Just So Stories

Simon & Schuster

Publisher: Affirm Press

November 2025

• ISBN13: 9781923135949
• LIST PRICE: AU$ 22.99 / NZ$ 27.99

This one takes another tack altogether from the previous two reviews. This is intended for any child or class at the start of a new year and is, essentially, a primer in resilience, self-belief and growth mindset.

All of that sounds quite serious and of course it is, but this is written in a very warm, friendly tone that will speak to children easily. I would be using this helpful book in my first week with a new class, and encouraging them to set some goals for themselves but also to actively think how they might approach that.

It’s not enough to say ‘set some goals’ as many do. We need to scaffold our kiddos and help them develop strategies to put in place both to work towards their goals,and how to respond if they don’t quite make it.

We need to empower them to use a tool, such as that SMART strategy which is always a solid approach and easy enough for them to grasp. Author Jess Sanders is a successful therapist, social worker and author who has some terrific resources for parents and teachers, well worth investigating. Take some time to peruse some……this ABC Listen piece on sensitivity I found particularly resonant.

Again this book’s illustrations, by Andrea Oshini, embrace a wide range of diversity among the children which is especially pleasing to see and also shows them in a wide range of activities – academic, sporting and recreational.

To my mind, there is a tendency to focus on the first two, and often the fact that achieving goals is not just about getting better at maths, or playing in a team, those intensely personal achievements tied to recreational pursuits are also vitally important for our kiddos to become well-rounded humans.

This one gets a 4 🏫🏫🏫🏫 and, again, put this in your toolkit for that first week back at school – I would easily spend at least half a day unpacking this one and working with my kiddos to help them set themselves up for their best school year ever.