Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe


  • Lottie Luna and the Twilight Party (Lottie Luna #2) – Vivian French. Illustrated by Nathan Reed.

    Harper Collins Australia March 2020 ISBN: 9780008343019 ISBN 10: 0008343012 Imprint: HarperCollins – GB List Price: 12.99 AUD We all know two things for certain. Young readers love to see a reflection of their own lives: school, friendship, family and so on and that Vivian French excels in creating engaging and whimsical adventures for her audience. This is Lottie’s…

  • Harry Potter Knitting Magic: The Official Harry Potter Knitting Pattern Book – Tanis Gray

    Harper Collins Australia January 2020 ISBN: 9781911641926 ISBN 10: 1911641921 Imprint: Pavilion – GB List Price: 39.99 AUD I hadn’t done any knitting for about eight years but these holidays (of stay-at-home instead of the planned week in Thailand) I have been knitting some ANZAC Day poppies as a little project. This sumptuous book is inspiring me further. I’d…

  • The Good Hawk: (Shadow Skye – Book 1) – Joseph Elliott

    Walker Books Australia February 2020 ISBN: 9781406385854 Imprint: Walker Australian RRP: $16.99 New Zealand RRP: $18.99   Enter a fabulous new adventure-fantasy series that will not just enthral readers with its ‘difference’ being set in a fictional parallel landscape but with its wonderful celebration of another type of difference. Agatha and Jamie are of the Clann-a-Tuath, one of the…

  • The Seven Keys – Allison Rushby

    Walker Books Australia July 2019 ISBN: 9781760650797 Australian RRP: $16.99 New Zealand RRP: $18.99   I absolutely loved my first introduction to Flossie Birdwhistle in The Turnkey of Highgate Cemetery and was so excited to read her next adventure, though I’ve had to wait a while. Let me say right now, it was worth the wait. Allison Rushby…

  • The Besties Make a Splash – Felice Arena/Tom Jellett

    Penguin Random House April 2020 ISBN: 9781760890964 Imprint: Puffin RRP: $9.99 The Besties are back for their next little adventure and your little newly independent readers are going to be well pleased about that! Again Felice has taken a familiar event in the lives of many small humans and turned it into a fun and engaging romp with…

  • James Gong The Big Hit – Paul Collins

    Hybrid Publishers June 2020 ISBN 9781925736441 RRP: $16.99 Fourteen year old James Gong is pretty much a fairly average teenage boy living in suburbia with a family who are also pretty average – well in most respects. His mother rescues dogs and keeps them out the back of their house, to the frequent annoyance of…

  • The Missing: the True Story of my Family in World War II – Michael Rosen

    Walker Books March 2020 ISBN: 9781406386752 Imprint: Walker Australian RRP: $22.99 New Zealand RRP: $24.99 First of all I have to say that I have the greatest admiration for Laureate Michael Rosen, both as a writer, a champion of children’s reading and school libraries and as a human. His writing over the years has always resonated with readers both…

  • Easter Goodies – hopping your way!

    This is a swag of lovely titles for little people just in time for Easter gifts. When my girls were little – and then with my grandies – their Easter gift was always heavier on the book gifts than the chocolate. (Of course a little bit of chocolate is always necessary at any age!). So…

  • Archicards: Build a Castle [64 slot-together cards for creative fun] – Paul Farrell

    Harper Collins Australia March 2020 ISBN: 9781843654469 ISBN 10: 1843654466 Imprint: Pavilion Childrens – GB List Price: 24.99 AUD   So not exactly what I would normally expect to be reviewing but how super timely at this point in time! And while I’m sort of thinking that I could gift them either as a library prize or to a…

  • Derek Dool Supercool #1: Bust a Move– Adrian Beck. Illustrated by Scott Edgar

    Penguin Australia March 2020 ISBN: 9781760892951 Imprint: Puffin RRP: $14.99 Yep, we’ve all known a Derek – and indeed, some of us have taught one! Derek Dool thinks he is the ant’s pants really and doesn’t miss a chance to let everyone know. It’s just a shame that no one else seems to appreciate his supercool-ness. Mind you,…