Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • 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…

  • Walking the Rock Country in Kakadu – Karrire kundenge karribolknan kunwarddehwardde – Diane Lucas and Ben Tyler, illustrated by Emma Long

    Allen & Unwin June 2024 ISBN:9781761067860 Publisher:A&U Children’s Imprint:A & U Children RRP: $29.99 Many will already know the magnificent book Walking in Gagudju Country: Exploring the Monsoon Forest, and now there is an equally stunning companion book, coming from the same multiple award-nominated creative team. Look into these lush green bushes.We might find something…

  • Fledgewitch: A Dragons of Hallows #2 – Lian Tanner. Illustrated by Martina Heiduczek.

    Allen & Unwin April 2024 ISBN:9781761067365 Publisher:A&U Children’s Imprint:A & U Children RRP: $17.99 I absolutely fell in love with all things Hallow when I read Spellhound last year, and have been impatiently waiting for this second instalment to arrive (as Lian knows), [while The Kid has resigned herself to being called a minch-wiggin as…

  • Q&A with Idan Ben-Barak

    Welcome to Just So Stories Idan, and thank you for your time – you are the first Q&A for 2024 and I am so glad I get to kick off the year’s interviews with someone who is both interesting AND quirky! Yaay! Thanks for having me! First of all, I think many of us would…

  • Your Brain is a Lump of Goo – Idan Ben-Barak. Illustrated by Christopher Nielsen.

    Allen & Unwin January 2024 ISBN: 9781761180156 Imprint: Allen & Unwin Children’s RRP: $24.99 It’s difficult (for me at least) to realise that it’s now seven years since Idan burst into our libraries and classroom with the award-winning Do Not Lick This Book. This was a completely different interactive information book that blew away adults…

  • A Footy Tail – Alex Johnston & Gregg Dreise

    Allen & Unwin October 2023 ISBN: 9781761180316 Publisher: A&U Children’s Imprint: A & U Children RRP: $19.99 When footy season is over, my TV viewing drops dramatically I have to say. And the accompanying stream of texts and posts to fellow fans likewise. I’m a Sydney girl, even though I’ve been in Queensland, on and…

  • Pink Santa – Tanya Hennessy. Illustrated by Ben Whitehouse.

    Allen & Unwin August 2023 ISBN:9781761180392 Publisher:A&U Children’s Imprint: Albert Street Books RRP: $19.99 Most folks know I/we don’t really do Xmas in a traditional kind of way. Ever since we lost The Kid’s mum, it really has lost more and more appeal each year, even when K was still quite Small. So now we…

  • Picture Book Month 2023 is a wrap!

    November is Picture Book Month, a tribute to the enduring importance of the picture book form. Dianne de Las Casas (author & storyteller) and her team co-founded the month-long celebration to champion the power and beauty of picture books: In this digital age where people are predicting the coming death of print books, picture books (the print kind) need love. And…

  • Our Family Dragon: a Lunar New Year story – Rebecca Lim/Cai Tse

    Allen & Unwin November 2023 ISBN:9781761180637 Publisher:A&U Children’s Imprint:Albert Street Books RRP: $24.99 Of course we have had a few wonderful picture books focusing on Lunar New Year over the years, many of them in constant rotation for this celebration. But how lovely is it to have an exciting new one that, to my mind,…

  • These Little Feet – Hayley Rowsthorne & Briony Stewart

    Allen & Unwin October 2023 ISBN:9781761069017 Publisher:A&U Children’s Imprint:Albert Street Books RRP: $19.99 For those of us who have had the joy of a new baby within snurfling distance, either our own or someone else’s – don’t you just love that poring over their tiny toes, their wee fingers, little ears, button mouths, and all…