Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • My Dad’s Gone Away – Andrew Krakouer & Jacqueline Dinan. Illustrated by Paul Seden.

    Magabala Books October 2024 9781922777249 AUD$27.99, NZD$32.99 It’s not just the fact that over 30 years of teaching I’ve encountered and taught many children who had a parent incarcerated, or that The Kid had a best friend who also lived with her grandmother, because Mum was dead and Dad was in jail. But I can…

  • Big, Big Love – Lisa Fuller & Samantha Campbell

    Magabala Books April 2024 ISBN978-1-921248-96-2 RRP: $27.99 What a darling book this is and how pleased I am that it has come my way. It is essentially very simple,but it is also so profoundly special as it expresses a mother’s heart and overwhelming love for her child. I loved you before you were born and…

  • Raymaŋgirrbuy dhäwu When I was a little girl – Kylie Gatjawarrawuy Mununggurr

    Magabala Books July 2024 ISBN: 9781922142306 RRP: $27.99 As you can imagine, I think the bond between grandmother and granddaughter is particularly special. It certainly is for me and The Kid, as it’s now been over nine years that I have been her ‘parental’ person. But I think it is the same the world over,…

  • NAIDOC Week 2023

    National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year (Sunday to Sunday), to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of…

  • 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…

  • Counting Our Country – Jill Daniels

    Magabala Books 978-1-925768-65-7 February 28, 2020 RRP: $12.99 The preservation and sharing of First Australian languages and culture is of paramount importance as nations strive to not only keep their traditions intact but also to impart knowledge and understanding. Where better to start than with our youngest readers then? This delightful little board book has…

  • Lucky and Spike – Norma MacDonald

    Magabala Books February 2019 ISBN: 9781921248177 RRP: $17.99 Back in 2013 Norma MacDonald introduced us to the sprightly joy of a little Spinifex mouse, elusive tiny creature of the Pilbara region in Western Australia– a creature many of us will never otherwise know or see. Now Norma turns our attention full square onto the dangerous…

  • Return of the Dinosaurs _- Bronwyn Houston Magabala Books November 2016 ISBN:9781925360370 RRP $17.99 Over the years as a teacher-librarian I’ve probably lost count of the number of dinosaur books, both factual and fictional, I’ve seen or read or bought or circulated. This is the first one I have ever seen which incorporates an awareness…