Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

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

    Penguin Australia June 2024 ISBN: 9781761343568 Imprint: Puffin $12.99 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…

  • 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…

  • Welcome back Little Ash!

    Two new titles in the delightful Ash Barty presents… Little Ash series – perfect timing for this week. These gorgeous little books for newly independent readers have been such a big hit! Harper Collins Australia by Ash Barty with Jasmin McGaughey, illustrated by Jade Goodwin ISBN: 9781460716533ISBN 10: 1460716531Imprint: HarperCollins RRP: $5.99 Little Ash is…

  • An Amazing Camping Trip – Jackie Hosking/Lesley Vamos

    Walker Books Australia ISBN13: 9781760654948 Australia RRP: $24.99 New Zealand RRP: $27.99 Jackie Hosking’s excellent rhyming is a byword in the kids lit community and this is another great example. While neither she, nor illustrator Lesley Vamos, are First Nations creators (in fact, Jackie is ‘Nigerian-born Cornish Australian’), I think this is a terrific book…

  • Leo and Ralph – Peter Carnavas

    UQ Press February 2024 ISBN: 9780702266218 RRP: $16.99 I did have to wait a while to get my hands on this one, but thank you UQP for allowing me to do so at last 🙏. Not only because Peter is a ‘local’, and I’ve had the good fortune to meet with him, but because his…

  • Countdown to Yesterday – Shirley Marr

    Penguin Australia January 2024 ISBN: 9781761340598 Imprint: Puffin $16.99 I love Shirley Marr’s description of herself ‘as having a Western Mind and an Eastern Heart‘, and the success of her books for middle grade readers that explore the experiences of children living in this mix of cultures is self-evident. Her narratives not only speak to the children…

  • Tweet – Morris Gleitzman

    Penguin Australia April 2024 ISBN: 9781761343742 Imprint: Penguin RRP: $17.99 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…

  • The Kindness Project – Deborah Abela

    Penguin Australia May 2024 ISBN: 9781761340185 Imprint: Puffin Format: Paperback RRP: $16.99 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…

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

    Harper Collins Australia March 2024 ISBN: 9780008410896 ISBN 10: 0008410895 Imprint: HarperCollins GB RRP: $19.99 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…

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

    Scholastic Australia Pty Ltd March 2024 ISBN: 9781760976309 RRP: $16.99 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…