Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Walk With Us – Adam Goodes/Ellie Laing. Illustrated by David Hardy.

    Allen & Unwin October 2023 ISBN:9781761065071 Publisher:A&U Children’s Imprint:A & U Children Series; Welcome to Our Country In a week where so many of us are mourning, reading this was poignant to say the least. Here we (creators and educators) are knocking ourselves out trying to raise our Smalls to be decent, empathetic and understanding…

  • Q&A with Fiona Lloyd

    Welcome Fiona to Just So Stories and thank you so much for taking the time to give us some insight into you, your work and your life. Your first novel Being Jimmy Baxter is one of the most charming, funny and moving middle grade books I’ve read in recent times, and I loved it muchly!…

  • Willa and Woof #6: Double the Drama – Jacqueline Harvey

    Penguin Australia October 2023 RRP: $12.99 I am pretty sure everyone is aware already that Jacqueline is one of my favourite authors, as well as a favourite friend/wonderful human. She is also pretty prolific with her creativity – witness that just in the last two months I’ve reviewed the latest Alice-Miranda MG novel as well…

  • Grandma’s First Tattoo – Phillip Gwynne and Tony Flowers

    Yaffler Press October 2023 RRP: $19.99 Well, I was 45, and a grandmother of 2 when I got my first tattoo so I have taken great interest in the development and progress of this book from the very start. Tony’s sharing ideas and concepts for the artwork has been an ongoing pleasure, and I was…

  • Blair Moon – how to be cooler than the moon: Ashleigh Mounser

    Ford St Publishing October 2023 ISBN: 9781922696373 RRP: $18.99 Blair Moon is not your average 11 year old. She lives in the nursing home where her mother works, and her best friends are residents, Edgar and Nancy. Nancy is also Blair’s home school teacher, not that Blair needs much teaching as she’s more like a…

  • The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac

    Bloomsbury ISBN 9781526646712 Imprint Bloomsbury Children’s Books RRP: $55.00 This year Harry Potter Book Day was on my birthday – which I personally found very pleasing. I wasn’t in a library to celebrate as I have done previously, but regardless it was a very satisfying thought and I downloaded and saved activities to use with…

  • Parcel for Turtle – Shelley Knoll-Miller

    Penguin Australia How absolutely delighted am I that the first ‘Parcel for…’ title I review, so closely reflects our happy place – the beach, and some of its very nicest inhabitants – indeed, practically our neighbours. Each book in this series is a clever, but simply written guessing game for Littles, with absolutely gorgeous comic…

  • 2023 Festival of Los – the highlights

    To treat myself, we went to a beautiful little Air BnB unit where we’ve stayed before, to celebrate my birthday. We took The Kid’s bestie along for the ride and all had a great time. There was surfing and beachtime, movies and a canal cruise on a historic timber ferry around the mansions of Mooloolaba,…

  • Nothing Alike – Zewlan Moor/Peter Cheong

    Hardie Grant Publishing August 2023 ISBN: 9781761212239ISBN-10: 1761212230 Imprint: Bright Light RRP: $22.99 #sorrywrongasian. In case you missed the Twitter (remember that?) avalanche of 2021, the whole issue of being an ‘interchangeable Asian‘ and microaggression was highlighted when a slew of reports of ‘mistaken Asian identity’ was reported by Asian-Americans across the country. This particular form of…

  • Little Ash series #7 and #8 – Ash Barty and Jasmine McGaughey/Jade Goodwin

    Harper Collins Australia October 2023 Everyone’s favourite tennis superstar, Ash Barty, is back with two new titles in her hugely popular series for newly independent readers. With engaging themes of sport, school, friends and family, these little chapter books have been such a big hit with the kiddos I know, both as read-aloud and read-to-self.…