Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • When the Mountain Wakes – Matt Shanks

    Affirm Press Simon & Schuster August 2025 Somewhere, towards the beginning of time, a mountain rose from the ocean and came to rest above the clouds.Life sang a lullaby, and the mountain slept for many millions of years.Until one day, when the world became too silent for sleep  If you have a Sophisticated Picture Books…

  • The Other Side of the Clouds – Matt Samuel/Tamblyn Teow

    Distributed by Simon & Schuster Riveted Press August 2024 ISBN13: 9780645869354 LIST PRICE: AU$ 26.99 / NZ$ 29.99 Some people seem to have difficulty employing sophisticated picture books. This is a topic which I have touched on previously, and you will find a list I made for a group fairly recently with some suggestions for…

  • Where the Heart Should Be – Sarah Crossan

    Bloomsbury March 2024 ISBN 9781526666598 Imprint Bloomsbury YA RRP: $25.00 Carnegie Medal-winning, former Laureate na nÓg Sarah Crossan became one of my most favourite writers when I read my first of her titles, Toffee. That book made such an impression on me that I quickly sought out others and kept my eye out for them…

  • Begin Again: The Story of How We Got Here and Where We Might Go – Our Human Story. So Far. – Oliver Jeffers

    Harper Collins Australia November 2023 Oh yes, I know it’s taken me some time to get to this one, but it was quite deliberate. I’d heard a lot about it – though I haven’t read any actual reviews. I knew it was going to be profound and powerful, and I wanted to not just read…

  • Smoke & Mirrors – Barry Jonsberg

    Allen & Unwin January 2024 ISBN: 9781761180750 Publisher: A&U Children’s Imprint: A & U Children RRP: $19.99 Anyone who has ever read a Jonsberg book will know that there is always more, just beneath the surface, and this particular title is especially apt. This was one of my favourite reads in December, and I quickly…

  • Hope is the Thing – Johanna Bell & Erica Wagner

    Allen & Unwin January 2023 ISBN:9781761180026 Publisher:A&U Children’s Imprint:A & U Children RRP: $24.99 This is another visually stunning picture book which has a deeply meaningful text but also truly superb artwork, which would be so perfect to utilise as inspiration in a learning environment. Taking its cue from one of Emily Dickinson’s most well-known…

  • The Lucky Shack – Apsara Baldovino/Jennifer Falkner

    Harper Collins July 2023 This is essentially a simple story but there is a depth to it that many will find both heart-warming and thought-provoking. Written from the PoV of the shack (being a great introduction to the idea of personification), this humble little dwelling goes through changes wrought by time and circumstances, and through…

  • Christmas Goodies

    Zola and the Christmas Lights – Melina Marchetta/Deb Hudson Penguin Australia October 2022 For the entirety of the delightful What Zola did On… series, Melina Marchetta consistently delivered such beautiful and meaningful messages to young readers around diversity, community, empathy, friendship and family, all without once becoming preachy or tedious. It truly was joyful to…

  • Sticky McStickStick: the Friend who Helped me Walk Again – Michael Rosen

    Walker Books February 2022 ISBN: 9781529502404Imprint: Walker Australian RRP: $27.99New Zealand RRP: $29.99 When I first read about Michael Rosen’s near-death Covid episode, I found it incredibly moving as this man is one of my most admired creators of children’s literature. Then I read, and shared, his article thanking Sticky McStickStick, and knew for certain that this was a…

  • We Are Wolves – Katrina Nannestad

    Harper Collins Australia October 2020 ISBN: 9780733340888 ISBN 10: 0733340881 Imprint: ABC Books – AU List Price: 19.99 AUD One book about children surviving in the conflict of war that has always remained with me was Journey into War by Margaret Donaldson. It was one I used often with upper primary children and it offered so much scope for…