Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Tweet – Morris Gleitzman

    Penguin Australia April 2024 This arrived last Friday (22/3), and on Sunday I took it with me when we went up the coast for two days of R&R to celebrate The Kid’s birthday. I read 240ish pages the first evening with only a break to head out for the birthday celebration dinner. I was a…

  • The Kindness Project – Deborah Abela

    Penguin Australia May 2024 I have followed Deborah’s progress with this one for the duration of its development, and been eager to read it. And yayyy! it arrived the day before yesterday (27/3). As it happens, I had done a day’s relief teaching in Christian Studies at my local Lutheran primary that same day, and…

  • 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,…

  • Aggie Flea Steals the Show – Tania Ingram. Illustrated by A. Yi

    When Tania told me that she thinks #2 Aggie is even funnier than the first, I said that’s a tough act to follow (and clearly, since it’s now a CBCA Notable, I’m not the only one to have a high opinion of #1) but I do think she could be right. Aggie is back and…

  • Fledgewitch: A Dragons of Hallows #2 – Lian Tanner. Illustrated by Martina Heiduczek.

    Allen & Unwin April 2024 ISBN:9781761067365 Publisher:A&U Children’s Imprint:A & U Children RRP: $17.99 I absolutely fell in love with all things Hallow when I read Spellhound last year, and have been impatiently waiting for this second instalment to arrive (as Lian knows), [while The Kid has resigned herself to being called a minch-wiggin as…

  • Anzac Ted -(10th Anniversary edition): Belinda Landsberry

    EK Books March 2024 ISBN: 9781922539755 RRP: $29.99 Sometimes appearances are misleading, as adults we know that. So for some children who see a battered, raggedy and worn-out teddy bear with missing parts, it would be natural to be dismissive or even contemptuous. My own Tedward is, after 67 years, in a pretty sad and sorry…

  • Ferris – Kate DiCamillo

    Walker Books Australia April 2024 ISBN13:9781760659240 Australia RRP:$19.99 New Zealand RRP:$24.99 I got the ARC of this a week or so ago (27/2 today) and, of course, binged it in one night because – well, it’s Kate and it’s just marvellous, as one would expect. I mean – have you ever read one of Kate’s…

  • The Bother with the Bonkillyknock Beast: Miss Mary-Kate Martin’s Guide to Monsters #3 – Karen Foxlee. Illustrated by Freda Chiu.

    Allen & Unwin January 2024 ISBN:9781761470226 RRP: $15.99 Imprint:A & U Children Awards: For one reason or another, I had not yet been introduced to Mary-Kate but that really didn’t preclude any enjoyment of this fun adventure. She comes from a long line of monster hunters – not the kind that want to get rid…

  • 80 Years Without Dementia: diagnosis doesn’t define life – Lisa Twigg

    Inspirational Writers You could say this is a review with a difference, because it is a local book, but also a book of universal reference. Lisa Twigg, is a member of our Redcliffe Peninsula Surf Lifesaving Club, along with The Kid, and that is how I came to know her. Her book, while slim, is loaded…

  • Swimming on the Moon – Brian Conaghan

    Bloomsbury May 2023 ISBN 9781526653925 Imprint Bloomsbury Children’s Books RRP: $16.99 I had missed release info on this one, but as soon as I found out about it, I especially requested it (thank you Bloomsbury!) because I have been in love with Brian Conaghan’s writing since Cardboard Cowboys (do yourself a favour and read it!).…