Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe


  • Purinina – Christina Booth

    CSIRO Publishing  September 2024 | $ 24.99ISBN: 9781486317264  Taking its cue from the 2007 Notable picture book Purinina, a Devil’s Tale, this new devilish tale from Christina Booth follows Purinina’s life from her birth through the death of her mother to her producing her own offspring. It is written in simple yet very evocative terms…

  • Wedge-tailed Eagle- Claire Saxby/Christina Booth

    Walker Books Australia August 2024 ISBN13: 9781760655686 Australia RRP: $26.99 New Zealand RRP: $28.99 Another stunning book in the Nature Storybook series, combining a lyrical, almost poetic, narrative with fascinating facts, this time about Australia’s largest raptor – surely, one of our most magnificent winged creatures. For a bird nerd like myself, they are always…

  • Mother Earth: Poems to celebrate the wonder of nature – Libby Hathorn. Illustrated by Christina Booth.

    Hachette June 2023 9780734421555 | RRP $24.99 |Lothian Children’s Books Synchronicity is often amazing. Earlier this week a colleague was asking for suggestions for poetry for little people, and after much discussion and ideas, I picked this up from my bulging review shelves, and thought- PERFECT! Because the poems contained within are of a wide variety of…

  • Aussie Kids series # 7 & # 8

    Penguin Australia Continuing today’s theme of virtual travel around Australia, here are the next two instalments in one of my favourite series of the past year. These delightful little books have been a huge hit with our newly independent readers who not only enjoy the adventures of the featured kids but are able to learn…

  • A Swag of Magabala!

    Opening a parcel from Magabala Books is always such a joy! I love seeing what our First Australian authors and illustrators have created and they enable me to share rich culture and boundless talent with my readers. First up is the absolute little treasure of a book: Girls Can Fly – Sally Morgan/Ambelin Kwaymullina March…

  • The Gum Family Finds a Home – Tania McCartney/Christina Booth

    Publisher:   National Library of Australia Edition:   1st Edition ISBN:   9780642279255 Publication Date:   01 August 2018   Tania McCartney is not only one of my very favourite author/illustrators but also one of my favourite humans. This impossibly talented woman is clever, stylish, generous, beautiful inside and out and passionate about our unique country. It took a while…

  • This is Banjo Paterson – Tania McCartney/Christina Booth

    NLA Publishing February 2017 ISBN 9780642278982 RRP $24.99   Those of us of a certain age will most likely have grown up with the ballads of Andrew Barton Paterson. I was fortunate to share a love of the Banjo’s work with my father and would often perform his bush poetry as my ‘party piece’ for…