Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • What is a Dot? -Johanna Bell. Illustrated by Amelia Luscombe.

    Thames & Hudson April 2025 ISBN: 9781760764814 RRP: $26.99 What is a dot when a dot is not? Is it a swish? A sweep? Or a swirl? Is it a scurry? A wave? Or a pearl? I was SO keen to see this because I’m such a huge fan of Hervé Tullet and his always imaginative,…

  • Tubowgule – a Sydney Opera House History – Melissa-Jane Fogarty. Illustrated by Dylan Finney.

    Hachette Australia Imprint: Lothian Books March 2025 9780734423351 | RRP $24.99 I’m old enough to have walked on Bennelong Point before the Opera House was built, and then walk around the construction site as the sails rose ever higher [not much WHS in those days, no fencing around the site!] picking up bits of broken white tile.…

  • Young Dark Emu: a Truer History – Bruce Pascoe

    Imprint: Magabala Books Hachette Books February 2025 ISBN: 9781922777508 RRP: $29.99 Eleven years ago this month, I had the great pleasure of reading and reviewing Dark Emu – Blackseeds: Accident or Agriculture? for Magabala and in that review, I commented on how much new information I gleaned from this detailed and knowledge-based account from a…

  • Teeth: You Only Get Two Sets – Magda Gargulakova. Illustrated by Marie Urbankova.

    New South Books Albatros Media April 2025 9788000072470/ AUD$26.99, NZD$32.99 All of us who have taught Smalls know the whole gap-toothed, lisping stages very well indeed. I foresee this book is going to be a big hit in both classrooms and libraries for those Preps-3s especially. Certainly I’d be taking full advantage of it and still…

  • All Aboard!: Planes – Radka Píro & Diarmuid Ó Catháin

    New South Books Albatros Books December 2024 9788000070995  AUD$24.99, NZD$29.99 How super cute is it to have a flightless bird learning all about flying and planes? Karl the Kiwi is sad because he would really love to fly like other birds. He thinks up a few ideas including hitching a ride with a flying bird,…

  • Wonders Under the Moon – Tai Snaith

    A Collection of Night-time Creatures Thames & Hudson February 2025 ISBN: 9781760764166 RRP: $26.99 It would be fair to say I see a lot of animal books, and really they’re all lovely and the kiddos think they’re marvellous too. But sometimes there those that really stand out. This is one of them. I haven’t seen its…

  • What Noise Does the Baby Make? Jacinta Froud. Illustrated by Cat MacInnes.

    Windy Hollow Books June 2024 ISBN 9781921136740 RRP; $26.99 This is a perfectly delightful noisy book for reading aloud to Smalls, and, as we know, those littlest humans LOVE noisy books! If a chick goes CHEEP and a cow goes MOO What noise does the rooster make? COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO! Be prepared for many raucous repeated readings…

  • Encyclopedia of…. :for Young Readers x3 : Birds, Animals and Plants, Fungi and Lichen

    New South Books Publisher: Albatros Media Encyclopedia of Birds – Tomáš Tůma 9788000063508/ December 2022/AUD$29.99, NZD$34.99 Encyclopedia of Animals: Tomáš Tůma 9788000063522/1 November 2022/AUD$29.99, NZD$34.99 Encyclopedia of Plants, Fungi and Lichens – ​Tereza Němcová/Tomáš Pernický 9788000063515/1 December 2022/AUD$29.99, NZD$34.99 This delightful series (there are more it seems) appeals hugely to my inner nerdy child and,…

  • Plantabulous!

    New South Books From Albatros Books/Media are two absolutely delightful new titles. Both about plants, both non-fiction, both exquisitely designed but providing lower-middle primary kiddos with information about plants from two different angles. How Plants Talk – Helena Haraštová. Illustrated by Linh Dao 9788000068114 / 1 August 2023 AUD$24.99, NZD$29.99 Your Smalls will be fascinated to see…

  • The Bee Squad

    Boosting biodiversity in your neighbourhood – Judy Friedlander New South Books Ferbruary 2025 ISBN: 9781742238227  RRP: $27.99 Last year there were quite a few books come my way with bugs and biodiversity featured. This one is almost a complete wrap-up of them all in a non-fiction package. We know kiddos are enthusiastic about environmental activities.…