Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Opposite Land – Charlotte Rose Hamlyn

    Penguin Random House ISBN 9780143780816 July 31, 2017 Random House Australia Children’s $14.99 Having a really bad first day at a new school and mother/daughter conflicts are nothing new but this new graphic novel for younger readers presents these in a completely fresh style. Readers who enjoy cartoons of the Adventure Time ilk will really…

  • The Teenage Guide to Friends – Nicola Morgan

    Walker Books ISBN: 9781406369779 Imprint: Walker July 1, 2017 Australian RRP: $16.99 New Zealand RRP: $18.99 Nicola Morgan is a recognised expert on the teenage psyche and has already written successful and well received books. Now she turns her hand to dealing with the issue of friends and friendship. Her engaging and conversational style will certainly appeal to the…

  • Pretty Girls Don’t Eat – Winnie Salamon

    Ford St Publishing Jul 2017 9781925272772 AUD$17.95, NZD$22.99   “Body image is one of the top concerns for young people in Australia right now,” Dr Vivienne Lewis, associate professor and clinical psychologist at the University of Canberra told The Huffington Post Australia. November 2016   Eating disorders are estimated to affect approximately 9% of the Australian population.…

  • Raymie Nightingale – Kate DiCamillo

    Walker Books ISBN: 9781406373189 Imprint: Walker May 1, 2017 Australian RRP: $14.99 New Zealand RRP: $16.99   I know that most folks will already know Raymie Nightingale but this paperback edition has been my ‘waiting for child pick up’ read for a few weeks so it did take me a while to get through in the short snatches. It…

  • Chook Doolan series – James Roy. Illustrated by Lucinda Gifford

      Walker Books Sometimes it can be tricky finding those transition type books for the little ones who are ready to take on their first chapter books. I have found the Chook Doolan series to be ideal for this and I know that many people will already have some in their collection. Now we have…

  • Dotty Detective #1 Super Secret Agent – Clara Vulliamy

    Harper Collins Australia ISBN 9780008132491 ISBN 10: 0008132496 Imprint: HarperCollins – GB 01/06/2017 List Price: 4.99 AUD Girl detectives seem to be quite the popular trend of late and you will perhaps have some younger readers who want to get in on this but are not quite ready for some of the books on offer. This new series will…

  • Wolfie: an Unlikely Hero – Deborah Abela/Connah Brecon

    Penguin Random House ISBN 9780143781509 May 1, 2017 Random House Australia Children’s RRP $24.99 One thing I’ve learned in my years of being a teacher-librarian is that all kids, big and little, love fractured fairy tales. Wolfie is fed up with fairy tales promoting the nonsense that wolves are the bad guys. He’s determined to…

  • When We Go Camping – Sally Sutton. Illustrated by Cat Chapman

    Walker Books ISBN  9781921977787 Imprint: Walker Books Australia October 1, 2016 Australian RRP: $24.99 New Zealand RRP: $27.99 This is another one that had slipped through the cracks and shouldn’t have! It’s a really fabulous read aloud that will have little ones bouncing in their seats and joining in the choruses.   With lots of rhyming and onomatopoeia…

  • Piggy – Trevor Lai

    Allen & Unwin ISBN: 9781681190655 Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Imprint: BLM Children’s USA  January 2017 RRP $19.00   What’s not to love about a cute little pig who loves to read so much that he’s never made any friends?  Piggy has always been so immersed in his books and the library that it is almost a…

  • Teens – Louise Mack

    Angus & Robertson ISBN: 9781460705469 ISBN 10: 1460705467 Imprint: HarperCollins On Sale: 24/07/2017 List Price: 7.99 AUD In 1897 Angus & Robertson published their first fiction book which was a children’s book describing Australian family and school life – another first. Louise Mack was a contemporary and friend (most of her life) with Ethel Turner and both attended Sydney Girls…