Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Goodnight Daddy – Gregg Dreise

    Scholastic Australia July 2025 This second title from Gregg Dreise for this year’s NAIDOC showcase, is essentially a complete departure from his usual style both textually and artistically. While it is still easy to recognise his deft hand, this is no updated Dreaming story with lots of very discernible First Nations art iconography. This is…

  • Tomato Sandwich – Caroline Magerl

    Walker Books April 2025 ISBN13:9781760658045 Australia RRP:$25.99 New Zealand RRP:$27.99 Last week I was unwell for a few days with a horrid summer cold. Even when I started to feel better, I was still a long way from 100%. Just as I started to crawl back up the scale, along comes Alfred. This week we’re…

  • Blackbeard’s Treasure – Iszi Lawrence

    Bloomsbury Australia May 2023 ISBN 9781801990967 Imprint Bloomsbury Education RRP: $14.99 It’s been quite a long time since I’ve read a swashbuckling pirate adventure, and this was a good one to break that drought. It is adventure/historic novel based on facts about that period of time when pirates and privateers were roaming the waters, particularly…

  • Easy Peasy – Ky Garvey/Amy Calautti

    EK Books February 2023 ISBN 9781922539441  $24.99 I think we’ve all been in the same mind set as Ruby at one time or another – and if we haven’t been ourselves, then we certainly have encountered the child who was! We can often think we have all we need, whether skills or knowledge, at our…

  • Ella and the Useless Day – Meg McKinlay/Karen Blair

    Walker Books August 2022 ISBN13:9781760653095 Australia RRP:$25.99 New Zealand RRP:$28.99 Imprint:Walker Books Australia Even though many of us have been banging on about Reduce/Reuse/Recycle and being more sustainable for years, dare I say since the arrival of the dread pandemic a slower, more thoughtful approach to being waste-free has become more evident. Perhaps it was…

  • My Baba is the Best – Bachar Houli. Illustrated by Debby Rahmalia

    Penguin Australia August 2022 RRP: $19.99 Read more in this piece from SBS Arabic24 This is simply just a joyous read filled with family and fatherly love. It is wonderful that we have an ever-increasing diverse representation of our Australian children in books, and, in particular, picture books. Bachar proves himself not just a great…