Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • That Cat – Jacqueline Harvey. Illustrated by Kate Isobel Scott.

    Penguin Australia 1 March 2022 ISBN: 9781761040702 Imprint: Puffin RRP: $19.99 When the delightful Jacqueline came to my place last year (dinner, lots of talk and loads of laughs!) she told me about her first picture book which was on its way. How excitement!! And really no surprise regarding the subject matter – given her great affection for…

  • Bath Time: Kitty is Not a Cat – Bogan Entertainment Solutions/ Jess Black

    Hachette OCT 27, 2020 | 9780734419798 | RRP $9.99 5 Minutes with Jess Black The TV show that has enchanted young viewers continues to draw them in further with the books that are just perfect for newly independent readers. Kitty has a very bad cough so of course her cat family all try to help, with varying suggestions none…

  • Nala’s World: One man, his rescue cat and a bike ride around the globe – Dean Nicholson

    Hachette Australia SEP 29, 2020 | 9781529327991 | RRP $32.99 When Dean Nicholson set off on his cycling journey around the world he had little idea that his epic trip and his life would become an Instagram sensation after he picked up a tiny stray kitten in a remote area of the mountains between Montenegro and Bosnia. Thirty-year-old Dean…

  • Catvinkle and the Missing Tulips – Elliot Perlman

    Penguin Australia 29 September 2020 ISBN: 9781760894382 Imprint: Puffin RRP: $19.99 If you, like me, loved the first Catvinkle book and couldn’t wait to share it with your kiddos, you will also love this new hilarious episode with all the crazy animal characters of the first plus some equally quirky new ones! Catvinkle and Ula love their human children…

  • 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…