Just So Stories

Penguin Australia

• October 2026
• ISBN: 9781761356612
• Imprint: Penguin
• RRP: $19.99

Oh, how I love this series – because, you know, libraries! On that note I’m going to digress a bit before I get to review of this terrific new instalment. But you’ll need to go my substack to read it because this wasn’t the place for it.

Oliver and Agatha are in dire straits again when a particularly nasty official from head office (we’ve all met one like this) turns up being over-the-top officious and demanding that he be in charge until Oliver proves he has acquired the necessary qualifications to be an assistant librarian officially.

And one of the most critical and urgent tasks he sets them is tracking down some EXTREMELY DANGEROUS and well overdue books. These books are extremely volatile – well, so many of the books in the Blackmoor-upon-Wyvern library are – these ones can take out whole towns in a nano-second. So off go the intrepid pair chasing down overdues as no over-zealous librarian has ever done before – retired pirate? sure they can find her and wrestle that book back from her or can they? apprentice mages full of rage when their cheat-sheet study book is apprehended – no worries! and then there’s that giant snail which is, quite frankly, a thought so abhorrent as to be a chasm apart from Dr Doolittle’s version! It’s another fast and frenetic mission for the pair but Oliver has unexpected aid from his sisters and, of course, Agatha with her ability to transform into the cats of doom is such an able support. Then there are other unexpected but equally welcome helpers such as London the lamplighter.

On the note of his sisters though, Oliver does get quite the surprise when he finds out that perhaps his sisters, well Heloise at least is not quite the perfection that she appears.

And then there’s Director Thorne himself – nasty piece of work – who is certainly not all he seems to be – now that’s a really unexpected twist!

Altogether, this is another fast-paced page-turner romp through fantastical adventures which able readers will love. I look forward to the next instalment eagerly. A magical and bitey 5 📖📖📖📖📖rating for readers from around Year 4 up.