Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • The Happy Prisoner – Monica Dickens

      First published in 1946 I originally read this when a friend gave me  a copy as a birthday gift many (many!) years ago. I loved it so much and re-read it so often that the paperback disintegrated over time and was reluctantly abandoned. A few weeks ago the wonderful Pat Pledger of ReadPlus invited…

  • Fabio the World’s Greatest Detective: Peril at Lizard Lake – Laura James. Illustrated by Emily Fox

      Bloomsbury Australia March 2020 ISBN: 9781408889374 Imprint: Bloomsbury Children’s Books RRP: $12.99   I do love Fabio – the Hercule Poirot of the flamingo species – and though the kids who read it may not really get that connection these books are still really good fun.  Together with his rather dopey offsider the rather…

  • James Gong The Big Hit – Paul Collins

    Hybrid Publishers June 2020 ISBN 9781925736441 RRP: $16.99 Fourteen year old James Gong is pretty much a fairly average teenage boy living in suburbia with a family who are also pretty average – well in most respects. His mother rescues dogs and keeps them out the back of their house, to the frequent annoyance of…

  • Derek Dool Supercool #1: Bust a Move– Adrian Beck. Illustrated by Scott Edgar

    Penguin Australia March 2020 ISBN: 9781760892951 Imprint: Puffin RRP: $14.99 Yep, we’ve all known a Derek – and indeed, some of us have taught one! Derek Dool thinks he is the ant’s pants really and doesn’t miss a chance to let everyone know. It’s just a shame that no one else seems to appreciate his supercool-ness. Mind you,…

  • League of Llamas – Aleesah Darlison

    Visit Aleesah’s webpage here   Penguin March 2020 RRP: $9.99   Well… Aleesah’s new series is bound to be a hit with junior/middle primary readers with galloping (I’m not sure llamas actually gallop but still…) plots, high octane humour and loads of adventure. I knew that James Bond is currently having a contemporised make over but…

  • Evie and Pog (series)– Tania McCartney

    Harper Collins Australia January 2020 I’ve said before that Tania McCartney is uber-talented (as well as being one of the very nicest humans I know) and I for one am tremendously excited about this new series pitched at newly independent readers. It’s just fabulous to see a few new series to add to these collections!…

  • Total Quack Up Again! – Edited by Sally Rippin and Adrian Beck. Illustrated by Jules Faber.

    Penguin Australia October 2019 ISBN: 9781760893583 Imprint: Puffin RRP: $14.99 Get quacking if you haven’t already and grab this second edition of hilarious stories from some of our most celebrated authors as well as one young newcomer! The first TQU was a great success not only providing children with some super funny stories but raising funds for Dymocks…

  • The Peski Kids: Near Extinction #4 – R. A. Spratt

    Penguin Australia January 2020 ISBN: 9780143796367 Imprint: Puffin Format: Paperback RRP: $16.99 Readers may rest assured that this latest episode in The Peski Kids once again passes the snort-laugh test with flying colours. There is something truly inspired about these completely kooky characters. This new instalment opens with the reluctant wedding of Dad and the intimidating Ingrid but is…

  • Attack of the Meteor Monsters [Maudlin Towers #3] – Chris Priestley

    Bloomsbury October 2019 ISBN: 9781408873120 Imprint: Bloomsbury Children’s Books RRP: $15.99   If you or your readers haven’t caught onto this series yet I would urge you to do so. While we all know it’s important to have narratives which deal with significant issues or concepts, it’s equally important to just have a chuckle in…

  • The Australia Survival Guide – George Ivanoff

      Penguin Australia October 2019 ISBN: 9780143796572 Imprint: Puffin RRP: $24.99 George Ivanoff is not just a pretty face. Under that luxuriant  mop of ever-changing hair there’s an inventive and clever brain which can produce not only awesome adventures of the fictional kind for readers but now the ultimate field guide to surviving in the harsh reality of…