Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe


  • Wombat Dreaming- Caz Goodwin. Illustrations by Zoë Bennett.

    Affirm Press May 2025 Dist: Simon & Schuster Imprint: Affirm Kids ISBN13: 9781923046603 As it happens just yesterday, [as I write this 24/05] at my twice-weekly Senior Sisters exercise class we finished off our hour with 15 minutes of yoga. I hasten to point that it was only standing yoga, as we all have made…

  • Lucky – Amelia Tonta & Peter Baldwin

    For those of us who have been in library mode as long as I have, this will bring back happy memories of hilarious sessions reading A Nice Walk in the Jungle but in this new Amelia Tonta [the artist formerly known as Amelia McInerney] book, the python in question is a pet of no scruples…

  • The Big Backyard Plan – Kirsten Ealand/Laura Stitzel

    Affirm Press February 2025 AUD RRP $24.99 ISBN 9781922992444 What a delightful and happy-making book this is! Until I was 14, my family home was our house in the front corner of 3 regular-sized Sydney suburban blocks, with the rest of the land being taken up with the family business of A. Warren & Sons…

  • Little Love List – Bethany Clark. Illustrated by Summer Macon.

    Affirm Press January 2025 AUD RRP $22.99 ISBN 9781922806758 If you were to write a list of all the reasons you love someone – that is, someone you love deeply – how long would it be? Do you love them when they’re tired and grumpy? Do you love them when they make mistakes? Of course,…

  • The Bug Book – Tania Ingram. Illustrated by Lucinda Gifford.

    Affirm Press Imprint: Little Book Press October 2024 ISBN 9781923141155 RRP: $24.99 If this isn’t the cutest introduction to the world of mini-beasts!!! When Tania had talked about this one during its inception, I knew it was going to be fun but I had no clue that it was going to be as adorable as…

  • A Wish for Baby – Caz Goodwin/Sara Acton

    Affirm Press July 2024 AUD RRP $22.99 ISBN 9781922930293 I wish you health and happiness,but even when there’s pain …I hope you see the rainbowsas you’re running through the rain. Caz Goodwin and Sara Acton have created an absolute joy of a picture book, which will make the perfect present for a new babe in…

  • Cheese! – Felice Arena. Illustrated by Beatrice Cerocchi.

    Affirm Press September 2024 AUD RRP $22.99 ISBN 9781922992833 Did someone say cheese? Yes, please! Some Brie? Mais oui! Ooh la la, how fancy! Don’t forget the smelly ones: There are quite a few! Stilton, Limburger and Stinking Bishop, too. First da pasta, now da cheese! Of course! one can’t have the one without the…

  • 100 School Days – Deborah Frenkel and Laura Stitzel

    Affirm PressJune 2024 AUD RRP $22.99 ISBN 9781922930385 Thirty years ago when I was first teaching a Year 1 class (actually it was a 1/2/3) Qld preschool was optional, and so Year 1 was the official first year of school. The Smalls diligently coloured a new square each day on their 100 page glued into…

  • Cheer Up, Blobfish! – Julie Murphy. Illustrated by Rachel Tribout.

    Affirm Press April 2024 AUD RRP $19.99 ISBN 9781922863966 Check out the adorable cover on this gem!! The Kid and I have long had a soft spot [so to speak] for blobfish, going way back to her days as mini-Attenborough, so this book was always on my radar. And really, who could go past that…

  • Neil the Amazing Sea Cucumber – Amelia McInerney & Lucinda Gifford

    Affirm Press April 2023 RRP: $19.99ISBN: 9781922848635 These days The Kid and I have beach days that look like her surfing and me sitting, enjoying the view or reading but in the past, from the time she was toddling, exploring the beaches at low tide was one of our favourite pastimes. We especially loved the…