Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Finding My Culture – Scott Bromley Johnson & Suzie Johnson and Thomas Readett.

    Little Book Press Distributed by Simon & Schuster June 2026 ISBN13: 978192314162 LIST PRICE: AU$ 24.99 / NZ$ 28.99 Reading the preface of this poignant and impactful book, the reader realises the enormity of the past wrongs, as is the case with so very many First Nations families. The loss of family connection, the erasure…

  • I Call the Ocean Wardan – Ebony Froome. Illustrated by Dellas Bennel and Korrine Bennel-Yarran.

    Fremantle Press September 2026 ISBN: 9781760996307 RRP: $26.99 Re-posting this now that NAIDOC is here on the blog! Celebrate NAIDOC Week 2026 with Fremantle Press • Beach Buddies (Helen Milroy)• Milly Meelyu (Holly Bradley, Darryl Fogarty, illus Corinne Fogarty)• Worl Barna: Sky Creatures (Jayden Boundry, illus Tyrown Waigana)• Kep Barna: Water Creatures (Jayden Boundry, illus Tyrown…

  • Our Flowers/Our Marsupials – Bronywn Bancroft

    Hardie Grant Australia July 2026 Our Flowers ISBN:9781761216541 Price:AU$19.99, NZ$22.99 Our Marsupials ISBN:9781761216558 Price:AU$19.99, NZ$22.99 Two new extremely attractive board books from Bundjalung woman Bronwyn Bancroft in her series introducing Australian wildlife to Smalls. Each image is paired with a rhyming couplet making this both a visual and auditory experience for little humans and with…

  • One Word – Melissa-Jane Fogarty

    : a girl’s quest to learn her grandfather’s hidden first language. Hachette Australia Imprint: Lothian Children’s Books July 2026 ISBN: 9780734423337 RRP: $26.99 This brilliantly simple but deeply meaningful new book from Melissa-Jane Fogarty as both author and illustrator, underlines one of the multiplicity of injustices and losses suffered by our Australian First Nations peoples,…

  • The Drover’s Son – Leah Purcell. Dub Leffler.

    Penguin Australia March 2026 ISBN: 9781761341977 RRP: $29.99 This one may have waited a while but it is all the more timely for having done so as I can share it to mark 2026 NAIDOC Week on this 50th anniversary of the event. This is particularly so because of this being a collaboration between two such incredibly…

  • 2026 NAIDOC 50 Years of Deadly

    I’m well aware that this is the last official day of NAIDOC but many people will be holding off their marking of this until after school holidays so here are a few free resources to help you and there are other available with a quick search. Also some reviews of terrific new titles to add…

  • Mid-Year Blog Break

    It may not be me who’s on school holidays but lots of other people are, so it’s time for me to take a breather as well. It’s certainly not like getting up early every day, sorting The Kid, long commutes and busy being Head of Library but my days still get busy, busy, busy and…

  • Six Weeks – Matt Goodfellow

    Hachette Australia Imprint: Starboard June 2026 9781444982886 RRP $16.99 It never ceases to amaze me when I happen to read two books within a week and they both have a similar central theme, in this case a young person’s grief. This is yet another verse novel that has continued to grow this genre as one…

  • Eleanor Jones is Not Drowning – Amy Doak

    Penguin Australia June 2026 ISBN: 9781761357305 Imprint: Penguin RRP: $19.99 Amy Doak’s thrillers, especially the Eleanor Jones series, have been smash hits from the start and you could bet that when this one arrived on Thursday 18th, it wasn’t going to languish on the shelf for long unread. In fact, I took it away with us up the…

  • World’s Most … Extreme, Deadly, Freaky – Australian Geographic

    Hardie Grant Australia April 2026 Series: Australian Geographic World’s Most Publisher: Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing Price:AU$19.99, NZ$22.99 You already know, just by looking at them, that your kiddos are going to go nuts for them. And they are exactly the sort of books that I would keep close to hand for break time browsing –…