Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • NAIDOC Week 2023

    National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year (Sunday to Sunday), to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of Read more

  • To read is to …

    Originally posted on Just So Stories: To read is to fly: it is to soar to a point of vantage which gives a view over wide terrains of history, human variety, ideas, shared experience and the fruits of many inquiries.” – A C Grayling, Financial Times (in a review of A History of Reading by… Read more

  • Scout and the Rescue Dogs – Dianne Wolfer. With Illustrations by Tony Flowers.

    Walker Books June 2023 ISBN13: 9781760655860 Australia RRP: $15.99 New Zealand RRP: $17.99 Dianne Wolfer’s books are always so full of heart I find, there is a ‘feel good’ thread to them that is warming and reassuring. This new title is certainly no exception. Scout has been struggling to fit in at her new boarding Read more

  • The Black Cockatoo with One Feather Blue – Jodie McCleod/Eloise Short

    Wollemi Press July 2023 ISBN: 9780646874708 RRP: $26.99 Confidence can be a frail commodity for many of us, but, perhaps, particularly for little people. And, as a result, it is easy to imbue a particular object with special qualities that make us feel braver, stronger and smarter – whether professional golfer with a lucky tee Read more

  • Hamlet is Not OK – R. A. Spratt

    Penguin Australia July 2023 No one will be surprised to hear that after reading a couple of chapters before I went to sleep last night, I gobbled the rest up in one sitting today – and loved every single word! It’s not Friday Barnes, nor Nanny Piggins but Spratt’s sass and sarcasm, her unerring sense Read more

  • Queen Narelle – Sally Murphy. Illustrated by Simon O’Carrigan.

    Walker Books June 2023 ISBN13: 9781760655334 Australia RRP:$16.99 New Zealand RRP:$18.99 Although I have often noted that the kiddos in my libraries are not all that taken with stories in verse, the one exception, always, is Sally Murphy’s books. These have invariably been on a constant rotation in our circulation stats. Clearly, this delightful new Read more

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