Just So Stories

Harper Collins Australia

November 2025

• ISBN: 9781460767122
• ISBN 10: 1460767128
• Imprint: HarperCollins AU
• List Price: 24.99 AUD

I’m not familiar with the stats of other states but in Queensland there are now almost 12, 000 students being home-schooled. Between 2020 and 2024 there was almost a 164% increase in registrations. I knew the stats were escalating a few years ago when I was home-schooling The Kid myself. There are also significant increases in other states and about 45, 000 home-schooled students across the country. Many, many parents are dissatisfied with traditional schooling for a variety of reasons.

Despite that, of course, there are still plenty who will be heading off to their local primary in the new year and for these it is a big step. I was a Year 1 teacher for 3 years before I went into the library – fortunately, at a country school at a time when things were very different and our Smalls were encouraged to be just that – small. Despite that, it was still an enormous and, at times, overwhelming change for the little people.

It is books such as this one that can help smooth that transition from preschool or kinder to entry level of formal schooling. These days in Queensland that’s Prep, and there’s tremendous backlash about the way it’s structured, but that’s a separate issue.

Sarah Ayoub focuses on a range of ideas to help allay any anxieties a little person might have and gives them some possibilities of how their days at school might look and feel. The illustrations from Mimi Purnell are very appropriate and pleasing, and also feature a wide range of diversity of all types. It’s a solid 3 🏫🏫🏫 from me for this one to put in your kitbag if you are teaching Preps or equivalent in the new year.