Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe


  • Kitty is not a Cat – Jess Black/Bogan Entertainment Solutions

    Hachette Lights Out JUL 28, 2020 | 9780734419750 | RRP $9.99 Teddy’s Bear JUL 28, 2020 | 9780734419774 | RRP $9.99 I no longer have a little person to watch such shows but by all accounts Kitty is not a Cat is a hugely successful animated series. A rather motley clowder of cats live together in a ramshackle old mansion, left to them…

  • The Astronaut’s Cat – Tohby Riddle

    Allen & Unwin March 2020 ISBN 9781760524944 RRP: $24.99 Tohby Riddle comments that he could not have predicted just how apt  his new book would be given our current circumstances but it really is going to be a perfect story to share and discuss with your readers. Given how many cats have come and gone…

  • Animal Crackers

        Now that the pile of review novels is finally getting to a stage that could be described as semi-tamed, it’s time to get stuck into plethora picture books. So here are some animal-focused ones to get into – because we all know that our little readers just love a great animal story and…

  • 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…

  • Maya & Cat – Caroline Magerl

    Walker Books Australia ISBN: 9781921977282 Release Date: August 1, 2018 Australian RRP: $24.99 New Zealand RRP: $27.99 Throughout our college and certainly in my library at present we are having a great focus on kindness and empathy. With my little people I am using a range of picture books which offer this theme that also feature animals as this…

  • Who Hid the Socks?  – Rosemary Coombs/ Lorraine Robertson & Warren Brown

    Bullawai Books April 2018 9780994611819 9780994611826 RRP: $16.99 We all know the problem of disappearing socks. Miss Small favours odd socks but even with that un-complication we still seem to be scratching around for the little blighters often. So many children will get the giggles as they help search for the missing socks in the…

  • Collins Modern Classics: Thomasina (: the Cat who Thought She was a God) – Paul Gallico

    ISBN: 9780007395187 ISBN 10: 0007395183 Imprint: HarperCollins – GB RRP $14.99   When I was little and even a bit more than little my mother often took me to the movies. Usually we saw Disney films or musicals – our favourites. I’m guessing it was around 1964 and I was eight years old when we went to see…

  • Crazy About Cats – Owen Davey

    Walker Books Australia Imprint: Flying Eye Books September 2017 ISBN: 9781911171164 RRP $27.99 This is the third in this stunning series – which as I’ve mentioned before completely and utterly captures my inner nerdy child. Davey explores the world of cats from big to small, weird to wonderful and sweet to savage with his own…

  • The Adventures of Miss Petitfour –    Anne Michaels. With illustrations by Emma Block

    Allen & Unwin ISBN: 9781408868058 Imprint: Bloomsbury Childrens May 2017-05-20 RRP $14.99 The second delicious instalment of Miss Petitfour’s adventures has arrived and is every bit as delightful as the first. Who could possibly resist this unique individual and her ‘furry rope’ of cats? With first an introduction to Miss P and her numerous feline…

  • Malkin Moonlight – Emma Cox

    Bloomsbury September 2016 ISBN 97881408870846 RRP $12.99 I actually finished reading this a couple of weeks ago and the writing of this review has taken so long because this is so different and so charming I have found it difficult to find the right words. I could just say it’s an animal adventure story but…