Just So Stories

Walker Books Australia

ISBN13:9781760659479

Australia RRP:$17.99

New Zealand RRP:$19.99

As I’ve said before, I have a fascination with octopuses with their superior intelligence and facility for extraordinary physical feats. And when you combine that with Neridah McMullin’s ability to weave a narrative of magical realism that has echoes of traditional folktales and lore, you get a new middle grade novel that will positively enchant your readers.

Pippy Cocklebiddy is a small girl carrying an enormous emotional load. Her mother has died. Her father, unable to cope with his grief, has sailed away and not returned for the entire nine months since his wife’s death. She is utterly alone except for her Uncle Isaac, who is actually her great-uncle, and their household: Ferg the brownie, Mussels the aged dog, Buccaneer the feisty cat and Fairweather the albatross.

She loves her Uncle Isaac dearly and he returns that love, but the old man is starting to get befuddled in his mind. He forgets his words, he gets confused, he certainly doesn’t notice that Pippy’s clothes are shabby or whether she goes to school. While this adds to Pippy’s worries, the villagers are all very protective and supportive of the old man and the girl. Most days Pippy and Uncle Isaac fish, like many of their fellow villagers in Portablow, on the Flying Seahorse, Uncle Isaac’s boat.

When Pippy falls overboard one day and is, seemingly, rescued by an octopus, a strange chain of events begins to unfold, revealing not only Pippy’s destiny but the future of one giant octopus, known as Octavia. Going back to the old days of the village and Pippy’s great-granny who originally ‘saved’ the island and became the first Keeper of the Octopus. Always, since those days, there has been an octopus confined in a pool at the mouth of the river to keep the village safe.

In the now, it becomes evident that the village is in danger not from anything from the ocean, but from some rapacious foreigners who are ruthlessly devastating the waters and the marine life with their secret drag nets and complete disregard for the sea habitat, the creatures and, indeed, the villagers who stand to lose their entire livelihoods. The very worst thing is that they have made no secret of their hunt for the giant octopus rumoured to live in the environs.

Pippy may be small, loaded down with her grief and not feeling very brave, but her love for Octavia, the warmth and affection and emotional intelligence she gains in return, plus her determination to save her village and her family – as well as Octavia, empower her to outwit the villains.

Naturally, there is a lot more to the narrative than that but you really must read it yourself. I loved it all and, in a way, the Portablow village and culture reminded me of the character Mair and Big Henry island in Jackie French’s The Sea Captain’s Wife. There are definite echoes of island and fishing communities such as those of the Channel Islands or even Norfolk Island, where cultures have evolved with their own unique traditions and customs, without influence from the wider more mundane world.

Pippy’s relationship with Octavia, and their shared experiences, both in actuality and in dreaming, is quite beautiful and will encourage readers to think about the potential symbiotic connections we can establish with the natural world.

Further to that, it is a completely contained lesson in how fragile our oceans and the habitats of marine life are, about which Australian children, particularly, are becoming increasingly concerned. This is a book that is perfectly suited to your more astute readers who will grasp the author’s intent and nuances, but at the same time, there will be many who can read this on a surface level as an adventure with fantasy elements, and some wonderful insight.

I think it is just astonishingly marvellous ,and look forward to seeing it on award lists in the coming year. I also want to say that [especially as an ex-Brownie leader!] that I would like my own house brownie, and I don’t even care if he picks his nose or makes me a candle from upcycled earwax!

It gets a colossal cephalopod 5 🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙rating from me – and I will be wearing my own octopus amulet in the hopes that I too can meet an Octavia.

Unlike other octopuses, females craft fragile, paper-like shells to carry and protect their eggs — an evolutionary masterpiece of nature.

Found in warm seas around the world, these little creatures drift near the surface, riding ocean currents.

Their delicate shells are often mistaken for seashells, but they’re actually made by the octopus itself!

Small, rare, and fascinating, baby argonauts remind us how extraordinary and inventive life beneath the waves truly is.