Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Lani and the Universe – Victoria Carless

    Harper Collins Australia January 2024 ISBN: 9781460716168 ISBN 10: 1460716167 Imprint: HarperCollins RRP: $12.99 I really enjoyed Victoria’s earlier book, Gus and the Starlight, so the invitation to write teaching notes for this new one was a great pleasure, and, of course, gave me a very early read of another fresh, funny and poignant MG novel. It’s been…

  • Come on in 2024

    Here we go again! 2024 – wowzers! for those of my vintage, it’s the stuff of science fiction really, and yet, here we are living it. This has been a significant year for us. It marked my 30 years of teaching (late starter after raising kids), over 25 as a teacher-librarian, and, essentially, the beginning…

  • Bad Martha – Wendy Orr. With illustrations by Carol McLean-Carr

    Angus & Robertson 1991 A chance remark from Wendy Orr prompted me to say, I’d never seen this one, and I said I would look out for it. Being an extremely generous and kind person, Wendy posted me one of the few remaining copies she has (signed and all!) and what an absolute little treasure…

  • Wonka – Sibéal Pounder: Roald Dahl, Paul King and Simon Farnaby

    Penguin Australia  December 2023 ISBN: 9780241618134 RRP: $16.99 When I first found out about Wonka I was a little apprehensive, I admit. How could Dahl’s anarchic magic possibly be recreated? And then I saw that Timothée Chalamet  was cast as Wonka, and I relaxed quite a bit. Then I saw the first official trailer, and knew it…

  • Happy Xmas from Los and The Kid

    I thank you, one and all, for playing along this year. I hope my reviews have given you some insight into some of the wonderful Kids Lit titles that have come this way. It’s been a big year for us, for sure, and now for a little hiatus while we enjoy some (rare) family time.…

  • The Wind in the Willows -‘Dolce Domum’ – Kenneth Grahame

    First published in 1908, my copy came to me on my 5th birthday [illustrated by Ernest Shephard], and I was at once completely and utterly besotted with life on the riverbank, Toad Hall and in the Wild Wood. This was a book on regular rotation in my reading roundabout. I adored every word of it.…

  • Harry Christmas!

    Bloomsbury ‘Hogsmeade looked like a Christmas card; the little thatched cottages and shops were all covered in a layer of crisp snow; there were holly wreaths on the doors and strings of enchanted candles hanging in the trees.’ Ron came back five minutes later, carrying three foaming tankards of hot Butterbeer. ‘Happy Christmas!’ he said…

  • From the Archives: Classic Australian Christmas fare with Michael Salmon

    It has been my great privilege to be friends with Michael for almost a decade now. He is not only a man of immense talent, an illustrious creative career spanning decades across genres, but is an exceptionally warm and wonderful human. One of our fondest memories, since The Kid came to live with me is…

  • From the Archives: Letters from Father Christmas – J. R. R. Tolkien

    One of my favourite Christmas books of all time, and one that is always so delightful to share with kids. Still in my ‘go to’ shelf of Xmas read-alouds for kiddos. Read more about the book here at the Tolkien Gateway. And I honestly think, as a longtime Tolkien fan, that I should really lash…

  • The Box of Delights – John Masefield

    Masefield was the Poet Laureate from 1930 to 1967 and his two children’s books, The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights, were both great favourites of mine as a child. I was hugely excited when The Box of Delights was adapted by the BBC into an absolutely marvellous TV series and even moreso, when…