Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • The Cubbies: the battle for Australia’s first adventure playground – Joan Healey

    Monash University Publishing Publication Date: Aug 2024 RRP: $36.99 ISBN: 9781922979698 Sometimes it is really marvellous how things come your way. Just over a week ago I was writing some teaching notes for a forthcoming JF in which a cubby is featured, and, as is my wont, I was rootling around for info or inspo…

  • Queen of Dogs – Joe Weatherstone

    Walker Books June 2024 ISBN13:9781760658588 Australia RRP:$16.99 New Zealand RRP:$18.99 What a super fun read this was!! It’s a real mixed bag – humour, drama, mystery, family and … doggos galore! Maddy often feels like the changeling in her family of high-flyers. They are all very sporty and academic and always on the go-go-GO! Maddy,…

  • Adventures Unlimited #1: The Land of Lost Things – Andy Griffiths. Illustrated by Bill Hope

    Pan Macmillan Australia August 2024 Imprint: Pan Australia ISBN: 9781761268267 RRP: $16.99 By coincidence the Ipswich StoryFest starts today [4/8] and it was at that kids lit festival, very early on in my teacher-librarian career (possibly around 1998?) that I first met Andy Griffiths and enjoyed the uproarious hilarity of his presentation [the exploding check out…

  • Pankration – Dyan Blacklock

    Allen & Unwin ISBN:9781864482959 Imprint:A & U Children RRP: $17.99 I was never a big fan of the Olympics but became completely disenchanted following the selection of Beijing as a host, for so many reasons- and now, for just as many the fact that Brisbane will host them and cause endless misery to so many…

  • Pirates of Darksea – Catherine Doyle

    Bloomsbury Australia June 2024 ISBN 9781526655103 Imprint Bloomsbury Children’s Books RRP: $16.99 I fell in love with Catherine Doyle’s writing with The Stormkeeper trilogy and when the ARC arrived for this – many months ago- I devoured it with just as much enthusiasm – and this review has been scheduled since then!! This is an…

  • Camp Chaos: Willa and Woof # 7 – Jacqueline Harvey. Illustrations by A. Yi

    Penguin Australia June 2024 Each new Willa and Woof adventure makes me think “Oh this is the best yet!” but, somehow, they just keep coming – and getting better! I really LOVE this one. It makes me, as an adult, think of all the camps I’ve taken kiddos on, both school and with Brownies (later…

  • Tracks in the Mist: #4 The Adamson Adventures – Sandra Bennett

    Rosella Ridge Books June 2024 ISBN: 9780648938240 RRP: $18.00 Sandra Bennett This is the first of this series I’ve read but I definitely enjoyed it, and think your readers would as well, especially those who like a combination of adventure, mystery and family. Although I hadn’t read any of the previous episodes, it wasn’t too…

  • Her Majesty’s League of Remarkable Young Ladies – Alison D. Stegert

    Chicken House May 2024 ISBN: 9781915026095 ISBN-10: 1915026091 Published: 1st May 2024 RRP: $19.99 It’s always such a pleasure to review a friend’s book. It is even more so when that friend is a near-neighbour, Sunshine Coast writer Alison D. Stegert. I have been waiting for quite a long time to get my hands on this one, especially…

  • Protectors – Wylah the Koorie Warrior #3 – Jordan Gould/Richard Pritchard

    Allen & Unwin June 2024 ISBN:9781761180798 Publisher:A&U Children’s Imprint:Albert Street Books RRP: $16.99 I know there will be many excited readers to see that Wylah is back in her third adventure. This series has taken off and it is really pleasing to see. I recall 25 years ago in my first library having an audit…

  • Tearaway Coach – Neridah McMullin/Andrew McLean

    Walker Books Australia April 2024 ISBN13:9781760653170 Australia RRP:$26.99 New Zealand RRP:$28.99 I’m certain that everyone has caught onto Neridah McMullin’s stunning historical picture books, but then again, there are always some who are late to the party. This is the latest, and is both a rousing adventure and a fascinating slice of history that will…