Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Bush Tukka Guide for Kids – Samantha Martin

    Hardie Grant Australia ISBN:9781741179163 Price:AU$24.99, NZ$27.99 Publisher:Hardie Grant Explore Amid the burgeoning interest in First Nations culture and practices (despite the nasty background noise of such as certain political sectors and their brainwashed acolytes), there is a steadily growing interest in cultivating traditional bush foods, as well as native plants. And where better to start…

  • One Race – Gregg Dreise

    Scholastic Australia February 2026 ISBN: 9781761298585 RRP: $26.99 Kamilaroi and Euahlayi author and artist Gregg Dreise always produces extraordinary work that is both beautiful and powerful. And this is another, from the stunning endpapers to the evocative and impactful artwork carried along the rhythm and beauty of the poetic text. At a time when the…

  • 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…

  • April Wrap-up

    It was pretty busy and some really stand-out reads here!

  • Girls Like – Katrina Germein. Illustrated by Deb Hudson.

    New South Books Publisher: MidnightSun Publishing 9781922858726 April 2026 AUD$29.99, NZD$34.99 For anyone raising their own Mighty Girl or for those empowering all the mighty girls in a class or cohort this is hands-down a must-have for your shelf. It’s a simple rhythmic text that is almost a rap and just invites clap alongs or…

  • You can’t help but notice..

    Sometimes there is a slew of similar looking books, or titles, or even narratives or content. We all know there are trends in fashion, food, music, movies and even books – but it does sometimes seem that at times various authors, even across continents, simultaneously get the same thought. Other times it’s just seems to…

  • Gimme Some Space (Book #2 Marvellous Submarine) – Clayton Zane Comber & Conor McCammon

    Harper Collins Australia Imprint: Angus & Robertson February 2026 ISBN: 9781460766811 RRP: $17.99 Clayton and Conor continue with their new insanely bonkers series, this time blasting off into space in the retro-fitted submarine now doubling as a spaceship. Twins, Billy and Poppy, plus their assorted menagerie (using the term loosely) of helpers determine to track down…

  • The Dust Bowl, 1935: I Survived – Lauren Tarshis

    Scholastic Australia March 2026 ISBN: 9781761728662 RRP: $15.99 My introduction to the work of John Steinbeck was watching the movie adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath aged around 11/12 and thereafter, reading my father’s copy of the book plus all his other Steinbecks, including my all-time favourite book Of Mice and Men, also set in…

  • One Day A True Story of Courage and Survival in the Holocaust – Michael Rosen

    Walker Books February 2025 ISBN13:9781529515985 Australia RRP:$27.99 New Zealand RRP:$29.99 Michael Rosen has long been one of the UK’s most acclaimed authors of children’s books. His range of genres is astonishing from the comic to the serious. And his most serious are those books that pertain to the Holocaust, a subject with which Michael has…

  • ANZAC Biscuits (a Commemorative Edition) – Phil Cummings. Owen Swan

    SCHOLASTIC AUSTRALIA March 2026 ISBN: 9781761725302 ISBN-10: 1761725300 Hard to believe it’s 13 years since this lovely book was first published and this is a welcome new edition to replace your original, particularly with this updated and very striking cover [love the touch of gold and the hardcover has the most delightful feel to it, almost like…