Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Being You is Enough series- Josh Langley

    Big Sky Publishing RRP: $14.99 It was such a joy to become connected with the uber-talented Josh Langley online earlier this year and to discover his own magical brand of positivity, particularly as it applies to children. It’s taken a while but this week I received the four books in his amazingly successful series and…

  • Oddity – Eli Brown

    Walker Books May 2021 ISBN: 9781406389272Imprint: WalkerDistributor: Walker Australia-HEDS Australian RRP: $18.99New Zealand RRP: $21.99 I read this well over a month ago and have been talking it up big time to my readers, especially my ChocLit group but hadn’t yet written the review. Not because I didn’t absolutely love it but because, really, it is so completely unique in…

  • Heroes, Rebels and Innovators – Karen Wyld. Illustrated by Jaelyn Biumaiwai.

    Hachette July 2021 ISBN: 9780734419835 RRP: $26.99 As NAIDOC 2021 draws to a close, this is such an important book to share with you, examining as it does the lives and incredible actions of seven inspirational First Australian heroes. Each of these amazing Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander figures contributed in immensely important ways to…

  • Shockingly Good Stories – R. A. Spratt

    Penguin Australia ISBN: 9781761043376 Imprint: Puffin RRP: $19.99 The hilarious author, R. A. Spratt, knows well that her stories make me snort laugh in an extremely undignified manner. I do my utmost to keep these moments private as I have noted that when reading hilarious stories from what is obviously a kids’ book on a train full of…

  • Who Fed Zed? – Amelia McInerney. Illustrated by Adam Nickel

    Allen & Unwin July 2021 ISBN: 9781760524432 Publisher: A&U Children’s Imprint: A & U Children RRP: $24.99 For my library event of last week, I was required, of course, to complete the paperwork to tick all the boxes and of the 50 children attending, ten had dietary requirements – with nine of those being medical…

  • Backyard Birdies – Andy Geppert

    Hachette JUL 28, 2021 | 9780734420695 | RRP $19.99 Imprint: Lothian Books Well, you know, I’m a secret bird geek. I love spotting them. I take part in the annual backyard bird survey every year and, even going way way back to my first year of teaching, had my class keeping tally of the birds they saw in the…

  • Mr Men: Mr. Tickle 50th Anniversary Edition – Roger Hargreaves

    Penguin Australia March 2021 Imprint: Mr Men ISBN; 9781761042157 RRP: $16.99 In 1971 Roger Hargreaves wrote the first of what was to become one of the most well-known and iconic book series for children, after his small son asked him what a tickle would look like. No doubt in the beginning, particularly having found it difficult to…

  • Salih – Inda Ahmad Zahri. Anne Ryan

    Ford St Publishing March 2021 ISBN: 9781925804645 RRP: $16.99 The global issue of the plight of refugees, and in particular, child refugees is the focus of this sensitively written and beautifully illustrated book. Even your youngest readers will be able to comprehend the circumstance of those who must flee their homes, with only what they…

  • Eliza Vanda’s Button Box – Emily Rodda

    Harper Collins Australia May 2021 ISBN: 9781460759608 ISBN 10: 1460759605 Imprint: HarperCollins AU List Price: 22.99 AUD Buttons three, attend to me! Take me where I want to be! Emily Rodda returns with her own special brand of sparkling magic inthis delightful new fantasy adventure. Milly Dynes has been a bit down in the dumps of late. She still…

  • Story Doctors – Boori Monty Pryor. Illustrated by Rita Sinclair.

    Allen & Unwin July 2021 ISBN:9781760526559 Publishers; A & U Children’s Imprint: A & U Children RRP: $24.99 Described as both a story and a history this is, to my mind, a richly empowering epic poem which resonates with such heartfelt emotion that it cannot fail to move the reader with its carefully chosen words…