Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Scar Town – Tristan Bancks

    Penguin Australia August 2023 I’ve been a fan of Tristan’s work since back in the Mac Slater days, especially after attending one of his presentations on making book trailers (can’t even remember which event that was, it was so long ago!) and I’ve particularly loved his ‘crime/thriller’ books – like a series that’s not, if…

  • The Welcome to Country Handbook: a guide to Indigenous Australia – Professor Marcia Langton

    Hardie Grant June 2023 ISBN: 9781741178227 Publisher: Hardie Grant Explore RRP: $32.99 Professor Langton’s Welcome to Country, now in its 2nd edition, was hailed as a major comprehensive work on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia: culture, customs, history, etiquette, performance and more. Now we have this fantastic companion volume which draws on the information…

  • Walking in Gagudju Country: exploring the monsoon forest – Diane Lucas, Ben Tyler and Emma Long

    Allen & Unwin June 2021 ISBN:9781760525958 Awards: Publisher:A&U Children’s Imprint:A & U Children RRP: $29.99 There would be few of us in school library land who have not used Walking with the Seasons in Kakadu as part of our teaching program with lower grades, as they learn about weather and seasonal calendars. Now we can…

  • Reaching Through Time – Shauna Bostock

    Allen & Unwin July 2023 ISBN: 9781761067983 RRP: $34.99 I’ve been reading this over the past week and I have to tell you, this book will just blow you away. As you might expect, I know a bit about the dispossession, the brutal treatment, the attempted eradication of language and culture, the eugenics that were…

  • The Magpie and the Snake – Steve Trotter

    Magpie Publishers October 2021 ISBN: 9780645178401 RRP: $19.99 Special school price: $15.99 I stumbled upon finding out about this book and was so taken by the premise that I messaged Steve and asked if I could review it for him. I am so very glad that I did. While Steve is a whitefulla, he consulted…

  • We Didn’t Think It Through – Gary Lonesborough

    Allen & Unwin July 2023 ISBN: 9781760526931 Publisher: A&U Children’s Imprint: A & U Children RRP: $19.99 We are all aware of the rise in youth crime – one would have to living in a hermit’s cave not to know about it. And most of us are aware that in some areas, the problem is…

  • This Book Thinks Ya Deadly!: a celebration of Blak Excellence Corey Tutt/Molly Hunt

    Hardie Grant June 2023 Imprint: Hardie Grant Explore ISBN: 9781741178159 RRP: $34.99 Corey Tutt OAM, is the young innovator and creator behind the Deadly Science initiative and the acclaimed The First Scientists, and this new book will impress you even more I think. It is a visual feast as well as a fantastic resource for…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…