Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Dianne Wolfer – Double Delight.

    Dianne’s talent as a writer is undeniable and her ability to write prose fiction, narrative non-fiction and picture books with equal ease sets her apart. Here are the two latest examples of her outstanding ability to capture the essence of a story as well as place and time, both of these reverbrating with a true…

  • The Perfect Book – Jacinta Froud. Gökçe Yavaş Önal

    Art Director: Ozan TortopPublisher: Jacinta FroudBooksmith: Tadaa Book March 2023 ISBN: 9780646866604 RRP: $23.99 The Book Cow Read about this book’s genesis – it’s a story of determination and self-belief. This one is an older title that the lovely Jacinta Froud sent me in a package a while back and it’s a lot of fun…

  • In Plain Sight: Friday Barnes #13 – R. A. Spratt

    Penguin Australia It was quite synchronistic to get #13 Friday Barnes arriving on Friday 13th, I thought! And, needless to say, I promptly gobbled it up over two nights with much snickering and snort laughing [No R. A. Spratt is ever read without the snaughling!]. The Friday romp continues with our intrepid but ‘special’ detective,…

  • A Lemon for Safiya – Jemima Shafei-Ongu. Illustrated by Nisaluk Chantanakom.

    Hachette Australia May 2025 Imprint: Lothian Children’s Books | 9780734422224 | RRP $24.99 When Safiya spots an old lady sitting on the kerb, she feels worried for her. Her parents sense something is amiss as well. The family are quick to see that the old lady is confused, also that she has no English, and it is apparent by…

  • Hatch – Heidi Cooper Smith

    CSIRO Publishing Hardback | April 2025 | $ 26.99ISBN: 9781486318278 This gorgeous narrative non-fiction book makes me think of my Year 1s, 30 years ago as we had the fun of watching chickens hatch, and frogspawn develop, investigating how life begins for many creatures. I know there are many ELC and Prep classes that still…

  • R.I.P. Nanny Tobbins – Lucie Stevens

    Harper Collins Australia June 2025 ISBN: 9781460766521 ISBN 10: 1460766520 $16.99 It’s one thing having a strict but kind and fair Nanny who is alive – and quite another when that Nanny is dead. Nine-year-old Albertine is a sweet child, who is without a mother but with a very loving and protective father. He is, in fact,…

  • We’re going on a Treasure Hunt – Martha Mumford. Laura Hughes.

    lift the flaps and find the treasure! Bloomsbury Australia June 2025 ISBN: 978152627384 Imprint: Bloomsbury Children’s Books Series: The Bunny Adventures RRP: $16.99 We’re going on a treasure hunt. Yo! Ho! Ho!Help us find the golden coins … Arrrrr! Off we go! Well, it’s rabbits so of course I’m in! But seriously, how cute are the Bunnies?…

  • More School of Monsters – Sally Rippin. Art by Chris Kennett.

    Hardie Grant Australia April 2025 Price:AU$10.99, NZ$11.99 Series:School of Monsters Imprint:Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing ISBN:9781761213502 Bee makes a wish. The monsters stare.What’s that growing from her hair? ISBN:9781761213519 Bill and Ben both love to sing,but each one sings a different thing! It’s more rhyming fun and reading confidence with two new instalments in the hugely successful School of Monsters…

  • My Very First Britannica Encyclopedia: for curious kids aged 0 to 3 – Sally Symes, Hanako Clulow (Illustrator), Dr Amanda Gummer

    Walker Books Australia RRP: $44.99 I’m going to be completely frank with you. The kind of people who were rushing out to buy the board books of the ilk of the Nuclear Physics for Babies type, made me shudder. I’m sure there were some who were buying them with a sense of humour, but one…

  • Gone – Michel Streich

    Thames & Hudson Australia Pty Ltd  3rd June 2025 ISBN: 9781760764920 ISBN-10: 1760764922 RRP: $26.00 As you might expect, if you are familiar with our story, grief after the loss of her mother was an enormous obstacle for The Kid and I both ten years ago. At least I had, at my fingertips, a range of titles…