Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Tjitji Lullaby – Michael Ross and Zaachariaha Fielding/Original artwork by Lisa Kennedy

    Harper Collins Australia November 2022 Many readers will already be familiar with this favourite lullaby which features on ABC Kids and what a truly beautiful way to complete a day with your little peeps it is. Now you can also share this stunning board book with even the tiniest of humans with its lyrical text,…

  • Our Dreaming – Kirli Saunders/Dub Leffler

    SCHOLASTIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD August 2022 ISBN 9781742995113 RRP $24.99 Photo Credit: The Children’s Bookshop Goodjagah, little one, walk with me … I want to tell you our Dreaming as the Elders told it to me. Award-winning storytellers, Gunai woman Kirli Saunders and Bigambul man Dub Leffler, explore a deep love and respect for Country…

  • 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…

  • Check out my review of this new series – Our Stories – at Kids Book Review – a perfect way to get your youngest readers thinking about diversity – some quality creators behind this!

  • Ceremony: Welcome to Our Country – Adam Goodes & Ellie Laing. Illustrated by David Hardy.

    Allen & Unwin April 2022 ISBN: 9781761065064 RRP: $24.99 Oh David Hardy, you have excelled yourself! I think we have all been eagerly anticipating the next title in this Welcome to Our Country series, the joyful introduction to First Nations history for younger readers, especially given the triumph of the first title Somebody’s Land. For…

  • We Are Australians – Duncan Smith & Nicole Godwin/Jandamarra Cadd

    My review of this truly superb new picture book is now live at Kids Book Review – please do yourself a favour and check it out, then rush out and buy it. It is truly amazeballs!

  • Papa Mawal-mawalpa Tjuta – Johanna Bell-nga & Dion Beasley-nyu

    Allen & Unwin August 2021 ISBN:9781760526696 Edition No: Pitjantjatjara Publisher: A&U Children’s Imprint: A & U Children RRP: $24.99 This is the beginning of the  Pitjantjatjara version of 2016’s award-winning book Too Many Cheeky Dogs.  Pitjantjatjara is a First Nations language widely spoken in central and southern Australia, It is long overdue that our children’s…

  • Born to Run (picture book edition) – Cathy Freeman. Illustrated by Charmaine Ledden-Lewis.

    Penguin Australia November 2021 ISBN: 9781761043802 Imprint: Puffin RRP: $24.99 There are some moments in Australia’s sporting history that are just complete standouts: Bradman’s first international century or, indeed, his final ‘duck’, Australia II crossing the finish line in the America’s Cup, Adam Scott’s US Masters playoff win or Cadel Evans’ triumph in the Tour de France, and…

  • 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…

  • The Emu Who Ran Through the Sky – Helen Milroy

    Magabala Books April 2021 ISBN: 9781925936018 RRP: $22.99 This is the second in Helen Milroy’s exciting series Tales from the Bush Mob and will be as equally welcome as the first, Willy-willy Wagtail. Either as a read-aloud for your younger students or an independent read for your older ones this is definitely one to put…