Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Yer’ung – Spirit Tree

    Darren Charlwood, a Wiradjuri artist, unveiled his breath-taking sculpture at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney to kick-start #NAIDOCWeek. The artwork was welcomed by a First Nations Elder and traditional smoking ceremony. It tells the story of Sydney and embodies a Welcome to Country on Gadigal land. The sculpture is titled Yer’ung – Spirit Tree and…

  • Doubles Disaster: Ash Barty Tennis Camp Diaries #1 – Ash Barty, Jasmin McGaughey. Illustrated by Jade Goodwin.

    Harper Collins Australia July 2024 Your junior readers who have been gobbling up the Little Ash series are going to go nuts when they see this and realise that a whole new series, another step up the reading ladder, is happening! Ash is very excited that she’s been chosen to go to her first tennis…

  • Walking Together – Coral Vass/Dub Leffler

    Scholastic Australia July 2024 ISBN: 9781761126260 ISBN-10: 1761126261 RRP: $26.99 There would be few of us who don’t know the power of the collaboration between Coral Vass and Dub Leffler – who hasn’t used Sorry Day in their cultural awareness units? And here we are, with our Reconciliation Week theme of Now More Than Ever, and our…

  • Yirrkala Bark Petitions

    The Yirrkala Bark Petitions are a series of petitions from the Yolngu people to the Commonwealth government. They are seen as the first documents that joined Indigenous Lore with Commonwealth Law as the petitions are the first traditional documents to have been recognised by the Commonwealth Parliament. The Yolngu people are the people of Yirrkala…

  • Finding Our Heart: a story about the Uluru Statement for Young People – Thomas Mayo[r]. Illustrated by Blak Douglas.

    Hardie Grant Australia June 2020 ISBN: 9781741177176 Imprint: Hardie Grant Explore RRP: $26.99 Four years after its release, and as I’ve just created a presentation for YABBA’s virtual author’s program on Thomas Mayo, it seems like a great time to include this one in this year’s NAIDOC collation. Thomas wrote his first book, Finding the…

  • 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…