Just So Stories

Walker Books Australia

April 2025

ISBN13:9781760655068

Australia RRP:$24.99

New Zealand RRP:$27.99

This one is just pure good fun, as one always expects from Mick Elliott, and your Smallsl will love all the different cars these groovy grannies are driving. Happily, the very first one is a Beetle – and having owned four of these beauties myself, I was chuffed to see it up front!

Whether their particular granny drives a hotrod or a sedate sedan, your kiddos will love to share every last detail with you to describe both grandmother and vehicle.

And what a great opportunity for some artwork and some clever writing with inventive number plates. Once they see those in the book, they’re sure to have plenty of ideas of their own.

And the final page with Granny and child in their home-built car brings back happy memories – especially of The Kid aka Small, not long after she came to live with me, having the best fun creating her own car from an empty box – and doing a fine job of problem solving with ‘parts’...she figured out a way to get a turning steering wheel unaided [not bad for one with learning difficulties!]. And I vividly recall the kitchen tongs (springy of course) put to use as the accelerator!!

I can see class projects coming up with ‘build-your-own-car’ from recycled bits. This gets a toot-toot 4 🚗🚗🚗🚗rating!