Just So Stories

Ford St Publishing

June 2023

ISBN: 9781922696298

RRP: $17.95

Pippa is back in a new story and it is one with which many young readers will make connections. Being a big sister or brother is a very exciting time but it can also be very frustrating and leave an older sibling feeling quite resentful, no matter how much the new addition, or additions, are loved. And Pippa does love her new twin brothers but boy! are they noisy…and so messy!!

Longing to escape to Too-Far-to-Fly-to-Forest is a great idea but Pippa has no idea how to get there, and Mum and Dad are too caught up with those demanding twins to tell her, and to make matters worse she has to babysit those squawking squabs.

As she mulls over her plan to fly off to peace and quiet, a furry, striped prowler appears in their tree and Pippa, far from flying away, proves just what a great big sister she is – and comes up with a perfect plan to be an even better sibling so she and her brothers can all have fun together. This is a fun and exciting story with a simple, but highly expressive text, and Andrew Plant’s (as always) amazing illustrations, to which your kiddos will respond with all due appropriate emotions (that cat does look quite menacing!).

I’m not sure about your locale but here in Redcliffe, feral pigeons abound. They are a frequent visitor to our new backyard, and at one school I regularly visit, have no shame in coming inside classrooms looking for food scraps. If your kids are also familiar with them, it could be useful research to combine this (and the earlier Pippa book) with some nature study on these birds – and investigate them as pets or feral pests – which could be part of a larger unit of work on invasive species. (Of course, feral cats could also be included)

Leaving that aside, this is a terrific book to spark conversations around families and siblings, and the ripple effect of new arrivals in the family unit. For many children, this is a valuable learning experience and an emotional scaffold for them. I envisage some great discussions on ideas for how to be a terrific big brother or sister including what skills your kiddos have to share with a littler person.

Readers from around 3 years upwards will thoroughly enjoy this one.