Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe


  • The Tinysaurs – Sally Odgers. Adele K. Thomas

    Scholastic Australia February 2026 9781761528576 RRP: $16.99 Cute poster for your library or just for fun All your Smalls who have adored Pearl and friends, are going to lap this up like a cat with a saucer of cream. It’s cute and it’s colourful and it’s really cleverly engaging with a twist on many ideas.…

  • A Barney Gumnut Christmas (Barney Gumnut #2)- Tamsin Ainslie

    Harper Collins Australia August 2025 ISBN: 9781460759721 ISBN 10: 1460759729 Imprint: HarperCollins Australia RRP: $24.99 Hmm, I don’t know why but I never saw the #1 Barney Gumnut [gives the HC crew the side-eye] which was surely some kind of oversight? Regardless, this is my first meeting with Barney and his friends and, honestly, I’m in love with…

  • Picture Book Month Bonus: The Cockatoo Crew #1 and #2 – Lora Inak. Illustrations by Kruti Desai.

    UWA Publishing RRP: $15.99 This is a brilliant new JF series that all kids will eagerly engage with and enjoy. The whole is set in Cockatoo Hill English Language School and casts a group of eight culturally diverse, enthusiastic and delightful refugee kids as main characters. Despite their differences in experiences, cultural backgrounds, language and…

  • Castle Crashing – Andrea Rowe. Hannah Sommerville.

    Hardie Grant October 2025 ISBN:9781761214073 Price:AU$24.99, NZ$27.99 Publisher:Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing It’s already beach time and soon it will be the holidays and there will be more time to spend with friends at the beach for many children. Riding on the wave of success of Jetty Jumping and Sunday Skating, comes the newest collaboration beween…

  • Picture Book Month Bonus: Howzat Pat! #3 & #4 – Pat Cummins & Dave Hartley and Serena Geddes.

    HOWZAT indeed!!!!! With splendiferous timing after yesterday’s absolutely spectacular knock by Travis Head, it’s lucky I’ve just read the next two in this cracking series. I was delighted to write the supporting resources for the first two and loved the whole vibe of this series, and these continue in that same vein. With less than…

  • Lots of B books today beginning with B for Birthday: I’m Very Busy: a (nearly forgotten) birthday book – Oliver Jeffers

    Harper Collins Australia October 2025 ISBN: 9780008771911 ISBN 10: 000877191X Imprint: HarperCollins GB RRP: $24.99 Who doesn’t love Oliver Jeffers’ books? They are always amusing but also have real depth to them, and it’s those layers that make them all the more special. It’s Bridget’s birthday and she wants to spend it with friends because that’s always more…

  • Picture Book Month Bonus: Rory Sparkes and the Elephant in the Room – Hugh Bonneville

    Bloomsbury Australia October 2025 ISBN 9781526685957 Imprint Bloomsbury Children’s Books RRP: $17.99 Most people would know that I’m very wary of books by ‘celebrity’ authors but I am always willing to take a punt when a) I know that it is the person themselves that has written it (or that their collaborator/ghost writer is clearly…

  • My Friend May – Julie Flett

    New South Books Greystone Kids June 2025 ISBN 9781778401718 RRP: 29.99 How can I not absolutely love this one? Based on a true story and about a little girl and her friend, her black cat May, my first thought was of The Kid and Whiskers aka The Demon Spawn. This pair has been together for…

  • The Friendship Book – Zanni Louise

    Walker Books Australia November 2025 ISBN13:9781760658106 Australia RRP:$24.99 New Zealand RRP:$27.99 Zanni has been very busy this year! And here is yet another of her new releases (another one is coming up in review shortly). I don’t know about you but for me this time of year would always see me planning for the following…

  • No One is Home – Mikolaj Pa. Illustrated by Gosia Herbs.

    translated by Scotia Gilroy New South Books Publisher: Greystone Kids September 2025 9781778402180 AUD$29.99, NZD$34.99 Last year I reviewed No 5. Bubblegum St from this same pair of creators in a week of ‘happy-ness’ reviews. This one seemed a perfect fit for today’s slightly bonkers books, and I love it just as much as I…