Just So Stories

• Riveted Press
• August 2025)
• Distributed by Simon & Schuster
• ISBN13: 9781764007139
• RRP: AU$ 14.99 / NZ$ 16.99

I think this is very possibly the first verse novel for younger readers I’ve come across to review, and I think it will be very popular with many of them. Much of the action in this narrative is eminently relatable to many kiddos. The worries that beset them, the losses they meet with, making mistakes and repairing these, no matter how hard that can be.

Hannah’s life is much the same as many other girls her age. School, family and friends and small happinesses like swinging in the park, and walking to school with your bestie. She not only has her parents, but also her grandparents close at hand. Her Nana has even given her a special ‘worry’ stone for when things bother her.

But when her wonderful teacher announces he is moving to another school, Hannah is not sure the stone will help her feelings. And then, when her bestie tells her, that she and her mum are also moving away, it’s even more distressing and the stone is only helping a very little.

Hannah cannot imagine her life without Izzi. It makes her not just sad, but very angry, and when that anger boils over, she says things she regrets jeopardising a lifelong friendship. Can she make things right before Izzi is lost to her in more than just a physical way?

It is illustrated throughout with some sweet illustrations, though I got a little confused by the one paired with Hannah swinging while she waits for Izzi to walk to school – given she’s wearing shorts, t-shirt and has bare feet – but that’s a mere trifle.

This would make an excellent read-aloud for classes around Year 1-3 and provoke some beneficial and positive conversations about dealing with emotions, changes and the realisation that sometimes endings are just beginnings turned around. It’s a 3 🌳🌳🌳for this one.