Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • NAIDOC 2024 Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud!

    Gaywambana! Welcome to 2024 NAIDOC @ Just So Stories. As well as this curation of resources, a week of reviews of new First Nations titles and Q&As is ahead. Do make sure to check what’s happening in your local area. The Kid and I are all set to go to her local ATSICHS clinic’s special…

  • Evaluating and selecting appropriate resources for educators sharing First Nations learning and culture

    A great resource to consider as you head into NAIDOC in your classrooms. The Guide to evaluating and selecting education resources assists non-Indigenous educators, and others to critically self-reflect on history and the effects that this has on pedagogical practises today. It allows teachers to ensure curriculum resources selected for teaching do not cause harm…

  • Didge Ya Know?

    Celebrate the strength, culture, and achievements of our mob! This NAIDOC, we honor the theme “Keep the Fire Burning. Blak, Loud & Proud.” “Keep the Fire Burning” is about our resilience, our spirit, and keeping our cultures, traditions, and knowledge alive and strong. “Blak, Loud & Proud” means standing tall in who we are, speaking…

  • The Land Recalls You -Kirli Saunders/David Cragg and Noni Cragg

    Scholastic Australia May 2024 ISBN 9781760975159RRP $26.99  ‘Do not cry for earth who birthed you, for river as she calls your name… Do not weep for songs of land, for your old people and sacred stories’. So begins this beautiful, powerful and poignant new book from award-winning author and OAM, Kirli Saunders. This is a…

  • Protectors – Wylah the Koorie Warrior #3 – Jordan Gould/Richard Pritchard

    Allen & Unwin June 2024 ISBN:9781761180798 Publisher:A&U Children’s Imprint:Albert Street Books RRP: $16.99 I know there will be many excited readers to see that Wylah is back in her third adventure. This series has taken off and it is really pleasing to see. I recall 25 years ago in my first library having an audit…

  • Welcome back Little Ash!

    Two new titles in the delightful Ash Barty presents… Little Ash series – perfect timing for this week. These gorgeous little books for newly independent readers have been such a big hit! Harper Collins Australia by Ash Barty with Jasmin McGaughey, illustrated by Jade Goodwin ISBN: 9781460716533ISBN 10: 1460716531Imprint: HarperCollins RRP: $5.99 Little Ash is…

  • Wurrtoo: the wombat who fell in love with the sky – Tylissa Elisara. Illustrated by Dylan Finney

    Hachette Imprint: Lothian Children’s Books MAR 27, 2024 | 9780734421982 | RRP $19.99 I read this charming little book quite a few weeks ago but wanted to save it for this week. The publishers describe it as a cross between Winnie-the-Pooh and Blinky Bill. For me, yes, a little Blinky Bill for sure, but I mostly felt a vibe…

  • Mimi and Buwaarr/Mother and Baby – Melissa Greenwood

    Harper Collins Australia March 2024 Being your miimi (mother) is the most precious gift life can give. When you were born you opened my heart as wide as the ocean. Every new Melissa Greenwood book I see I love, and think – they can’t possibly get any more beautiful. And yet, here we are –…

  • National Reconciliation Week 2024 & Sorry Day

    My beautiful friend, Kirsty, asked me if I had some suggested titles/resources for Reconciliation Week and that was a prompt for me to create another post focused on First Nations titles and resources. I did also post one in 2023. Of course, there are [now] many books and resources to encourage cross-cultural embedding in your…

  • ANZAC Day 2024

    I thought I’d put together a few ANZAC resources purely focused on the service of our First Nations men and women. I feel confident that most people would already have plenty of other books, activities, resources but perhaps not so many that focus on Blak Diggers. If you know of any others, I’d love to…