Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Father of the Lost Boys for Younger Readers: The Mecak Ajang Alaak Story – Yuot A. Alaak

    Fremantle Press June 2024 ISBN: 9781760993900 RRP: $17.99 When I was commissioned to write the teaching notes for this, I confess I only knew a smidgin about the Sudanese ‘lost boys’, and, in fact, the whole Sudan situation – despite the fact that we have many Sudanese immigrants here in SE Qld. Their story was certainly…

  • What You Need to be Warm – Neil Gaiman

    Bloomsbury October 2023 ISBN 9781526660619 Imprint Bloomsbury Children’s Books RRP: $19.99 This morning (Sunday 10/12/23) The Kid and I went to the city by train to an event, and as we crossed over the Brisbane river and I looked back to the Coronation Drive/Riverside expressway I noticed something. In some places, there are gaps between…

  • Happy Father’s Day

    I’ve been saving a few especially for today, so this is our nod to dads – those no longer with us, those who are great male models for our kiddos, and those who are doing double duty of both parents. What My Daddy Loves – Raissa Figueroa Harper Collins Australia August 2023 Dads, like everybody…

  • Downtown Sewertown – Tull Suwannakit

    Ford St Publishing March 2023 ISBN: 978192296250 RRP: $17.99 What to do when your home is destroyed? There is nothing, except to take what belongings you can,and try to find a new place to live. The woodland creatures are forced to flee when their homes and woods are flattened for new urban housing. They try…

  • You Don’t Know What War Is -Yeva Skalietska

    The Diary of a Young Girl From Ukraine Bloomsbury November 2022 ISBN 9781526659934 Imprint Bloomsbury Children’s Books $19.99 It is almost exactly a year ago that the Russia-Ukrainian war, which first started simmering in 2014, abruptly escalated with a full-scale invasion by Russia, in an unprecedented show of force against the smaller nation. The hostilities…

  • Salih – Inda Ahmad Zahri. Anne Ryan

    Ford St Publishing March 2021 ISBN: 9781925804645 RRP: $16.99 The global issue of the plight of refugees, and in particular, child refugees is the focus of this sensitively written and beautifully illustrated book. Even your youngest readers will be able to comprehend the circumstance of those who must flee their homes, with only what they…

  • Goodbye Mr Hitler – Jackie French

    Harper Collins – AU May 2017       ISBN: 9781460751299 RRP: 16.99 AUD In a modern world that often seems to be filled with hate and prejudices and refusal to acknowledge basic human rights, we could easily fall into a despondency that could be soul-destroying. Many of us in daily contact with children will have observed that they…