Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • The Land Recalls You -Kirli Saunders/David Cragg and Noni Cragg

    Scholastic Australia May 2024 ISBN 9781760975159RRP $26.99  ‘Do not cry for earth who birthed you, for river as she calls your name… Do not weep for songs of land, for your old people and sacred stories’. So begins this beautiful, powerful and poignant new book from award-winning author and OAM, Kirli Saunders. This is a…

  • For 60 000 Years- Maree Silva. Illustrator Rhys Paddick

    Scholastic Australia January 2024 ISBN: 9781760265274 RRP: $26.99 I am the first to say we are privileged to live in Australia, and I am grateful to have been born here. There is so much for which to be grateful, but there are also times I am ashamed of our national behaviour and attitudes (there will…

  • Listen – Nicole Godwin & Duncan Smith. Illustrated by Jandamarra Cadd.

    Wild Dog Books August 2023 ISBN: 9781742036731 RRP; $24.99 With a very timely arrival given the upcoming opportunity to make a momentous national decision, this is the new brilliant and beautiful offering from the team who gave us the sensational We Are Australians [CBCA Award for New Illustrator 2023]. Duncan Smith, proud Wiradjuri man, and…

  • The Magpie and the Snake – Steve Trotter

    Magpie Publishers October 2021 ISBN: 9780645178401 RRP: $19.99 Special school price: $15.99 I stumbled upon finding out about this book and was so taken by the premise that I messaged Steve and asked if I could review it for him. I am so very glad that I did. While Steve is a whitefulla, he consulted…

  • This Book Thinks Ya Deadly!: a celebration of Blak Excellence Corey Tutt/Molly Hunt

    Hardie Grant June 2023 Imprint: Hardie Grant Explore ISBN: 9781741178159 RRP: $34.99 Corey Tutt OAM, is the young innovator and creator behind the Deadly Science initiative and the acclaimed The First Scientists, and this new book will impress you even more I think. It is a visual feast as well as a fantastic resource for…

  • Our Mob – Jacinta Daniher & Taylor Hampton/Seantelle Walsh

    Ford St Publishing May 2023 ISBN: 9781922696236 RRP: $17.99 This is a stunning new picture book for your younger readers that will take them around Australia to visit various mobs on Country and find out a little more about each. Authors, Jacinta and Taylor, are the co-founders of Birrang Cultural Connections, based in Victoria [check…

  • Sorry Day & Reconciliation Week 2023

    Here’s some resources for both Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week – or for any time you plan to teach cross-culturally. Stay posted for some review of new First Nations related titles over the next week. Watch artist Bobbi Lockyer talk about her art here and visit her webpage to find out more about her fashion…

  • Back on Country – Adam Goodes/Ellie Laing. Illustrated by David Hardy

    Allen & Unwin November 2022 Imprint: A&U Children ISBN: 9781761065088 RRP: $24.99 Another stunning addition to the Welcome to Our Country series from this fabulous team of creators. This is, undoubtedly, one of the most highly acclaimed resources for inclusive teaching of cross-cultural perspectives in the classroom and I have yet to see or hear…

  • Guardians: Wylah the Koorie Warrior 1- Jordan Gould/Richard Pritchard

    Allen & Unwin May 2022 ISBN:9781761180033 Imprint: Albert Street Books RRP: $15.99 This is definitely something different and a series to be watched. These two creators have drawn their narrative from all quarters: speculative fiction in its broadest sense – fantasy, sci fi, larger than life events, incorporating adventure, humour, and drawing on First Australians…

  • Story Doctors – Boori Monty Pryor. Illustrated by Rita Sinclair.

    Allen & Unwin July 2021 ISBN:9781760526559 Publishers; A & U Children’s Imprint: A & U Children RRP: $24.99 Described as both a story and a history this is, to my mind, a richly empowering epic poem which resonates with such heartfelt emotion that it cannot fail to move the reader with its carefully chosen words…