Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Happy Halloween!

    I have a few fun titles to share and will be posting the reviews this afternoon and evening. We don’t get many trick-or-treaters around here as it’s a neighbourhood with a lot of older people and not so many kids but I still like to make sure I have some goodies – just in case!!…

  • The What on Earth Institute of Wonder – Lisa Nichol

    You can read my review of the The What on Earth Institute of Wonder now at Kids Book Review!!

  • The Magical Bookshop – Katja Frixe. Illustrated by Florentine Prechtel. Translated by Ruth Ahmedzal Kemp.

    Bloomsbury September 2021 Imprint: OneWorld ISBN: 9781786075666 RRP: $14.99 Such a sweet and happy book this is! Translated from the German with great dexterity while retaining just the right amount of that quirkiness of expression that European children’s books often have, this is just a delight from start to finish. Mrs Owl’s bookshop is full…

  • Cato’s Can Can – Juliet Sampson & Katrina Fisher

    Ford St Publishing August 2021 ISBN: 9781025804751 RRP: $24.95 Cato finds plenty of dancers from the local dance school but just as he seems to get close they all disappear. Finally, he is brave enough to go right inside the building and there they all are – the ballet dancers who leap, the rappers who…

  • This Much is True – Miriam Margoyles

    Hachette September 2021 ISBN: 9781529379884 RRP: $49.99 Well, what a rambunctious and joyous ride this memoir has been for my holiday read of the past few days! Miriam did not really cross my radar until I saw her as the Spanish Infanta in Blackadder but that’s really as much as I for one needed –…

  • The Amazing Case of Dr Ward – Jackie Kerin/Tull Suwannakit

    March 2021 Ford St Publishing RRP: $16.99 ISBN: 9781925804706 Dr Ward’s curiosity and innovation enabled the transport of many of the plants – both decorative and useful – to other shores and while, with hindsight, we have come to understand that some of those introduced to Australia have been a disaster for our native habitats,…

  • Good Night, Ivy Bright – Ben Long/Andrew Plant

    Ford St Publishing April 2021 RRP: $16.99 ISBN: 9781925804720 What I didn’t realise while I was writing this story was the importance of the moose.Everyone needs a moose. We all have times when we’re challenged – when we are tired,troubled, or in tears. And it’s at those times when we need someone to sit down…

  • The Incredibly Busy Mind of Bowen Bartholomew Crisp – Paul Russell/Nicky Johnston

    Exisle Publishing Imprint: EK Books ISBN: 9781925820881  RRP: $24.99 Without doubt we (as educators) have all met a Bowen Bartholomew Crisp at some point and many of us will remember our first encounter with a neuro-diverse child before we were even fully aware of such diversity. And we also know, that these children are among…

  • We Were Wolves – Jason Cockcroft

    Walker Books Australia June 2021 ISBN: 9781839130571Imprint: Andersen PressAustralian RRP: $26.99New Zealand RRP: $28.99 There are some seriously fabulous YA books coming out of the UK recently – and I’m not trying to take anything away from our local authors at all – it’s just that every single UK title I’ve read, probably in the…

  • The Tea Ladies of St Jude’s Hospital – Joanna Nell

    Hachette September 2021 ISBN: 9780733642906 RRP: $32.99 Hilary, Joy and Chloe could not, on first impressions, be any more different to each other and yet, as their friendship develops, they discover that each is trying desperately to hide a secret from the wider world. Hilary has been the manager of St Jude’s cafeteria for years.…