Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe


  • Possum Skin Cloak – Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson. Illustrated by Leanne Jones.

    Wild Dog Books Simon & Schuster July 2026 Your readers will learn about the cultural tradition of possum skin cloaks with this gorgeous book but more than that, they will learn of the special lifelong connection. between new life and the Dreaming, clan and Country, ancestors and the recording of one’s own story, incised by…

  • Colour Me – Ezekiel Kwaymullina & Moira Court

    Fremantle Press August 2026 ISBN: 9781760996666 RRP: $19.99 ‘There’s a book for that!’ – teaching your Smalls about diversity and inclusion? teaching your smalls about figurative language like similes? teaching your Smalls about verbs? teaching your Smalls about animals? teaching your Smalls about cross-cultural perspectives? teaching your Smalls that some books are just like a poem…

  • Bookish fun over just a couple of weeks ……

    Reading Between the Wines Term 3 at Quick Brown Fox with wonderful creators: Zanni Louise, Allison Rocca, Samantha Wheeler and Matt Stanton with Andy Geppert popping in briefly. Then after a postponed writing workshop at Quick Brown Fox which was disappointing, I still had the joy of meeting the wonderful Kristin Darrell today for lunch…

  • Spud and Snowball and Chattercat: Spud and Snowball #2 – Judith Rossell

    Harper Collins Australia They’re back! And just as funny as the first episode as these two felines of dubious talents find themselves faced with a mechanical nemesis in the shape of Chattercat. I don’t know about you but our resident mini-panther disdains any kind of cat-toy tomfoolery, mechanical or not. And while Spud and Snowball…

  • Star of Deltora- Emily Rodda

    Allen & Unwin ISBN:9781761182686 Imprint:A&U Children’s Sep 2026 RRP: $39.99 I’ll be honest – I had completely forgotten the original editions of this series and I’m thinking now that I must not have read them at the time. Quite likely because it came out at a time when I was working in purely secondary libraries…

  • Witless Protection: Mega Rich Guinea Pigs #2 – Kate and Jol Temple

    Harper Collins Australia June 2026 They’re back! and it’s another hilarious ride with the loaded GPs as they find themselves, once again, in the throes of a dastardly plot to steal their fortune. Of course, we all know it’s going to be the ‘other’ side of the family who are behind it all. It all…

  • Bravepaw and the Songstone of the Deep: A Tail of Adventure #4 – L. M. Wilkinson. Art by Lavanya Naidu.

    Allen & Unwin ISBN:9781761182167 Publisher:A&U Children’s Imprint:Albert Street Books RRP: $16.99 It’s always a little bitter-sweet when a favourite series comes to a conclusion and this one with this mousekin hero and her companions is one of the best, and therefore one of the saddest to leave. Titch and Huckleberry are a long way from…

  • All the Blues in the Sky – Renée Watson

    Winner of the Newbery Medal Bloomsbury August 2026 ISBN 9781547605897 Imprint Bloomsbury Children’s Books RRP: $19.99 This is such a beautiful and poignant verse/prose novel that explores grief as it impacts on a young person. And yes, we know that happens often and even just this year, I’ve had several books in which a child…

  • 2026 Father’s Day Special: The Thing About Dads – Deborah Frenkel.Daniel Gray-Barnett.

    Thames and Hudson August 2026 ISBN: 9781760765194 RRP: $24.99 And this one, dear readers, is my top pick of this year’s batch for Father’s Day. It is the pièce de résistance with absolutely perfect rhyme – the cadence and flow is just magical! – and stunning illustrations full of action and expression. Showing dads in…

  • 2026 Father’s Day Special: Superheroes in the Park – Ian Eagleton. Hayley Wells

    New South Books Publisher: Otter Barry Books 9781915659972 July 2026 AUD$26.99, NZD$29.99 I’m going to be completely honest here. While I found this a little too heavy-handed, I really do love the entire concept and also, that the author is writing from his own experience and heart. Ian Eagleton and his husband adopted a toddler…