Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe


  • Lost Evangeline – Kate DiCamillo. Illustrated by Sophie Blackall.

    Walker Books Australia November 2025 ISBN13:9781529525892 Australia RRP:$24.99 New Zealand RRP:$27.99 As it arrives hard on the heels of the 25th anniversary of Because of Winn-Dixie [one of my all time favourite books!] it is a special treat to review a new Kate book. It arrived yesterday, much to my delight, and, of course, I…

  • Little Bones – Sandy Bigna

    UQP March 2025 9780702268878 RRPP: $16.99 I know I’m repeating myself, but I preface this again with the fact that I’ve never been a huge fan of verse novels. But I can tell you, we have some amazing creators who are changing my mind about that. This debut title from Sandy Bigna is hands-down one…

  • Something Special – Emily Rodda

    Harper Collins Australia July 2024 Forty years ago, Emily Rodda’s first book was published by Allen & Unwin, and subsequentlywon the CBCA Younger Readers Award in 1985. Following that auspicious beginning, Emily has continued to delight and engage readers over her remarkable four decade long career, and to mark this occasion, Harper Collins has released…

  • A Small Collection of Happinesses: : A tale of loneliness, grumpiness and one extraordinary friendship – Zana Fraillon. Illustrated by Stephen Michael King.

    Hachette Australia May 2024 Imprint: Lothian ISBN: 9780734422989 RRP: $14.99 Hettie is a smallish girl with a biggish imagination. She also has a biggish personality, that much is evident from the first pages of this new very different, somewhat off-beat new Zana Fraillon middle grade novel. She lives in a very unprepossessing block of flats,…

  • Honey and the Valley of Horses – Wendy Orr

    Allen & Unwin August 2023 ISBN:9781761068492 Publisher:A&U Children’s Imprint:A & U Children RRP: $17.99 In the ‘unprecedented times‘ of Covid, particularly in that first year or so, there was a seismic shift in the behaviours, attitudes and priorities of many people – and not solely for fear of infection. Undeniably there were folk who found…