Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Pirates of Darksea – Catherine Doyle

    Bloomsbury Australia June 2024 ISBN 9781526655103 Imprint Bloomsbury Children’s Books RRP: $16.99 I fell in love with Catherine Doyle’s writing with The Stormkeeper trilogy and when the ARC arrived for this – many months ago- I devoured it with just as much enthusiasm – and this review has been scheduled since then!! This is an…

  • Mawson in Antarctica: to the ends of the Earth – Joanna Grochowicz

    Allen & Unwin July 2024 ISBN:9781761180590 Publisher:A&U Children’s Imprint:A & U Children RRP: $19.99 This is another in a fantastic series by this author, polar historian Joanna Grochowicz, and with the news about the recovery of Shackleton’s lost last ship in this past week turning the spotlight once again to those redoubtable adventurers of earlier…

  • Camp Chaos: Willa and Woof # 7 – Jacqueline Harvey. Illustrations by A. Yi

    Penguin Australia June 2024 Each new Willa and Woof adventure makes me think “Oh this is the best yet!” but, somehow, they just keep coming – and getting better! I really LOVE this one. It makes me, as an adult, think of all the camps I’ve taken kiddos on, both school and with Brownies (later…

  • Tracks in the Mist: #4 The Adamson Adventures – Sandra Bennett

    Rosella Ridge Books June 2024 ISBN: 9780648938240 RRP: $18.00 Sandra Bennett This is the first of this series I’ve read but I definitely enjoyed it, and think your readers would as well, especially those who like a combination of adventure, mystery and family. Although I hadn’t read any of the previous episodes, it wasn’t too…

  • Wurrtoo: the wombat who fell in love with the sky – Tylissa Elisara. Illustrated by Dylan Finney

    Hachette Imprint: Lothian Children’s Books MAR 27, 2024 | 9780734421982 | RRP $19.99 I read this charming little book quite a few weeks ago but wanted to save it for this week. The publishers describe it as a cross between Winnie-the-Pooh and Blinky Bill. For me, yes, a little Blinky Bill for sure, but I mostly felt a vibe…

  • The Daredevil Princess and the Fire Dragon: #3 – Belinda Murrell. Illustrated by Rebecca Crane.

    Penguin Australia Princess Tillie and Honeyblossom are back in another exciting mystery/adventure, this time with a very large, very pink and very grumpy dragon with which to deal. Yet again, there is trouble in the Queendom when suddenly all the water begins to dry up – wells, fountains, animal troughs, the castle moat, all have…

  • Ivy Newt series

    New South Books Ivy Newt and the Storm WitchDerek Keilty, illustrated by Magda Broll Apr 2023 | Scallywag Press | 9781915252180 | AUD$18.99, NZD$21.99 Ivy Newt and the Time ThiefDerek Keilty, illustrated by Magda Broll Sep 2023 | Scallywag Press | 9781915252333 | AUD$18.99, NZD$21.99 Yes, quite right – both of these were released last…

  • Jeff Giraffe – The Great Escape – Amelia McInerney. Illustrated by Alexandra Colombo.

    Larrikin House March 2024 ISBN: 9781922804655 (Hardcover) $24.99 One of our big pleasures during our Canberra visit late last year, was meeting up with Amelia for the first time F2F. She is just as vivacious and entertaining as her books, which I have always loved. For kiddos who love the concept of Madagascar,and the idea of zoo…

  • The Last Bookwanderer: Pages & Co #6 – Anna James. Illustrations by Marco Guadolupi.

    Harper Collins Australia March 2024 Synchronicity has been a theme in my life the last few weeks and reading this was no exception. I started reading it two nights ago, the same day I started listening to David Mitchell’s Unruly on audio in the car. I’d enjoyed one of the early chapters in which DM,…

  • Losing the Plot – Annaleise Byrd

    Walker Books Australia March 2024 ISBN13:9781760656409 Australia RRP:$16.99 New Zealand RRP:$18.99 It certainly gives me great pleasure to review this debut middle-grade novel from local (and indeed, almost neighbour) Annaleise Byrd. Your readers of such titles as Pages & Co and Inkspell, in which literature and real life mix and meld, will love this new…