Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Kensy and Max #3: Undercover – Jacqueline Harvey

    Penguin Random House 9780143791904 March 5, 2019 Random House Australia Children’s   $16.99 Jacqueline Harvey has done it again with another super episode in her cracking new series about the two intrepid twins, Kensington and Maxim aka Kensy and Max.  The children’s parents are still MiA but news of them is filtering through and they…

  • Utterly Uber Usborne #2

    Lift-the-Flap Engineering Harper Collins ISBN: 9781474943659 ISBN 10: 1474943659 Imprint: Usborne – GB December 2018 List Price: 19.99 AUD A kid is never too old for a lift-the-flap book and that has been evidenced by the satisfying reaction of a little boy I know who has been fascinated by the ‘Bridges’ book in this series. I am super confident…

  • Utterly Uber Usborne

      Y’all know I’m a bit of a non-fiction geek ever since childhood so when I get a pile of Usborne books for all ages my nerdy heart just sings! Here are some of the riches I have been exploring of late.   True Stories: Polar Adventures – Paul Dowswell Harper Collins Imprint: Usborne November…

  • A Great Escape – Felice Arena

    Penguin Random House 9780143794042 March 2019 Puffin $16.99 I have never been a student of post-war modern history so my knowledge of the Cold War has always been minimal – sketchy even – but, as serendipity would have it, not one but two of my most recent audio ‘reads’ on my daily commute have referenced…

  • Fish Kid and the Lizard Ninja – Kylie Howarth

        Walker Books ISBN: 9781760650810 Imprint: Walker Books Australia: February 1, 2019 Australian RRP: $14.99 New Zealand RRP: $16.99 If you have readers who love a good fun story with a bit of interesting information plus a smattering of a conservation message this will be a huge hit.  The first in a new series Kylie Howarth has set up…

  • Love Lie Repeat – Catherine Greer

    Penguin 9780143791225 March 5, 2019 $19.99 I’ve mentioned before that I have in recent times been somewhat disenchanted with many of the YA novels that have come my way. There have been a few exceptions. This one, debut novel and all, is an absolute corker! Annie and her ‘island girls’ (the kind you take with…

  • Truly Tan #7: Baffled – Jen Storer. Illustrated by Claire Robertson

    Harper Collins ISBN: 9780733334139 ISBN-10: 073333413X Series: Truly Tan October 2018 Imprint: ABC Books RRP $16.99 Can I just say I truly love Tan? Yes sirree, I do! Since the first one I ever read I found this series very appealing and loads of fun. There is a real trend for detective/mystery/spy stories for younger readers but they don’t…

  • 52 Mondays – Anna Ciddor

      Allen & Unwin ISBN: 9781760523480 Imprint: A & U Children Pub Date: March 2019 RRP $14.99   It would appear that Anna Ciddor and I must be of the same vintage as this fictionalised account of a year of her childhood and the many references to commonplace 60s objects and events resonate so readily.…

  • Mr Bambuckle’s Remarkables On the Lookout: #3 – Tim Harris

    9780143793144 February 5, 2019 Puffin RRP: $14.99   Even those who have not been privileged enough to sip Himalayan tea with Mr Bambuckle are completely taken with the adventures of his class 12B. The continual struggle to defeat the pressures put upon them by short-sighted school admin individuals and to foster each child blossoming into…

  • 47 Degrees – Justin D’Ath

    Penguin Australia 9780143789079 January 8, 2019 Puffin RRP:  $16.99 Australia has more than its fair share of natural disasters. One only has to think about the events of the last week or so with the terrible floods in North Queensland and the raging fires in Tasmania. Arguably one of the very worst of these was…