Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe


  • Down the Plot Hole – Annaleise Byrd

    Walker Books April 2025 ISBN13:9781760659059 Australia RRP:$16.99 New Zealand RRP:$18.99 Annaleise Byrd’s second fractured fairytale is as highly amusing as the first. Basil and Terry resume their reading schedule, continuing on with Grimms’ Fairytales, though Basil is very uncertain about the whole idea of going back into fairytale with all its uncertainties – and dangers!…

  • Grandmas in Grand Cars – Mick Elliott

    Walker Books Australia April 2025 ISBN13:9781760655068 Australia RRP:$24.99 New Zealand RRP:$27.99 This one is just pure good fun, as one always expects from Mick Elliott, and your Smallsl will love all the different cars these groovy grannies are driving. Happily, the very first one is a Beetle – and having owned four of these beauties…

  • The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest – Aubrey Hartman

    Walker Books Australia May 2025 ISBN:9781761601453 RRP: $17.99/New Zealand RRP:$19.99 Now, how to describe this delightfully quirky and sometimes dark quasi-horror with heart? It’s a little bit My Dead Rabbit, maybe a little bit Coraline, and a little bit The Graveyard Book. And then there’s A Girl Called Corpse – and soon you will get…

  • One Day – Shirley Marr. Michael Speechly

    Walker Books May 2025 ISBN13:9781760659790 Australia RRP:$27.99 New Zealand RRP:$29.99 Two acclaimed creators collaborating? Of course, it was bound to be sensational. And it is all that and more. According to Frog, Mayfly will be eaten up by the world, but what will it matter if she only lives for one day in any case.…

  • Tomato Sandwich – Caroline Magerl

    Walker Books April 2025 ISBN13:9781760658045 Australia RRP:$25.99 New Zealand RRP:$27.99 Last week I was unwell for a few days with a horrid summer cold. Even when I started to feel better, I was still a long way from 100%. Just as I started to crawl back up the scale, along comes Alfred. This week we’re…

  • Dragonkeeper – Carole Wilkinson

    Walker Books December 2024 ISBN13:9781761601446 Australia RRP:$17.99 New Zealand RRP:$19.99 What a series this is and how loved it has been by so many over the years! I loved Dragonkeeper the first time I read it over 20 years ago and have re-read it more than once. When I read and reviewed Bronze Bird Tower…

  • I Am Rebel – Ross Montgomery

    Walker Books Australia June 2024 ISBN13:9781529502909 Australia RRP:$17.99 New Zealand RRP:$19.99 Dog stories are ever popular. We have seen this time and again over the years and this newest one from Ross Montgomery will both move and inspire readers as it narrates the unbreakable bond between young master and loyal doggo. In an imagined dystopian…

  • Maisy Big, Maisy Small: a book of rhyming opposites – Lucy Cousins

    Walker Books Australia January 2025 ISBN: 9781529514209 ISBN-10: 1529514207 RRP: $24.99 Of one thing we can be certain, and that is, Maisy never loses her appeal for little (and even bigger) Smalls! This is an updated version of one of Lucy Cousins’ most popular concept books featuring one of our favourite mouse characters. With big, bold colours…

  • Socks: a Kid’s Christmas Lament – JD McPherson Anika Orrock

    Walker Books Australia Imprint: Walker Books US October 2024 ISBN13:9781536237023 Australia RRP:$19.99 New Zealand RRP:$24.99 Unsurprisingly, I’d not heard of this American singer/songwriter but apparently he’s a big hit in the world of blues/roots. His Christmas album, Socks, was highly praised by Rolling Stone magazine. Now the lyrics have been presented in a picture book…

  • Mr Santa – Jarvis

    Walker Books Australia October 2024 ISBN13:9781529511574 Australia RRP:$24.99 New Zealand RRP:$27.99 Yep, we’ve all known those kids who have a seemingly endless supply of questions and this little person has many for Santa, when she catches him delivering gifts. Mr Santa, want to hear me play? Do the reindeer talk? And can I ride your sleigh? When…