Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Australian Lullaby Treasury – Sally Odgers. Lisa Stewart

    Scholastic Australia December 2025 ISBN 9781761643088 RRP: $29.99 [Pre-order from your usual suppliers] Combining all four of the Lullaby stories into one exquisite hardcover this would make a truly beautiful gift for a Small in your circle or, of course, to share with your class of little humans. The gentle verses could easily be used…

  • Dianne Wolfer – Double Delight.

    Dianne’s talent as a writer is undeniable and her ability to write prose fiction, narrative non-fiction and picture books with equal ease sets her apart. Here are the two latest examples of her outstanding ability to capture the essence of a story as well as place and time, both of these reverbrating with a true…

  • Inconvenient Women: Australian radical writers 1900–1970 – Jacqueline Kent

    UNSW Press 9781742237503 / May 2025 / RRP $34.99 You might guess that long extended adult reads do not happen all that often for me. I’m generally so snowed under reading kids lit that squeezing in the adult books is a mission – and usually reserved for the days at the beach while The Kid surfs or my occasional…

  • The Riding Gallery – Sally Murphy. Illustrated by Martina Heiduczek

    Walker Books Australia July 2024 ISBN13:9781760657345 Australia RRP:$16.99 New Zealand RRP:$18.99 Yes, I said not so long ago that I’m not a huge fan of verse novels, and there are only a few exceptions. Sally Murphy’s are one of those rare anomalies. Each one is so utterly absorbing, with such beautiful narrative flow that I…

  • Mulga Bill’s Bicycle – Illustrated by Kilmeny and Deborah Niland

    Harper Collins Australia Those of us of a certain vintage, who have been teacher-librarians for a considerable length of time know this book very well indeed – and, I would think, have used it countless times over the years. [Anyone else remember when Year 7s used to ‘do’ bush ballads?? and this was the first…

  • My Australia – Julie Murphy/Garry Fleming

    National Library of Australia April 2018 9780642279163 RRP $24.99 Those of us of a certain vintage will have vivid memories of learning off by heart Dorothea MacKellar’s famous poem My Country at school. For many I guess it may have been a trial but for me it was a joy, not least of all because…

  • This is Banjo Paterson – Tania McCartney/Christina Booth

    NLA Publishing February 2017 ISBN 9780642278982 RRP $24.99   Those of us of a certain age will most likely have grown up with the ballads of Andrew Barton Paterson. I was fortunate to share a love of the Banjo’s work with my father and would often perform his bush poetry as my ‘party piece’ for…

  • Rich & Rare – edited by Paul Collins

    ISBN: 978-1-925272-11-6 Publication date: October 2015 Extent: 512 pages Format: B Format paperback Price: AUD$24.95 Category: Genre fiction and poetry Age guide: 11+   This is a sumptuous and luscious smorgasbord feast for any reader, gathering delicacies supplied from Australia’s best storytellers. Our ‘young and free’ creators include: Michael Gerard Bauer, Gary Crew, Justin D’Ath,…

  • Henry Lawson Treasury – illustrated by Oslo Davis

    Random House Australia ISBN: 9780857985132 Published: 03/11/2014 Imprint: Random House Australia Children’s Extent: 160 pages RRP $19.99 I grew up with a dad who loved both Lawson and Paterson and I loved them too. Standard party pieces were recitations from these two legendary Australian writers. And now, we are able to introduce the ‘Poet of the People’ to a…