Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Treeshape – Trace Balla

    Allen & Unwin March 2026 ISBN:9781761181252 Publisher:A&U Children’s Imprint:A & U Children Trace Balla’s work always fills me with both admiration and emotion, and I think really, this one is the best yet as it is the most intensely personal as well, outlining the journey of Trace from child to present. Leaf-light (2023) and Rivertime…

  • Cat Nap – Brian Lies

    Harper Collins Australia January 2026 When an adventurous kitten spies a scurrying mouse, he is off and away on the chase, leaping right into the Metropolitan Museum of Art via a convenient poster on the wall – just like Alice stepping through the Looking Glass. The feline adventure starts with small kitten (based on Brian…

  • Cats and Us: A Ten-Thousand-Year Fascination – Marta Pantaleo, translated by Debbie Bibo, Yvette Ghione

    New South Books Publisher: Groundwood Books 9781779460394 January 2026 AUD$29.99, NZD$34.99 They say there are two types of people – dog people and cat people. While I have happily owned both, if I can only have one it’s a cat. Whiskers aka the Demon Spawn thoroughly agrees with this stance as do thousands of others.…

  • The Flight of the Drakkonbarq- Sarah Giddy

    Riveted Press October 2025 Simon & Schuster ISBN13: 9781764007146 LIST PRICE: AU$ 18.99 / NZ$ 19.99 Here’s another gift suggestion for an astute reader from about 10 years upwards. You could get a small sense of this book from the blurb, which has probably been rehashed by at least one reviewer, but it truly needs…

  • Picture Book Month Bonus: Start with a Teapot: an unexpected guide to the art of drawing – Enric Lax

    Walker Books Australia Imprint: Gecko Press ISBN13:9798765670491 Australia RRP:$29.99 New Zealand RRP:$34.99 Invariably, when I’m with a class and we are about to draw, there is always the one – or more – who say ‘But I can’t draw…’ or ‘I’m terrible at drawing…’. I always tell them that I’m not an artist but I…

  • My Story, Our Country: a First Nations Family History – Ryhia Dank

    Harper Collins Australia October 2025 When I read this, I immediately sent a text to a dear friend, a committed First Nations ally who always strives to teach her class with solid embedded cultural perspectives, that if she only buys one new book to explain Aboriginality, this is the one. I was so impressed with…

  • A New World Rises: Tales of a LEGO® Future – Jackson Harvey & Alex Towler with Cristy Burne.

    Fremantle Press August 2025 ISBN: 9781760994167 RRP: AU $44.99/NZ$50.00/US$34.95 Like millions of others, I’ve had my fair share of LEGO® in my life, starting with my girls, then grandies and certainly, numerous times in my libraries with LEGO® free-range activities and clubs both construction and stop motion film. I have run competitions for Book Week (recreate…

  • Between – Anna Walker

    Scribe Publications Imprint: Scribble September 2025 ISBN: 9781761381591AUD$27.99 (Hardback) Anna Walker has created a book that is a pure symphony of thoughts, that swirl around like gossamer on a breeze. I only wish I could give you some idea of how utterly beautiful and soothing it is. It is almost a meditation in print and…

  • Tomato Sandwich – an encore!

    Many of you will already have Tomato Sandwich in your collections [if you don’t – why on earth not? Get thee to the bookshop forthwith!] and will have seen my review of a few months ago. Now it gives me the greatest pleasure to tell you that there are now teaching notes available, to help…

  • Prayer for a River -Uncle Glenn Loughrey and Andrew Kelly. Illustrated by Uncle Glenn Loughrey.

    Wild Dog Books October 2025 ISBN: 9781742036915 RRP: $24.99 This book is truly special. Completely aside from the Wiradjuri close connection [from my own perspective], this is a book that you will use multiple times with classes for multiple reasons, aside from its innate beauty, both visually and textually. Wiradjuri writer, speaker and artist, Uncle…