Just So Stories

Scribe Publications

Imprint: Scribble

September 2025

ISBN: 9781761381591
AUD$27.99 (Hardback)

Anna Walker has created a book that is a pure symphony of thoughts, that swirl around like gossamer on a breeze. I only wish I could give you some idea of how utterly beautiful and soothing it is. It is almost a meditation in print and illustration form. According to the publisher’s notes, which you will read in other places as part of a review, it was a chance encounter that prompted Anna to create this exquisite book and I would urge you to read the attached insight.

So, basically a cabbage moth and a cricket meet in those times of eternal magic – the twixt and tween of dusk and dawn – and learn more about the lives of each other. It’s a blossoming friendship between two small creatures who are not alike, but who are, at the same time, not all that very different. Their friendship develops as they explore together, slowly, tentatively, quietly.

And the glorious illustrations with the palette of shades of coral and cobalt contrasting the two different critters, are exquisitely rendered with a spray over paint technique, stencilling and elegant pencil work, that add to the delicacy and daintiness overall. They are a perfect fit for this quietly evocative text. And I had to snap my own pic of the binding so you could get an idea of the sublime gold accents – what a treasure it is!

Moving beyond the physical beauty of the book, this is an opportunity to share with readers, both young and old [I would certainly use this with senior students] concepts of connecting with others who may not always be like ourselves, extending our empathy, and bridging the divides that separate us from other humans.

But it’s also about that slow living concept, that I have mentioned before in other reviews. I first noticed the increased interest in taking time, observing, not being in a rush and so on, during those first two years of covid when we were basically forced to. But it wasn’t just that, it was the upswell of caring that so many of us extended to others, or received ourselves. That is what speaks to me in this delightful creation.

It is a lyrical invitation to take a chance on engaging with another being, and perhaps forming a bond with them, and, at the same time, bringing our caring to them. In these parlous times, this is well and truly a notion which we should be wholeheartedly encouraging. What a triumph it is all round! Use the QR code to see a vimeo introduction to it and then rush out to buy your own copy –posthaste, I say!

This can only be a certainty on awards lists in the next year and absolutely, it could be used from your smallest of Smalls to your older students, especially those who are doing literature/Senior English and art studies. A 5 🦗ཐིཋྀ🦗ཐིཋྀ🦗rating for all readers.