Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Britannica All New Children’s Encyclopedia

    What We Know and What We Don’t Walker Books September 2025 Imprint: Britannica Books ISBN13: 9781804661499 Australia RRP: $64.99 New Zealand RRP: $67.99 Last year I reviewed another of Christopher Lloyd’s amazing fat-as-mud books of EVERYTHING and it was just great. This is an updated edition of the Children’s Brittanica which went totally gangbusters on…

  • The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Extinct Animals – Sami Bayly

    Hachette Australia September 2024  9780734421395 | RRP $32.99 Watch this interview with Sami from The Morning Show to hear more about this latest book. It seems almost incredible to realise that Sami Bayly is not yet 30 ! [maybe that’s me because I’m so senior citizen now], given her amazing catalogue of titles thus far. This is…

  • Brainy about Bears – Owen Davey

    Walker Books September 2024 Imprint: Flying Eye Books ISBN13:9781838741617 Australia RRP:$29.99 New Zealand RRP:$32.99 Oh how I LOVE Owen Davey’s books! Sadly, I don’t always get sent all of them 😦 and I wish I had , because my nerdy inner child just adores his retro style and his fascinating facts. There are now about…

  • The Secret Lives of Dragons Prof Zoya Agnis. Alexander Ulkin.

    Walker Books December 2023 Imprint: Flying Eye Books ISBN13: 9781838741174 Australia RRP: $24.99 New Zealand RRP: $27.99 Who doesn’t love dragons? Am I right? You know I am. Young or old, so many of us are fascinated by them and whether they are straight out of Berk or Pottermore or ancient China, their stories, habits…

  • Lots of Things to Know about Weather – Emily Bone. Illustrated by Katia Gaigalova

    Harper Collins Australia July 2023 I’ve had this one at the ready, in my bag to share with a class for the last week and, as luck would have it, just didn’t have the right opportunity to do so. But today, while I have some time of my own, I thought it was high time…

  • 100 Things to Know about the Unknown

    Harper Collins Australia June 2023 by Alex Frith  Jerome Martin  Alice James  Tom Mumbray  Lan Cook  Micaela Tapsell Illustrated by Federico Mariani Dominique Byron Shaw Nielsen This is very much the type of book my nerdy child-self loved, and which so many children still love. Jam-packed with fascinating facts that are wildly diverse in nature, and, like a box of chocolates, that one can…

  • Wildlife Compendium of the World – Tania McCartney

    Hardie Grant May 2023 ISBN9781741177473 Imprint: Hardie Grant Explore RRP: $32.99 I can safely say without hesitation that Tania’s gorgeous picture books are only surpassed by her utterly glorious non-fiction books. You may disagree – but you’d be wrong in my opinion! I have always loved informational books – yes, I was the nerdy kid…

  • The Big Book of Exhibits – Joan-Marie Hargreaves & Marita Bullock. Illustrated by Liz Rowland.

    Hachette Septemember 2022 Imprint: Lothian Children’s Books ISBN: 9780734419996 RRP: $24.99 We absolutely know that kiddos love information books and, certainly in my experience, the quirkier the better really. This marvellous book is described as a ‘cabinet of curiosities’ and indeed it does appear to be exactly that in a written and illustrated form. For…