Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • The Flight of the Drakkonbarq- Sarah Giddy

    Riveted Press October 2025 Simon & Schuster ISBN13: 9781764007146 LIST PRICE: AU$ 18.99 / NZ$ 19.99 Here’s another gift suggestion for an astute reader from about 10 years upwards. You could get a small sense of this book from the blurb, which has probably been rehashed by at least one reviewer, but it truly needs…

  • Picture Book Month Bonus: The Cockatoo Crew #1 and #2 – Lora Inak. Illustrations by Kruti Desai.

    UWA Publishing RRP: $15.99 This is a brilliant new JF series that all kids will eagerly engage with and enjoy. The whole is set in Cockatoo Hill English Language School and casts a group of eight culturally diverse, enthusiastic and delightful refugee kids as main characters. Despite their differences in experiences, cultural backgrounds, language and…

  • Being Indy – Zoe Gaetjens. Illustrated by Estee Sarsfield

    Westwords October 2025 RRP $29.95 ISBN: 9781923044517 This is another intriguing and very different title from Westwords, and another that can be described as a fable. This a timeless narrative about one’s internal desire to fit in and be accepted, and the lengths to which some will go to do so. I love these opening…

  • Rainbow Street- R. W. R. McDonald. Kelly Canby.

    Larrikin House August 2025  9781923345171 RRP: $24.99 If you’re always looking for something to add to your diversity/inclusion resources this would be a good one. It’s a riot of colour as befits the title and the illustrations are lively and expressive. The premise of the narrative is that the whole street full of diverse families…

  • Catty Corner: #1 and #2 – Julie Murphy

    I’ve been a fan of Julie Murphy’s writing since I first read Dumplin’ [wow! ten years old now!] when she gave fat girls back the power (by the way, the movie was pretty good too, if you’ve not seen it yet!). This is a new series for younger readers to MG, and again, puts the…

  • Guess How I Was Born – Susanne Gervay. Illustrated by Carolyn Daly.

    Larrikin House June 2025 978192334510 I’m far from being the only educator who has worked with children from diverse family circumstances. Going right back to my first year of teaching and to the present day: same sex parents, single parents of either gender, trans parents, trans kids, kiddos raised by grandparents [like The Kid], blended…

  • Parrot Palace – Susanne Gervay with Pooja Mathur. Illustrated by Sarah Tabassum.

    Big Sky Publishing Imprint: Little Big Sky March 2025 ISBN: 9781923300088 RRP: $12.99 When I had an email from the wonderful Susanne Gervay last year, asking if I would write teaching notes for a new book, quite naturally I was delighted. And when I first read Parrot Palace, I was even more delighted. This is…

  • Washpool – Lisa Fuller

    Hachette Australia Feb 26, 2025 | 9780734420756 | RRP $16.99 Let’s see. Take a little of Alice down the rabbit hole, and mix that with a smidgin of Oz. Then add in some snippets of lands reached using the Subtle Knife plus some of the strangeness of Nevermoor. After that, throw in some Upside Down and sprinkle it all…

  • Abbie’s True Colours – Claire Thompson Abbie Jane Eliott Bulpett

    Owlet Press May 2025 ISBN: 9781913339654 RRP; $25.99 Yes, I know its release date isn’t until March but given recent events and despicable actions by political parties especially, I want you to note this and support it fully. It’s not just another fine example of a young Australian with vision but represents a social initiative…

  • The Brightest Christmas Star – Laura Motherway and Deb Hudson

    Hachette Australia Aug 2024 | 9780734423085 | RRP $19.99 Imprint: Lothian Children’s Books One thing we educators endeavour to instil in our Smalls is that, despite differences – whether race, colour, creed, culture etc – we all have commonalities. And for those little ones it is simple things that underline this concept. We all smile. We all play. We…