Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Big Magic – Sarah Armstrong

    Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing May 2022 ISBN: 9781760508432 RRP: $19.99 It has certainly taken its time to come into my hands, but it was definitely worth the wait. I had heard so many good things about this book, not least of all via the chatter from The Uber Talented Critique Group (comprising some of my…

  • The Puppets of Spelhorst – Kate DiCamillo

    Walker Books Australia October 2023 ISBN13:9781529512854 Australia RRP:$24.99 New Zealand RRP:$27.99 Kate DiCamillo never disappoints and this is no exception. I’d been keenly anticipating it since I first got wind of this new series a while back and so was thrilled to receive the ARC which, of course, I promptly devoured in one gulp. Kate…

  • Which Way Round the Galaxy – Cressida Cowell

    Hachette Australia SEP 26, 2023 | 9781444973501 | RRP $22.99 IMPRINT: Hodder Children’s Books I’ve absolutely adored Cressida Cowell’s previous series – along with millions of others – but this newest one is just so crackerjack that I really think it is my favourite so far. This is the second instalment in this firecracker fantasy/adventure which centres on the…

  • Nerra Deep Time Traveller: The Broken Rainbow – Tasma Walton & Samantha Campbell

    SCHOLASTIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD October 2023 ISBN: 9781760264567ISBN-10: 1760264563 RRP: $15.99 If you have readers who have been enjoying the Wylah series (and other First Nations contemporary narratives), then this new series is going to be a sure-fire winner. Nerra is a young girl with a strong connection to her culture and Country. She is especially close…

  • The Magician’s Nephew – C. S. Lewis

    Harper Collins Australia September 2023 ISBN: 9780007323135 RRP: $17.99 I was 11 years old when I read my first Narnia book, and it was this one, which had been a Sunday School prize (still have it!). Needless to say, I was, like so many other children over the past 70 years, absolutely entranced by the…

  • Pepper Masalah and the Temple of Cats – Rosanne Hawke. Illustrated by Jasmine Berry.

    Wombat Books July 2023 ISBN 9781761111143 Author Hawke, Rosanne; Berry, Jasmine Publisher Wombat Books This is the second in this series, with another due out in November. It is definitely pitched at your newly independent readers, and certainly deals with an interesting plot idea. Zamir (Zam) lives on a farm in Australia with his family…

  • Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz: Stories of the Witch Knight and the Puppet Sorcerer – Garth Nix

    Allen & Unwin August 2023 ISBN:9781761068393 Publisher: A&U Children’s Imprint: A & U Children RRP: $32.99 Ummm…….well……..where to start? Don’t get me wrong – I love this! In fact, I love all Garth’s writing, and always have. I had never read any of these stories before so I’m still getting my thoughts sorted, and this…

  • Spellhound: a Dragons of Hallow #1 – Lian Tanner

    Allen & Unwin April 2023 ISBN:9781761180057 Publisher:A&U Children’s Imprint:A & U Children RRP: $17.99 I’m so remorseful that I didn’t get to this one sooner (one of the books that was shunted into a box during the great house move) because it is just wonderful! I love this intro from the publisher…A fascinating tale filled…

  • This Spells Trouble – Paul Collins/Sean McMullen

    Ford St Publishing July 2023 ISBN:9781922696311 RRP: $17.95 This is just a riotous, joyful comic adventure from the very first page, and, I tell you now, your kids from middle school to upper will eat it up with relish! 14 year old Winton is apprenticed to a very dodgy wizard named Faramond – a lazy,…

  • Custodians: Wylah the Koorie Warrior 2 -Jordan Gould and Richard Pritchard

    Allen & Unwin May 2023 ISBN: 9781761180040 Publisher: A&U Children’s RRP: $15.99 Wylah proved herself in her first adventure, and achieved the near-impossible in uniting the five Guardians, now firmly at her side but her mission continues. She must press on through the Valley of the Spirits, with all its risks and dangers in order…