Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Summer of Shipwrecks – Shivaun Plozza

    UQP September 2024 ISBN 9780702268373 RRP: $16.99 2024 was, as I’ve said many times, a year for splendid Australian middle-grade novels and this, the latest from Shivaun Plozza is a prime example. That transition between end of primary/start of secondary is a difficult time for many tweens. It’s often a time when long-held friendships unravel Read more

  • The Skin I’m In – Steph Tisdell

    Pan Macmillan July 2024 ISBN: 9781760984977 RRP: $26.99 It took me a while to get to this one on the review shelf, but when I did, it didn’t take me long to read it – I chomped it up over 3 nights and loved every vibrant word of it. Then of course it was Picture Book Read more

  • At School I’ll Grow – Carly Gardiner. Illustrated by Caroline Keys.

    Little Steps Publishing Boolarong Press October 2024 ISBN : 978-1-922678-35-5 RRP: $16.99 This is a pretty simple picture book aimed squarely at those Smalls beginning their school journey. It offers a rhyming description of what might be expected to happen in an average classroom [except for the fact of just 11 children in front of the Read more

  • Little Love List – Bethany Clark. Illustrated by Summer Macon.

    Affirm Press January 2025 AUD RRP $22.99 ISBN 9781922806758 If you were to write a list of all the reasons you love someone – that is, someone you love deeply – how long would it be? Do you love them when they’re tired and grumpy? Do you love them when they make mistakes? Of course, Read more

  • Writing Classes for Kids

    If you are an educator – either in a school or at home – and have been looking for a quality creative writing program for your students, look no further. Award-winning author Dee White, with her co-creator (and son) Nick White have created a wonderful self-paced course for young writers which is richly engaging, encouraging Read more

  • Croc Candy – Claire Thompson. Illustrated by Deborah Brown.

    The True Story of a Rising Star, Angus Copelin-Walters Woodslane Press January 2025 9781922800817/$27.99 Claire Thompson and I connected when she asked if I could help her to develop some professional resources to partner both her forthcoming book and also a writing with kids gig she was undertaking. It has been an all-round pleasure I Read more

Archived Reviews