Just So Stories

Harper Collins Australia

April 2025

• ISBN: 9781460766804
• ISBN 10: 1460766806
• Imprint: HarperCollins AU
• List Price: 17.99 AUD

This hails the start of a new series, co-written and illustrated by this pair from Kiama [one of my favourite places in the country] which will completely hook your young readers, particularly those who have been languishing for more Treehouse-like books. It is completely absurd and crazy and all the things that those younger middle grade students (particularly those, who are perhaps not the strongest readers) eat up.

Where to start?

Welcome to Monkey Island, home to twins, Poppy and Billy, a highly intelligent gorilla [well, they are all highly intelligent] called Harold, who is also the children’s scientist mum’s assistant, and a father who is currently out of this world (i.e. he is on a spaceship in search of alien lifeforms).

When the kids wake up one day to discover their super-clever Mum is being abducted via a weird helicopter, they find themselves relying on Harold and each other to help find her (with Dad tracking her from the spaceship). Although they are strictly forbidden to enter the Top-Secret Inventing Shed, they do of course and find their mum’s almost finished marvellous submarine as well as a whole bunch of other useful inventions like the Animal-Translation Button and her newest idea the Invincible Spray Paint.

And it’s off in the submarine they go, with a cavalcade of animals who have made their way into the shed and submarine, hurtling in from all over the island. Hot in pursuit of their kidnapped mother, the twins (and assorted menagerie deal with being swallowed by a blue whale, find themselves in the grasp of pseudo-pirates [who are actually investment bankers – hilarious!] not to mention Robo-Elvis. And, trust me [hah!], there’s a whole lot more in the adventures as well. All this because the failed pop group The Fugitives have actually become fugitives of the law, and have snatched their mum for their own dastardly purposes.

It is as mad as anything you’ve ever read before with lots of wacky humour, word play and all the stuff that so many kids love like dynamic fonts, and plentiful illustrations. And it is completely different to Clayton’s first book [which I loved] and shows his versatility as a writer.

While it’s not especially to my taste, I know there are kids who are going to fight over who’s next in line to read it. I’m giving it a 4 🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️ rating.