Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Picture Book Month Extra!!! The Hunger Games [Illustrated edition] – Suzanne Collins. Illustrated by Nico Delort.

    Scholastic Australia October 2024 Imprint; Scholastic Inc. 9781761640995 $49.99 Would you ever have thought The Hunger Games could get even better? This illustrated version is just sensational! This is quite the hefty volume – almost A4 in size – and dense but so beautifully presented and the monochromatic illustrations by Nic Delort bring a whole Read more

  • Shadow Play – Kate Forsyth. Illustrated by Rosalie Street.

    Wombat Books August 2024 9781925563740 $26.99 I’ve often mentioned here the prevalence of anxiety in children, some of them very young, but it’s also fair to point out that there have always been Smalls who have been scared of one thing or another. I know, I was none too thrilled with the dark when I Read more

  • Picture Book Month extra!! Cobweb – Michael Morpurgo

    Harper Collins Australia RRP: $19.99 Once again Michael Morpurgo demonstrates exactly why he is a master of middle grade historical fiction, even at the venerable age of 80+. If you have read his memoir Such Stuff: a Storymaker’s Inspiration, you will already be aware that most, if not all, of Michael’s stories are sparked initially Read more

  • The Garden at the End of the World – Cassy Polimeni & Briony Stewart

    UQP April 2024 ISBN: 9780702265693 RRP: $24.99 In one of those weird kind of quirks, I actually got Cassy’s second book before I got the copy of this, her debut title. When I finally got my hands on it, I decided I would save it to showcase during Picture Book Month because it is such Read more

  • Tardigrades: Nature’s Toughest Survivors – Anne Morgan/Jennifer Falkner

    CSIRO Publishing October 2024 ISBN: 9781486316052 RRP: $24.99 In one of those weird moments of synchronicity I found out about this book just as I’d finished a MG novel in which the protagonist is doing her class project on tardigrades. They really are the strangest little beasties but how cool is this book that will Read more

  • November is Picture Book Month!

    November is Picture Book Month, a tribute to the enduring importance of the picture book form. Dianne de Las Casas (author & storyteller) and her team co-founded the month-long celebration to champion the power and beauty of picture books. There are many people trying to keep the event active, following the loss of its founder. Certainly, I will continue Read more

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