The Walking Stick's Story

Rosina lives a busy life. Her colourful Walking Stick helps her speed around to fun picnics, theater shows and airplane trips. It was a contented Walking Stick. "Rosina could not manage without me!", it proclaimed. One morning Rosina leaves the house, and her Walking Stick, behind. The rain falls outside the window, and the Walking Stick begins to see there will be a change in their life together.

This illustrated children's book is a quiet tale of the loyalty and affection that binds the woman, Rosina, and her many-hued Walking Stick. Author Alison Annals takes care to keep the pace and wording gentle while walking readers (both young and old) through the Stick's journey from feeling unique and irreplaceable to being sidelined by circumstances that at first seem inauspicious. The middle of the story pauses to consider a few less-promising resolutions, before coming full circle to a bright ending in the garden of their home.

The Illustrations by Matt Kambic are in keeping with the 'spirited calm' of both Rosina's life and the Walking Stick's trepidations. Airy watercolors complement the text and help make for a warm, embracing tale that parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles will be keen to share with younger family members.

Alison Annals taught Academic Writing at the University of Waikato for many years. Her spouse, Matt Kambic, worked as a creative director in the USA, and has illustrated two other books; Letter to a Weta by Lee Kimber, and The Last Voyage of the S.S. Panglossian.