Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy [40th Anniversary] – Lynley Dodd

    Penguin Australia The real problem with these anniversary editions of our favourite books is that it always makes me feel incredibly old 😫 but, of course, at the same they always bring back so many happy memories of read-alouds for my own girls and grandies, as well as the many kiddos over a long teacher-librarian…

  • Meerkat Christmas – Aura Parker

    Penguin Australia October 2022 Seriously, I’m always so in awe of creators who can do both the text and the illustrations – for someone who yearns to have even a smidgin of creativity it seems a little unfair -haha! This is another title I shared with numerous classes over the closing weeks of Term 4…

  • Ten Minutes to Bed: Little Unicorn’s Christmas – Rhiannon Fielding/Chris Chatterton

    Penguin Australia November 2021 ISBN: 9780241489901 Imprint: Ladybird Format: Board Book RRP: $14.99 This series of bedtime books has been outrageously popular with little people everywhere – not to mention their adults who are the ones doing those repeated nightly readings! If you’re going to be on a perpetual looping playlist you want to be reading something you…

  • The Thing that goes Ping! – Mark Carthew. Illustrated by Shane McG

    Ford St Publishing February 2021 ISBN: 9781925804669 RRP: $16.95 If you are looking for a really great rhyming book for your littlies that will also engage them in a guessing game, this is going to be a real hit!! In the faraway town of Figgy-tra-ling, you may hear the faint ring of a thing that…

  • Peppa Pig is back !

    Penguin Australia Peppa Pig: Peppa’s Night Before Christmas ISBN: 9780241448625 October 2020 Imprint: Ladybird RRP: $14.99 Unfortunately this one didn’t arrive in time for Christmas but that’s no reason to hesitate in getting a copy ready for later in the year. This is a really cute rhyming story taking its cue from Clement Moore’s famous poem. Peppa and…

  • Top Koala – Jackie French. Illustrated by Matt Shanks

    HarperCollins Australia November 2011 ISBN: 9781460754818 ISBN 10: 1460754816 Imprint: HarperCollins – AU List Price: 24.99 AUD Following the huge success of Koala Bare this favourite furry friend returns with enough self-confidence to power the whole country! I am top of every tree! Top is always best to be. With the terrible outcome of bushfires and the dire predicament…

  • Hooray for Book Week!

      We wear ourselves out getting ready for it – with planning over months and are thoroughly but satisfyingly over it by the time it’s done and yet we wait impatiently for the next year’s theme so we can do it all over again! Our preparations have been underway for weeks and our library looks…

  • Nanette’s Baguette – Mo Willems

    Walker Australia ISBN: 9781406376210 Imprint: Walker March 1, 2017 Australian RRP: $16.99 New Zealand RRP: $18.99 Anyone who has been in a primary school library will have noticed just how often Mo Willem’s books are borrowed. Always a delight in both text and illustrations, this is no exception. And if you are looking for a kickstart for a rhyming…

  • Push! Dig! Scoop! ; a construction counting rhyme – Rhonda Gowler Greene/Daniel Kirk

    Allen & Unwin Push! Dig! Scoop! ; a construction counting rhyme – Rhonda Gowler Greene/Daniel Kirk Allen & Unwin November 2016 Imprint: Bloomsbury Children’s ISBN: 9781408881668 RRP $9.99   What a darling book! I’m fascinated to learn that the author has been an elementary teacher for learning disabled children. She knows her stuff for sure.…