Just So Stories

Scholastic Australia

May 2025

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scholastic Press
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1760978310
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1760978310

Yes, it has taken far too long to get to this one but it’s worth it – and if you haven’t grabbed it, you should!

It’s been way too long since I had a fractured fairytale to share and it’s also been way too long between really excellent, perfectly on point rhyming books. There are a lot of not very good rhyming books that jar and make me shudder – a LOT. This is not only perfect in its cadence and rhythm but also hilariously punny funny, which always appeals to me.

Following in a tradition from Jon Scieszka’s The True Story of the Three Little Pigs [sidenote: I’ve used this book a gazillion times in my library career, and before, and didn’t realise for a long time that the illustrations were by Lane Smith until It’s a Book came along!] and continued by our own Deborah Abela with Wolfie, among others, this is a great addition to your fairy tale canon.

Whether for Smalls for pure fun or for older kiddos to spark debate and conjecture on labels, accusations, circumstantial evidence, mock trials etc (that list is endless really!), this is great all round.

Oddly enough, though Kat(hryn) is a local – Qlder, that is – I met her in Adelaide on our visit there! I’m hoping to catch her again at one of the events that always seem to be happening.

For me, this is a definite keeper as it’s a perfect book to use for the increasingly rare (as I do more and more writing) relief teaching days for whatever year level. I’m the wolf, Miss Understood.
You think I’m bad, but I am good.
Those Little Pigs told you a porker —
made it sound like I’m a stalker!

A must have for your fractured fairytales units but also just for wordplay and, as above, legal studies 😉. It gets a very porky and lupine 5 🐷🐷🐷🐺🍲 rating from me with lots of snaughling.