Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Inheritance – Carole Wilkinson

    Walker Books ISBN: 9781760650360 Imprint: Black Dog Books Release Date: September 1, 2018 Australian RRP: $17.99 New Zealand RRP: $19.99 Carole Wilkinson has created a superbly plausible narrative which realistically weaves historic realism from Australia’s past from the perspective of both First Australians and early white settlers putting an ugly side to the beginnings of our modern nation in full…

  • The Princess in Black and the Science Fair Scare – Shannon Hale & Dean Hale. Illustrated by LeUyen Pham

    Penguin Random House Hardcover | $14.99 Published by Candlewick Sep 25, 2018 ISBN 9780763688271 Without a doubt this series is one of the most popular with our newly independent readers. There is rarely a copy left in the series box and also sold out rapidly at our recent book fair.  They are not just the right…

  • Monster Party – The Children from Rawa with Alison Lester & Jane Godwin

    Magabala Books September 2018 ISBN:9781925360554 RRP: $17.99 Described by the publisher as an ‘explosion of fun and pure joy’ this is a delightfully riotous and exuberant picture book full of colour and humour. The Rawa Community School is on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert and the children there helped to write the text…

  • The Adventures of Catvinkle – Elliot Perlman

    Penguin Random House 9780143786368 October 1, 2018 Puffin RRP $19.99   Well regarded author of adult books Elliot Perlman has ably proven that he can turn his hand just as easily to writing for children with this first book for younger readers. It is delightfully whimsical and carries a literary flavour of its Amsterdam setting…

  • Help Around the House – Morris Gleitzman

    Penguin Random House 9780143793236 September 3, 2018 Penguin   RRP $16.99 Classic Morris Gleitzman! And pure unadulterated joy! In these parlous times when politicians behave without regard for those they are sworn to represent this could not be more timely or indeed, pointed. Ludo is a helper. A year after losing his mother his desire…

  • Pages & Co : Tilly and the  Bookwanderers –Anna James

      Harper Collins ISBN: 9780008229887 ISBN 10: 0008229880 Imprint: HarperCollinsChildren’sBooks On Sale: 18/09/2018 List Price: 9.99 AUD Ever since Tilly’s mum disappeared when she was tiny, her home has been with her Grandma and Grandpa in their house/bookshop Pages & Co. Inevitably, given that circumstance, Tilly is the ultimate bookworm and constantly loses herself deep in a book, particularly her…

  • Digby & Claude – Emma Allen & Hannah Sommerville

    Publisher:   National Library of Australia Edition:   1st Edition ISBN:   9780642279279 Publication Date:   01 August 2018 RRP $24.99 When Emma Allen read an old newspaper article about ‘family friendly’ flats being built in Erskineville back in the 1930s she was inspired to create a picture book which reflected not only a child’s appreciation of their own place…

  • Dragon Apocalypse: City of Monsters #3 – DC Green

    Sep 2018 Ford Street Publishing 9781925272680 AUD$19.95, NZD$24.99   DC, you have completely smashed it with this thrilling conclusion to the trilogy – darker, edgier and gripping!  I’ve watched with such joy as the Dead Gang monster misfits have grown from their funky beginnings to truly kickass warriors united in their mission to save not…

  • The Gum Family Finds a Home – Tania McCartney/Christina Booth

    Publisher:   National Library of Australia Edition:   1st Edition ISBN:   9780642279255 Publication Date:   01 August 2018   Tania McCartney is not only one of my very favourite author/illustrators but also one of my favourite humans. This impossibly talented woman is clever, stylish, generous, beautiful inside and out and passionate about our unique country. It took a while…

  • The Poesy Ring: a love story – Bob Graham

    Walker Books Australia ISBN: 9781406378276 Imprint: Walker Release Date: November 1, 2017 Australian RRP: $24.99 New Zealand RRP: $27.99\   This one had slipped through the cracks but certainly not by intention! I love Bob Graham’s books and this one is no exception. It is the story of the travels of one Irish poesy ring from the time it left…