Just So Stories

Windy Hollow Books

9781922081094 / October 2024 /AUD$29.95, NZD$34.99

Are you looking for a cute-as-pie book that will also help you encourage your Smalls – or singular Small – to overcome their fear so that they can try something new and achieve a goal they hold dear. Just like Francie who can swim like a little fish.

In fact, she

dabbles like a duck

cuts through the water like a cormorant

and she can glide like a swan.

All she needs now is to be able to dive into the pool from that oh-so-high diving board like all the other kids. They can dive straight down like gannets and she longs to do the same. But that board is so high and she’s so little.

It’s a good thing she has those big cousins on her team. Up she goes rung by rung with Arthur, while Bubba calls encouragement from below. And while she may not yet dive in like a gannet, she does end up in the water and comes swooping back out – just like a gannet.

It is a sweet and wholesome story that has such a positive message and there so many other bonuses such as the conversations around vocabulary and language such as onomatopoeia, science topics such as birds and water, physical activity and, arguably, most important emotional growth and self-belief.

It’s a super title for any collection, whether ECC, library or home and one that will provide much rich and deep learning. Kirsty Ealand’s text is just a treat and the illustrations from Deb Hudson are utterly adorable. Well done to both and it’s a definite 5 🏊‍♀️🏊‍♀️🏊‍♀️🏊‍♀️🏊‍♀️ rating for this fine-feathered friend.