Just So Stories

Simon & Schuster

• Publisher: Little Book Press
• November 2025
• ISBN13: 9781923141308

A new book from this pair of creators is always something I enjoy, not only because they are such a good fit for each other’s work but I have fond memories of Ursula being a patron when I was Central/Branches team leader at Marrickville Library years ago and would often have her coming into our library.

With the start of a new school here now (today in Qld as I write), many of you will appreciate having a kick-starter for a new UoI or ‘wondering’ session and this fits the bill admirably. We all know those kids with the endless questions and in a learning environment we hope to capitalise on that so a book that sparks curiosity, indeed celebrates it, is very welcome.

It has a lovely thread of absurdism throughout which also helps. A wandering, wondering guinea pig finds a tree that knows everything [aka the Tree of Knowledge in many stories and histories]- what an invitation that is!

So immediately the GP starts firing off questions – pretty random questions but they all deserve an answer. Readers are invited to offer an opinion on an answer with a yes/no/maybe refrain. Along the way they will find out some fascinating factoids like Java bananas are blue and taste like vanilla and that the sun will be ‘alive’ for another 5 billion years.

It’s a clever way to get your kiddos posing some questions for your class Wonder Wall so have some fun with it. Why not add the option for others to comment with their yes/no/maybe response via sticky notes? Andrew Joyner’s illustrations are, as always, icing on the cake of this slice of humour. It’s getting a 4🐮 🌞🍌🤖 rating for Smalls from around Prep up to Year 3.