Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • CSIRO Publishing line up!

    I seem to have collected a few so here’s the round-up of all I have left for this year – every single one of utmost excellence as we know we will get from this publishing house, and all of them with subject matter that will engage, fascinate and inform kiddos. Every Rock has a Story:…

  • Mega!- Laura Holloway. Illustrated by Liz Duthie

    Simon & Schuster Published by : Wild Dog Books November 2025 Moving on from the Age of Dinosaurs, but for those die-hards who still want to explore the long-extinct creatures is this fabulous look at Australia’s own mega-fauna. Some kiddos will already know about the diprotodon and perhaps one or two others, but this is…

  • Aussie Native Plants A-Z – Joey Farrell. Jocelyn Gibson

    This gorgeous book was sent to me kindly from Boolarong Press some time ago – though not as long ago as its publishing date! It has been waiting patiently for Picture Book Month though and it’s timely to sit with some of these others on our rich nature in Australia. I love that this is…

  • Save the Gum Trees, Bees and Big Blue Seas – Luke John Matthew Arnold.

    Scholastic Australia ISBN: 9781760264970 ISBN-10: 1760264970 June 2025 RRP: $26.99 It’s big and bold and beautiful and essentially, it’s a call to arms for even the Smalls to step up and be protective of our precious environment. I love that the artwork – and I’m not familiar with this visual artist’s work – is so striking and…

  • Christie Williams’ Search and Find: G’Day Australia & Australian Birds

    Five Mile G’day Australia: Search and Find April 2024 9781923091368 RRP: $19.99 Australian Birds: Search and Find 9781923286238 RRP: $24.99 These are some of the prettiest books I’ve seen this year and kids who love some interactivity with their reading will thoroughly enjoy them. Primarily exactly what they say they are – search and find…

  • Are We There Yet? 20th Anniversary edition – Alison Lester

    Penguin Australia October 2024 Hands up if you’ve also forgotten how many times in the past 20 years you’ve shared this one? I know it was a focal point of my literature-based unit with Year 3s often and on many occasions, aside from all the times I’ve just read it to Smalls. And it never…

  • Australia’s Greatest Stories: True Tales, Legends and Larrikins – Graham Seal

    Publisher:Allen & Unwin October 2024 ISBN:9781761471131 Imprint:Allen & Unwin RRP: $34.99 This is exactly the sort of yarning book that my Father Bear and I loved to read and share with each other, so in one sense it was quite a nostalgic trip for me. It was however, fascinating to be able to explore hitherto…

  • The Big Book of Australian Nursery Rhymes – Frané Lessac

    Walker Books Australia March 2024 ISBN13:9781760655099 Australia RRP:$26.99 New Zealand RRP:$28.99 Frané once again brings her extraordinary talent to a new picture book that epitomises joy in our Australian wildlife and landscapes, this time for the very smallest of Smalls. For those of us with long experience in literacy and teaching, we know that exposing…

  • Our Australian HeART anthology – Just Write for Kids and Friends

     Daisy Lane Publishing & Just Write For Kids Australia ISBN: 9780645842722 RRP: $32.99 Contributors include: Bridget Acreman . Suzanne Barton . Melanie Corrigan . Kim de Haan . Michèle Dodd . Alisha Dyer . Naomi Eccles-Smith . Hannah Friend . Daniela Glyntzos . Imogen Hartland . Jacqui Hewlett . Carla Hoffenberg . Jennifer Horn . Lorraine &…

  • Ancient Wonders – Mark Greenwood/Frané Lessac

    Walker Books August 2023 ISBN13:9781760658083 Australia RRP:$16.99 New Zealand RRP:$18.99 Now in paperback, this is the first in the Our Country Series by this very talented couple (both of whom I’ve had the pleasure of meeting). I have no doubt you would be well acquainted by the many outstanding collaborations Mark and Frané have produced, and…