Just So Stories

Harper Collins Australia

October 2025

• ISBN: 9780008771911
• ISBN 10: 000877191X
• Imprint: HarperCollins GB
• RRP: $24.99

Who doesn’t love Oliver Jeffers’ books? They are always amusing but also have real depth to them, and it’s those layers that make them all the more special.

It’s Bridget’s birthday and she wants to spend it with friends because that’s always more fun. I can vouch for this, my recent one was spent with a bunch of lovely creator friends one night, just Mr Surfer and The Kid the next night with surfing and other entertainments inbetween. Because it’s our friends who make our special events more special, right?

Poor Bridget doesn’t seem to be having much luck though. As she asks each friend they all seem to be very busy doing – well, actually not doing much of importance at all. And then it dawns on just one, who talks to the others about who forgot Bridget’s birthday. Yes, all of them because of being so very busy with their busy-ness. They quickly pull together a celebration and all turns out well.

But it’s a very subtle look at how we, all of us, get so caught up in daily minutiae and our own ‘very important’ stuff, that we can forget about our friends. And it’s also a very subtle but powerful look at how even we stuff up forgetting our friends (or similar) we can fix things if we only take the time and make the effort.

Simple story, Oliver’s glorious illustrations – big message. It’s a definite hip hip hooray 5 🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂 rating for the delightful pink confection