too overpowering. I loved both these titles from start to finish and just know that your kiddos from about year 3 upwards will just eat them up. It’s a resounding 5 💩💩💩💩💩 rating from me for these!

Poo at the Zoo

• ISBN: 9781761347436
• Imprint: Penguin
• RRP: $14.99

Sophie and Ollie are tremendously excited. They are being allowed to be zoo keepers for a day and if they can pass their training they could become the youngest YATZ (Youth at the Zoo) recruits ever. What could possibly top that? With parents who both work at the zoo they are already familiar with much about it and, of course, many of the staff but now they will have real responsibilities as well as learning more about animal care.

At first, they are not too excited about their first week’s mission which is mostly about picking up poo, examining poo, counting poo, making poovlava and poo-thickshakes – you get the picture – but quickly learn that understanding an animal’s faecal matter and behaviour can be key indicators for its health.

Their week is also punctuated with the emergency of an injured koala and her joey needing treatment from the highly-skilled veterinarians at the hospital, including Sophie’s mum Donna. These kids are on the ball, not only do they pass their end-of-week quiz with flying colours but they’ve even stepped up and delivered a talk to a group of visiting school children with great success.

Party Animals

• ISBN: 9781761347443
• Imprint: Penguin
• RRP: $14.99

When Ollie’s dad, Max, has to take a delivery to Dubbo to Taronga’s Western Plains Zoo, it just happens to coincide with Ollie’s birthday. So as a special treat, Ollie gets to go along for the ride and take his bestie, Sophie too. It should be even more exciting than their usual gig at Taronga itself but it’s not without some hiccups.

Just for the record, I’m with Sophie on the topic of maggots – completely and utterly repulsed by them and can’t stand being anywhere near them. But echidnas, on the other hand, just scoop them up like lollies.

The two kids have been learning about enrichment for the animals and it seems like Smudge the echidna, who has a really short attention span, needs extra clever enrichment to keep him busy and well-fed. Ollie has come up with a great idea for a feeder but Sophie not only wants to avoid the maggots that are going into it but is also desperate to watch the surgery on a rescued wedge-tailed eagle, and decides to cut corners.

It’s not the best part of a birthday weekend and Ollie is upset, with good reason. Luckily, the falling-out doesn’t last long at all. Sophie feels bad about doing the wrong thing and is determined to set things right – even if it does mean maggots. This is another great narrative, with a different slant on taking care of animals and the nuances of friendships.