Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Washpool – Lisa Fuller

    Hachette Australia Feb 26, 2025 | 9780734420756 | RRP $16.99 Let’s see. Take a little of Alice down the rabbit hole, and mix that with a smidgin of Oz. Then add in some snippets of lands reached using the Subtle Knife plus some of the strangeness of Nevermoor. After that, throw in some Upside Down and sprinkle it all…

  • The Brightest Christmas Star – Laura Motherway and Deb Hudson

    Hachette Australia Aug 2024 | 9780734423085 | RRP $19.99 Imprint: Lothian Children’s Books One thing we educators endeavour to instil in our Smalls is that, despite differences – whether race, colour, creed, culture etc – we all have commonalities. And for those little ones it is simple things that underline this concept. We all smile. We all play. We…

  • Over or Under – Pip Harry & Hilary Jean Tapper

    Hachette Australia Oct 30, 2024 | 9780734421807 | RRP $24.99 Imprint: Lothian Books I’m jumping waves at the beach with Dad.If they’re small I can leap over their frothy peaks.Easy!But further out, when they’re big, you have to duck dive under. We are always looking for ways in which to encourage our Smalls to be brave and take risks…

  • Picture Book Month extra: The Death of Dora Black: a Petticoat Police Mystery – Lainie Anderson

    Hachette Australia Aug 28, 2024 | 9780733652066 | RRP $32.99 What a thoroughly enjoyable read this has been over the past few nights! I’m a tragic when it comes to cosy crime and murder mystery books and over the past couple of years I’ve had quite a number of YA titles to review, and also listened to a few…

  • The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Extinct Animals – Sami Bayly

    Hachette Australia September 2024  9780734421395 | RRP $32.99 Watch this interview with Sami from The Morning Show to hear more about this latest book. It seems almost incredible to realise that Sami Bayly is not yet 30 ! [maybe that’s me because I’m so senior citizen now], given her amazing catalogue of titles thus far. This is…

  • Dinosaur in my Pocket – Ashleigh Barton & Blithe Fielden

    Hachette Imprint: Lothian Children’s Books MARCH 2024 | 9780734422668 | RRP $24.99 There are many of us, young as well as old, who love miniatures. I once had a dollhouse as an adult and was, piece by piece, acquiring miniature ‘antiques’ to furnish it. You only need to look at the feeding frenzy the supermarket miniatures create to know…

  • Wear a Purple Poppy: remembering animals in war – Fiona White. Illustrated by Kathleen O’Hagan

    Hachette Australia JAN 31, 2024 | 9780734421630 | RRP $24.99 I feel certain that there are many who will remember clearly the AWM publication M is for Mate, which was produced to coincide with the A is for Animals exhibition at the AWM, was short-listed for the 2010 CBCA Eve Pownall Award and distributed to schools. It was a…

  • Picture Book Month 2023 is a wrap!

    November is Picture Book Month, a tribute to the enduring importance of the picture book form. Dianne de Las Casas (author & storyteller) and her team co-founded the month-long celebration to champion the power and beauty of picture books: In this digital age where people are predicting the coming death of print books, picture books (the print kind) need love. And…

  • Picture book month bonus #1: Q&A with Favel Parrett

    Welcome Favel, to Just So Stories! What a pleasure it is to have you share some insights into your life and work with my readers. In 2011, you made quite the splash (sorry, had to be done!) with your debut novel Past the Shallows, shortlisted in the Miles Franklin, Winner of the Dobbie Literary Award,…

  • Kimmi: Queen of the Dingoes – Favel Parrett.

    Hachette NOV 1, 2023 | 9780734422057 | RRP $19.99 Many readers fell in love with story of alpine dingo, Wandi, and his followers on SM are astonishing in numbers. Now comes the story of Kimmi, the tropical dingo, destined to be the Queen of her mob. A farmer in their Kimberley homeland has already killed Kimmi’s father, now her…