Just So Stories

Harper Collins Australia

December 2024

• ISBN: 9781460716410
• ISBN 10: 1460716418
• Imprint: HarperCollins
• List Price: 12.99 AUD

The Temple two have such a fabulous skill in creating hugely humorous reads for kids, without degenerating into crassness. It is one of the reasons I love reviewing their books. And the Frog Squad is certainly proving to be a hilarious delight with this second instalment. The punster in me loves all the wordplay but the entire ridiculousness of the elite amphibian crime-fighters appeals to my slightly [some might say, more than slightly] warped sense of humour.

When a distress call comes in from the island of Croakomo [bahahaha!], it doesn’t take long for the Frog Squad to leap into action. The Squad is soon in place in the tropical waters off Croakomo, where Agent Quito meets up with his erstwhile basketball buddy, Pablo although, unfortunately, not until after there has been an attack by poison darts by the island inhabitants. They’ve mistaken the good guys for bad guys. There’s just one casualty, luckily. Agent Nelson cops a dart right in his (rib)butt.

Once the case of mistaken identity is sorted, Pablo brings the Squad up to speed on the dire situation that has befallen the island. While Agent Nelson pecks and scratches on the ground (unfortunate side-effect of the poison dart), the Squad learns that all the island trees are being chopped down, which explains the lack of insect noise they noted on their arrival.

The island depends on the trees for everything and without it, the insect population also has nothing on which to feed – it’s an ecological disaster. Who can be responsible for the tree theft? There’s toadally only one logical explanation. Yes, it’s Professor Buford Cain and his henchmen from TOADS and they’ve been hiding out below the island in a cenote (a blue hole: see page 83) in their infamous rubber ducky submarine. Once again it’s up to the mighty Frog Squad to thwart the plans of their evil nemesis.

As well as the numerous puns and wordplay, I love the insertion of actual facts, the spurious ads which riff off real-life advertising, products and ideas, the ‘on the spot’ reporting from the FrogFlix crew, and the ‘profiling’ of each character. It’s another fun leapfrog into the crazy antics of the Frog Squad. Let’s hop(e) there are many more to come!

Fabulous froggy fun for froglets from around the mid-stages of metamorphis to fully grown croakers. Definitely a 5 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸 rating.