Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • What’s That? Australian Sharks, Rays and Skates – Myke Mollard

    Woodslane Press March 2026 ISBN: 9781923350151 RRP: $24.99 Once again Myke Mollard brings his passion for the natural world and, especially, our own Australian animals to young readers in an informative, engaging and entertaining format. Sharks have been very much in the news again over summer and I, for one, have been well-pleased at the number…

  • Blue: Dragon of the Sea – Aleesah Darlison. Tamlyn Teow

    Wombat Books February 2026 ISBN: 9781761112706 RRP: $26.99 Aleesah Darlison has a deft hand with writing books about wildlife and, as she is herself passionate about critters of all kinds, shapes and sizes, that comes as no surprise. Little Blue is a nudibranch and if you’ve never heard of them, or seen them or even…

  • Heading for the ocean today with a watery cast starting with:

    So perhaps you’ve noticed (or not) that during this Picture Book Month, I’ve been attempting to group together like titles in one day’s posting. I’m determined to reduce the piles of dozens of PBs that have been growing like Topsy all year into nothing to start with a clean slate in the new year. So…

  • Giants – Jem Cresswell

    New South October 2025 9781761170461 AUD$49.99, NZD$59.99 The humpback whale season in Queensland is now heading towards its close for another year. Many of us have seen these marvellous creatures, with their young in tow, just off the beaches up and down the coast. My two surfers have seen them up quite close in fact.…

  • Keeper of the Octopus – Neridah McMullin

    Walker Books Australia ISBN13:9781760659479 Australia RRP:$17.99 New Zealand RRP:$19.99 As I’ve said before, I have a fascination with octopuses with their superior intelligence and facility for extraordinary physical feats. And when you combine that with Neridah McMullin’s ability to weave a narrative of magical realism that has echoes of traditional folktales and lore, you get…

  • Ningaloo

    For those of us who have loved Tim Winton’s Blueback since it was first released in 1997 [can you believe that?? eek!], the Ningaloo reef and the continuing struggle to preserve it has always been an issue of real concern. Even The Kid has taken interest since first seeing the film version of Blueback a…

  • Find Me on the Coast – Jess McGeachin

    Hachette Australia July 2025 Imprint: Lothian Children’s Books | 9780734423634 | RRP $29.99 ‘Let’s walk down a winding path to where the sand meets the sea’ We certainly love our proximity to the ocean, whether here at home – a five minute walk away or when we take a little trip up the coast, an hour’s drive away.…

  • Oceans at Night – Vanessa Pirotta. Illustrated by Cindy Lane.

     June 2024 | $ 24.99ISBN: 9781486317233 Publisher: CSIRO Publishing I’ve reviewed quite a few beautiful ‘ocean’ PBs, both fictional and narrative non-fiction, but not so many that focus on the ocean at night. This is just a stunning addition, crammed with absolutely glorious illustrations (and oh! those endpapers!), lyrical language and fascinating facts with which…

  • Meet Mim – Sandra Severgnini

    Exisle Publishing August 2023 ISBN: 9781922539557 Imprint: EK Books RRP: $24.99 After a slow delivery to get this one, what an absolute joy it is to finally see it. As you might imagine with us living by the ocean, and with The Kid spending many weekends in the surf, we are pretty keenly interested in marine…

  • A Journey Under the Sea – Craig Foster & Ross Frylinck

    Harper Collins April 2023 Imprint: Clarion Press ISBN: 9780358677864 RRP: $34.99 This is visually one of the most fascinating books you will encounter this year, and even if you don’t have kiddos who live by the sea, as I do, your readers will be completely absorbed by these amazing photographs as well as the text…