Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • The Boy Who Drew Cats- Lafcadio Hearn: a Japanese folktale. Illustratedby Anita Kreituse.

    New South Books Publisher: Tuttle 9780804859561/May 2026/AUD$29.99 I had never heard of Lafcadio Hearn but now that I’ve gone down some wormholes finding out more about him [here’s one article but many more to be found], surely this is a man with an extraordinary life story. And while I have both studied and taught Japanese…

  • Red Day – Sandy Fussell

      Walker Books Australia March 2020 ISBN: 9781760651886 Imprint: Walker Books Australia Australian RRP: $17.99 New Zealand RRP: $19.99 It seems very apt to be reviewing Sandy Fussell’s latest book today as we commemorate ANZAC Day albeit in a very different way to the usual events. This is a very powerful story which blends contemporary life in small…

  • Dolls of War – Shirley Parenteau

    Walker Books Australia ISBN: 9780763690694 Imprint: Candlewick Release Date: February 1, 2018 Australian RRP: $19.99 New Zealand RRP: $22.99   This is another charming book in the ‘Friendship Dolls’ series. The last one I reviewed examined the narrative from a Japanese girl’s perspective when the American dolls were coming as gifts of friendship to her country.  This one takes another…

  • Dolls of Hope – Shirley Parenteau

      Walker Books March 2018 ISBN: 9780763677527 Imprint: Candlewick Australian RRP: $19.99 New Zealand RRP: $22.99   A companion book to The Ship of Dolls this continues the little known history of the Friendship Doll project of 1926, this time from the Japanese perspective. Chiyo Tamura has been raised in a very traditional rural Japanese family and has never…