Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Prickles – Phil Cummings & Jennifer Goldsmith

    Scholastic Australia April 2026 ISBN: 9781760266028 ISBN-10: 1760266027 RRP: $26.99 This is just an absolutely delightful (as usual) from Phil Cummings with an assistance dog who doesn’t just assist her human. Prickles is an alley cat. It’s not a great life what with weather and dangers, but it does have good moments like stretching out on windowsills…

  • Dangerous Days: Frances Bloom #2 – Katrina Nannestad. Illustrated by Marina Zlatanova.

    Harper Collins Australia April 2026 ISBN: 9781460718612 ISBN 10: 1460718615 Imprint: ABC Books AU List Price: 17.99 AUD Madcap Frances Bloom is back in her second adventure to delight your younger readers with some more nonsense and 8-year-old anarchy. Only a week or so after the dreadful Ms Thistle has been carted off to the Harsh Island for Unwanted…

  • Mim and the Frazzled Fruit Farmer: The Travelling Bookshop #7 – Katrina Nannestad. Illustrated by Cheryl Orsini

    Harper Collins Australia February 202 No doubt there will be many young readers who will be sad to know that this is the final chapter in this entertaining series but, dare I say, knowing Katrina’s fertile imagination and creativity there is sure to be something new in the offing. Mim, Zeddy and Nat plus the…

  • Freddie Jones: The Mystery of the Ghostly Garden – Kate Foster

    Walker Books Australia May 2026 ISBN13:9781760659943 Australia RRP:$17.99 New Zealand RRP:$19.99 I am really loving this new series from Kate Foster, who writes not only entertaining narratives but ones that give us all a much clearer insight into neuro-diversity. Freddie is such a likeable character and his self-awareness, especially using the literary device of first-person…

  • Is This a Plum? – Dan & Finn Ojari

    Penguin Australia The first word that springs to mind with this debut book is charming, followed quickly by hilarious! Father and son team but not in the usual sense [thinking of examples like Anthony and Joe Browne] because this father mostly works in theatrical creativity (Aardman Animations) and this son is only 8 years old!…

  • Milly Meelyu – Holly Bradley & Darryl Fogarty. Illustrated by Corinne Fogarty.

    Fremantle Press February 2026 ISBN: 9781760996314 RRP: $24.99 For years now we have seen children and schools becoming more actively interested in conservation and caring for the environment and wildlife. It’s now well over 30 years since my first teaching gig with Year 5 when I created a literature-based unit of inquiry based on Fern Gully,…

  • Cat Nap – Brian Lies

    Harper Collins Australia January 2026 When an adventurous kitten spies a scurrying mouse, he is off and away on the chase, leaping right into the Metropolitan Museum of Art via a convenient poster on the wall – just like Alice stepping through the Looking Glass. The feline adventure starts with small kitten (based on Brian…

  • Gimme Some Space (Book #2 Marvellous Submarine) – Clayton Zane Comber & Conor McCammon

    Harper Collins Australia Imprint: Angus & Robertson February 2026 ISBN: 9781460766811 RRP: $17.99 Clayton and Conor continue with their new insanely bonkers series, this time blasting off into space in the retro-fitted submarine now doubling as a spaceship. Twins, Billy and Poppy, plus their assorted menagerie (using the term loosely) of helpers determine to track down…

  • Bitsa – Andrew Daddo

    Penguin Australia February 2026 Who doesn’t love a heart-warming dog story? And this start of a new series from Andrew Daddo ticks a lot of boxes with both content and accessibility for your newly independent readers. When Jas finds Bitsa, alone and in need of a home, they form an immediate bond. Jasper knows she…

  • Valerie: Australia’s Bravest Sausage Dog – Lucinda Gifford

    Allen & Unwin Imprint: Albert St Books February 2026 ISBN:9781761182594 RRP: $19.99 Valerie the dachshund reunited with owners after Kangaroo Island rescue There can’t be many people who didn’t hear Valerie’s story – not just in Australia … this little weiner became world-famous. Not many pampered pooches could survive in the wild for almost two…