Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Running late with the August wrap-up !

    It was quite busy last week what with the modelling weekend, the Quick Brown Fox bookish event (Zanni Louise, Allison Rocca, Samantha Wheeler, Matt Stanton and Andy Geppert as a bonus!) and Mr Surfer’s birthday plus two sets of teaching notes!! Read more

  • All the Blues in the Sky – Renée Watson

    Winner of the Newbery Medal Bloomsbury August 2026 ISBN 9781547605897 Imprint Bloomsbury Children’s Books RRP: $19.99 This is such a beautiful and poignant verse/prose novel that explores grief as it impacts on a young person. And yes, we know that happens often and even just this year, I’ve had several books in which a child… Read more

  • 2026 Father’s Day Special: The Thing About Dads – Deborah Frenkel.Daniel Gray-Barnett.

    Thames and Hudson August 2026 ISBN: 9781760765194 RRP: $24.99 And this one, dear readers, is my top pick of this year’s batch for Father’s Day. It is the pièce de résistance with absolutely perfect rhyme – the cadence and flow is just magical! – and stunning illustrations full of action and expression. Showing dads in… Read more

  • 2026 Father’s Day Special: Superheroes in the Park – Ian Eagleton. Hayley Wells

    New South Books Publisher: Otter Barry Books 9781915659972 July 2026 AUD$26.99, NZD$29.99 I’m going to be completely honest here. While I found this a little too heavy-handed, I really do love the entire concept and also, that the author is writing from his own experience and heart. Ian Eagleton and his husband adopted a toddler… Read more

  • 2026 Father’s Day Special: Every Day is Special with Dad – Sarah Ayoub & Kate Moon.

    Harper Collins Australia June 2026 Imprint: HarperCollins AU ISBN: 9781460765654 RRP: $24.99 I know that not every child is as lucky as I was. I had two great fathers essentially. My Father Bear until my parents divorced when I was 14 but even apart, they were both loving parents and my dad never stopped being my biggest… Read more

  • 2026 Father’s Day Special: My Dad Makes the World Go Around and Around – Maddy Mara. Illustrated by Andrew Joyner.

    Harper Collins Australia June 2026 Imprint: HarperCollins AU ISBN: 9781460767146 RRP: $24.99 What a wonderfully exuberant rhyming romp this one is! Filled with Andrew Joyner’s unmistakable art with some whacky inventions and gadgets and just one of many fathers doing extraordinary yet ordinary stuff with their kiddos. This one just happens to be rather a Caractacus Potts… Read more

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