Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Bush Turkey: Easter Hunt – Kate and Jol Temple. Illustrated by Ronojoy Gosh.

    Scholastic Australia February 2026 ISBN: 9781761640124 RRP: $19.99 Like a bush turkey manically constructing his nesting mound to lure all the single ladies, this is rather chaotic and crazy – but then, it is Kate and Jol Temple! When Bush Turkey starts on his nest he kicks up a shiny gold egg that he knows…

  • Medieval Monsters and Other Creatures – Timothy Ide

    Midnight Sun November 2023 ISBN 9781922858177 RRP $34.99 (hbk), When a talented friend sends you a wonderful gift, especially at a time when your spirits are so low, you can’t just accept it and nod your thanks. This technically is not a review but an expression of my real gratitude – as well as my…

  • Feathers of Farwood and the Gripps Curse – Jayne McIntyre

    Riveted Press Distributed by Simon & Schuster March 2026 ISBN13: 9781764256704 RRP: $AU22.99 / NZ$ 26.99 I could have actually written this review 3 months ago because I was lucky enough to be able to write teaching notes for this absolutely gorgeous book back in December. I was thrilled when Jayne contacted me and I…

  • Freddie Jones: The Mystery of the Troublesome Trees – Kate Foster

    Walker Books Imprint: Walker Books Australia February 2026 ISBN13:9781760659936 Australia RRP:$17.99 New Zealand RRP:$19.99 Kate Foster has become such a leading light in middle grade novels featuring neuro-diverse characters. In this, she brings her own personal experience, so always there is such authenticity and such wonderful voice. With this new series she hooks into the…

  • Axel Scheffler’s Treasury of Fairy Tales

    Scholastic Australia Imprint: Alison Green Books May 2026 ISBN: 9780702333194 ISBN-10: 0702333190 There are some favourites that just get better with age, don’t you agree? And this new hardback edition, beautifully bound with its gorgeous dustjacket [like books of my long-ago youth!] is one of these. As if the charms of Axel’s illustrations are not enough, his…

  • Claris and the Easter Delight – Megan Hess

    Hardie Grant Australia January 2026 ISBN:9781761215360 Series:Claris Storybooks Imprint:Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing Price:AU$19.99, NZ$22. Adorable Claris is back as the flowers bloom in Paris and the joy of Easter is at hand. When Megan Hess expanded her repertoire of fashion, art and design to include little Claris, it was a genius stroke. Nearly a dozen…

  • Stanley – Louise Zirbel. Rachel Salmon. Illustrator: Barry Patenaude.

    Boolarong Press October 2025 Imprint: Watson Ferguson Publishing ISBN: 9780645504644 RRP: $24.99 The ubiquitous and much-maligned brush turkey – bush turkey, scrub turkey, whatever your preferred terminology is certainly a character. We have plenty around here, including my regular I see on my morning walk, who has built a glorious mound in the scrub down…

  • Letters from the Upside – Katya Balen

    Bloomsbury Publishing January 2026 ISBN: 9781526663931 Imprint: Bloomsbury Children’s Books RRP: $16.99 I have eaten up every Katya Balen title that has come my way and they never disappoint. Each new story has its own fresh and original approach and, without fail, her characters are astonishingly vibrant and so completely authentic. Each and everyone pulls…

  • UnBEARable – Kathryn Apel/Beau Wylie

    Scholastic Australia January 2026 We love a fractured fairytale – we do, we do!! By ‘we’ I mean those of us who teach – and regularly teach fairytales. And that’s as much a part of secondary literacy as it is primary-based. Traditional tales – in all their guises: fairytale, folk tale, myths, legends, Dreaming stories…

  • For Little Jarjums

    Two delightful little board books for your Smallest of Smalls from Fremantle Press today. SO cute!!! Kep Barna: Water Creatures [#2 Noongar First Words series} – Jayden Boundry/Tyrown Waigana February 2026 ISBN: 9781760995591 RRP: AU$16.99/NZ$21.00/US$12.95 Once again your Smalls can learn some new words in Noongar accompanied by their English counterparts, this time of a variety…