Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • On Gallant Wings – Helen Edwards

    Riveted Press April 2025 Distributed by Simon & Schuster ISBN13: 9781763526051 LIST PRICE: AU$ 17.99 / NZ$ 19.99 I can completely relate to author Helen Edward’s comment in her notes that she knew little about the Japanese attack on Darwin. I was certainly the same. Growing up in the late 50s/60s, I knew more about…

  • Fly, Mama! Fly! – Anna McGregor

    Scribe Publications | Scribble March 2025 ISBN 9781761381539 AU$19.99 This is just the sweetest little board book for the Smallest of Smalls, just in time for Mother’s Day. But, it’s not just about the cute narrative and adorable illustrations from this talented author/illustrator (and the fun sideways orientation!). It’s also turning on a spotlight on…

  • Nim’s Island – holiday fun on the Sunshine Coast

    From Wendy Orr: ​Nim’s Island showing on the Sunshine Coast on the school holidays. Always nice to see it still bringing fun for kids. I wonder if they know it’s an Australian book and was filmed not far from them? [Hinchinbrook!] Thrilling activity guide for the holidays on the Sunshine Coast Maybe it’s time to…

  • The First Sunrise – Nessa Stevens. Paul Seder

    Magabala Books February 2025  9781922777553 | RRP $27.99 Hachette Australia I am always excited by First Nations books and I can’t think of a single one that hasn’t made me feel that way. But every now and then, one comes along that is really out of the box and this is one of those. There are a…

  • The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest – Aubrey Hartman

    Walker Books Australia May 2025 ISBN:9781761601453 RRP: $17.99/New Zealand RRP:$19.99 Now, how to describe this delightfully quirky and sometimes dark quasi-horror with heart? It’s a little bit My Dead Rabbit, maybe a little bit Coraline, and a little bit The Graveyard Book. And then there’s A Girl Called Corpse – and soon you will get…

  • Boodja Barna – Land Creatures: Noongar First Words – Jayden Boundry. Tyrown Waigana.

    Fremantle Press June 2024 ISBN: 9781760995317 RRP: $16.99 This is the first of a new series and it is absolutely adorable 💗. Whether this is the language of the traditional owners in your part of the country or not, this makes for a really sweet read for tiny Smalls. To my mind, it’s no matter if…

  • Ella and the Sleepover Safari – Cassy Polimeni. Hykie Breeze.

    UWAP March 2025 ISBN: 9781760803018 RRP: $15.99 How utterly apt that it happens I can be writing this review today on World Frog Day! Lucky it hopped into my mail just in time. So many of you will know the sensational series start of the first Ella book, when we met her family, friends and…

  • Neeka and the Missing Key: Wilder Zoo #1 – Tina Strachan

    Harper Collins Last night (13/03) I had another wonderful evening at Quick Brown Fox bookshop for a Reading Between the Wines event. Tina Strachan was one of the authors, and it was fortuitous that I had just read this first in her series. We all know that so many kiddos are mad for animal stories,…

  • Skippy Blackfeet – Rebecca Fraser. Illustrated by Jennifer Horn.

    Wombat Books March 2025 9781761111662 RRP: $19.99 When you’re in cyclone prep/watch mode as I was a few days ago (at time of writing), you really need to read ‘light’. Whiskers (aka Demon Spawn) who was none too thrilled about being kept completely confined to barracks for fear the wild winds would whisker her right…

  • Wonders Under the Moon – Tai Snaith

    A Collection of Night-time Creatures Thames & Hudson February 2025 ISBN: 9781760764166 RRP: $26.99 It would be fair to say I see a lot of animal books, and really they’re all lovely and the kiddos think they’re marvellous too. But sometimes there those that really stand out. This is one of them. I haven’t seen its…