Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • 2026 Father’s Day Special: Some Dads: 15th Anniversary Edition – Nick Bland

    Scholastic Australia July 2026 ISBN: 9781761723841 RRP: $19.99 First of all let me say, I love EVERY Nick Bland book without exception. They are both clever and always well-executed. And this long-time favourite must have been shared a gazillion times in libraries, classrooms and homes for the past 15 years. It is both fun and…

  • Little Blue Where Are You? – Sally Morgan. Karen Blair.

    Fremantle Press September 2026 ISBN: 9781760997182 RRP: $27.99 Sally Morgan’s long career as both a children’s and adults’ writer covers such a range of genres that it is astonishing. From board books to non-fiction memoir and everything in between. There are surprisingly some folk who don’t realise quite the extent of her prolific work and, particularly,…

  • Ella and the Call of the Wild- Cassy Polimeni. Illustrated by Hykie Breeze.

    UWAP August 2026 ISBN13: 9781760803360 LIST PRICE: AU$ 15.99 / NZ$ 18.99 Sadly we are now at the end of the wonderful froglicious Ella series but what a great one to finish it up. Because in this final, this little girl who has been a ‘voice’ for frogs, their safety and their habitats throughout, takes…

  • Betsy & Bon: Three Sweet Stories – Simon Howe

    UQP September 2026 ISBN: 9780702268953 RRP: $26.99 Here’s a little book that will absolutely delight younger readers (and very likely, older ones as well) because it is as sweet as the title suggests. It is delightfully pretty with the cutest of cute characters and the problems faced by these little critters are certainly very real…

  • Bandoola: an elephant’s story – Beverley McWilliams

    UWA Publishing Simon & Schuster July 2026 ISBN13: 9781760803377 LIST PRICE: AU$ 17.99 / NZ$ 20.99 Your middle grade readers, particularly the animal lovers or indeed the historical fiction lovers, will lap this one up. Inspired by a true story of an amazing rescue during WWII in Burma, now Myanmar, this is an elephant story…

  • Edwina the Emu : 30th Anniversary Edition : Sheena Knowles/Rod Clement.

    Harper Collins Australia July 2026 ISBN: 9781460769591 ISBN-10: 1460769597 RRP: $24.99 Yes indeed, another anniversary edition that makes me think OH MY! it’s been that long I’ve been a librarian!! And another book that so many of us have read dozens of times, now coming to an entirely new audience and generation. With it’s absolutely perfect rhyme…

  • Animalia: 40th Anniversary – Graeme Base

    Penguin Australia September 2026 ISBN: 9781761622311 Imprint: Penguin RRP: $29.99 It’s a big year for anniversary editions – it seems so many have come along in 2026 – but I doubt there will be any bigger, bolder, bluer or shinier than this absolutely glorious foiled collector’s edition of Animalia. Forty years old!!! What the…?? I can hardly believe…

  • The Lost Island – Samantha Wheeler. Illustrated by Anke Noack.

    UQP August 2026 ISBN: 9780702271182 RRP: $17.99 We can always depend on Samantha Wheeler, on of our local authors, to deliver an engaging and thoughtful middle grade novel. Her ability to create characters to whom readers gravitate and put them into situations that enable those readers to explore emotions, attitudes and problem-solving has been amply…

  • Odd Cat Out!: Cat School – Rose Robbins

    New South Books Scallywag Press Rose Robbins 9781836300397/August 2026/AUD$19.99, NZD$22.99 This first in a new trilogy by London author Rose Robbins, who writes from her own personal experience, will make for a great addition to your inclusive collection. Framed as anthropomorphic young cats, the narrative revolves around two friends, Tangle and Eno, starting at their…

  • Animal Force – Cerise Madsen

    New South Books Publisher: Midnight Sun 9781922858740/July 2026/AUD$17.99, NZD$19.99 This would be a useful book for a middle-grade serial read to ‘read-around-your-topic’ in environmental themes especially. Although the publisher notes suggest 6 years +, personally I feel it is more suited to older and more discerning readers who would be better able to absorb some…