Meet the illustrator Anna Walker

Anna Walker launched her newest book at Gleebooks on Saturday. I have loved her work for decades but had never heard her talk or had the chance to introduce myself. Here is her newest book:

Publisher blurb: In a small boat, the turtle sets off on a journey to deliver dreams in the nearby city. Meanwhile, a young girl, scared in the night by the shadows in her room, finds comfort in her toys ... but cannot sleep. As the two stories unfold side by side, the young girl and the intrepid turtle must each harness their courage and overcome their fears as their worlds collide in the most wonderful, magical way.

Kirkus review: With few words, Walker beautifully blurs the borders between consciousness and sleep as the intrepid turtle’s actions result in tender dreams for the youngster. Vivid, expressive watercolors accentuated with spray paint use texture confidently—splotchy, speckled, and sparkling—to convey the story’s narrative arc. Sparkling, splendid artistic techniques create a world worth lingering in. 

This book may just be my very favourite of Anna’s. It is almost a wordless picture book that resembles a graphic novel format with story panels throughout, there is so much scope to make the story your own. I may have cried the first time I read this gem, it is such a powerful and beautiful reassuring tale of courage, hope and finding light, even in the darkest moments. This is storytelling at its very finest, and as we find ourselves debating and discussing support for nostalgia vs contemporary picture books and also the importance of quality storytelling and art experiences for children, Anna’s entire catalogue is a masterclass in picture books being a rich storytelling experience and also an absolute work of art! Rachel Robson Gleebooks

Anna Walker bio from her webpage: Anna Walker is an illustrator and author of picture books based in Naarm/Melbourne. Using traditional mediums, Anna creates stories inspired by the quiet and sometimes joyful details of life. Her books include Florette - New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Book, Mr Huff shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards and winner of the CBCA book of the year Early Childhood. Her most recent book is The Dream Keeper, an exquisitely imagined journey of imagination and courage.

Anna Walker contributed her art to the launch of The Little Bookroom. Here is her Instagram page. Here is an interview with Let's Talk Picture Books. 

Some things I discovered at the book launch for Dream Keeper:

• This book took seven years to create - you need to share this with your students and also adults who think they could so easily just throw some words and illustrations together for a picture book!
• Anna completed 110 drafts of this story.
• She used spray paint and a stencil for some of her illustrations.
• Take time to linger over the end papers which are different front and back. The back ones are sure to generate some deeper discussions with an older group of students.
• Anna Walker calls her book "a story in a story".
• Notice the toys in the child's bedroom and the compare these with the animals on the island and with the final end paper.

Questions I did not ask at Gleebooks last weekend:

• Your new book Dream Keeper is almost wordless - did you consider making it completely wordless? Do you like this form? 
• Do you prefer to work alone as author and illustrator - many of your books are collaborations especially with Jane Godwin.
• Can you tell us about your plans for any new books?
• Can you talk about your CBCA awards and in particular your award for New Illustrator with your first book Santa's Aussie Holiday.

Anna Walker awards (an abridged list):

• 2026 Between by Anna Walker | Received a Notable for the Children’s Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year Award
• 2024 A Life Song, written by Jane Godwin, illustrated by Anna Walker | Winner of the Australian Book Industry Awards for Children’s Picture Book of the Year (ages 0-6)
• 2023 Snap! by Anna Walker | Winner of the Speech Pathology Book of the Year Award, 0 - 3 category
• 2023 Snap! by Anna Walker | Shortlisted the Children’s Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year: Early Childhood Award
• 2023 Snap! by Anna Walker  | Selected as a 'White Raven'—a prestigious annual selection of 200 books for children from around the world by the International Youth Library based in Germany.
• 2022 Don’t Forget, written by Jane Godwin, Illustrated by Anna Walker | Received a Notable for the Children’s Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year Award
• 2021 Hello Jimmy!, by Anna Walker | Received a Notable for the Children’s Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year Award
• 2020 Tilly, written by Jane Godwin, Illustrated by Anna Walker | Shortlisted for the Children’s Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year Award
• 2020 Lottie and Walter, by Anna Walker | Received a Notable for the Children’s Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year Award
• 2019 Go Go and the Silver Shoes, written by Jane Godwin, Illustrated by Anna Walker | Received a Notable in the Children’s Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year Award
• 2018 Florette by Anna Walker | Won The Wilderness Society Environment Award for Children’s Literature
• 2018 Florette by Anna Walker | Shortlisted for CBCA Book of the year
• 2018 Shortlisted in the Australian Book Design Association Best Designed Children’s Illustrated Book: Florette
• 2016 Winner of the Book of the year: Early Childhood, CBCA – Mr Huff by Anna Walker
• 2013 CBCA Awards Early Childhood Short List: Peggy by Anna Walker.
• 2013 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards Children’s fiction shortlist: Peggy by Anna Walker
• 2011 CBCA Awards 2011 Early Childhood Notable: I Don’t Believe in Dragons
• 2010 58th Book Design Awards of Australia Lets Play House
• 2009 CBCA Awards Early Childhood Notable I Love to Dance
• 2009 CBCA Awards Early Childhood Notable I Love to Sing
• 2009 CBCA Awards Early Childhood Notable I Love Holidays
• 2009 CBCA Awards Early Childhood Notable I Love Birthdays
• 2009 CBCA Awards Early Childhood Notable Little Cat and the Big Red Bus

Books I have explored here on this blog illustrated by Anna Walker:

Peggy

Kirkus Star review: A charmer of a chicken has a big adventure ...

Don't Forget

A Life Song

Mr Huff

What do you wish for?

I own a limited edition print from Florette. The Kirkus Star review said: Lessons in both gumption and the sacred nature of urban green spaces.

About Hello Jimmy Kirkus said: Walker’s artwork is delicate and understated; gentle precision gives a light touch to everything from facial expressions to chairs, shoes, and headphones.

Here is one of her newest books:

Anna Walker talks to Joy Lawn at Paperbark Words about this book

Other books to explore about dreams (a few here are from Bookroo):

When the world is dreaming

The big dreaming

Mr Lepron's Mystery Soup by Giovanna Zoboli illustrated by Mariachiara Di Giorgio translated by Denis Muir

As a soup lover, I hope that this story will also have a gastronomic impact: that is, if children liked this literary soup, it is not excluded that they could start eating 

real soups without raising a bat of protest. 

It will be enough to tell them that to cook them you have followed the secret recipe of the infamous Lepron Soup, and said soups will evaporate from the plates 

in the blink of an eye. Giovanna Zoboli

Click here to read more about the creative processes and original inspiration for Mr Lepron's Mystery Soup at Topipittori and see the exhibition at the Bologna book fair.

Mr Lepron is an older and handsome hare. He loves his family, his forest home through all the seasonal changes and his huge family. Reminiscent of Peter Rabbit, Mr Lepron loves vegetables, the vegetables in the nearby famer's fields - carrots, onions, celery, lettuce, beans, pumpkins, radishes and a variety of herbs. All of these are perfect ingredients for soup. These are seasonal vegetables and so each autumn everyone helps to gather the abundance from the fields. Mr Lepron has a wonderful cooking pot "which he bought by mail order from a world-famous shop." 

It is important to note - "the pot doesn't like to be watched while the soup is cooking, just like Mr Lepron doesn't like to be watched while he's hard at work in his kitchen."

While the soup simmers Mr Lepron dreams of magical things only waking up when the soup is ready. This soup is so delicious. What is the secret? No one seems to be able to create it in quite the same way even though they use all of the same ingredients. Over time word spreads about this soup. Everyone wants some. 

"Then suddenly, one day, to everyone's surprise, Mr Lepron opened a factory: a big brick building that worked around the clock cooking up soup."

Can you think of a problem? Will the soup still be delicious? Why or why not? What might happen to Mr Lepron?

Mr Lepron loves making vegetable soup, and all the other creatures love his soup too, It isn’t too long before he decides to monetise his passion and starts making soup at industrial scale. Well that’s fine, he can employ the other creatures which is great – we all need a job. But before long Mr Lepron has been sucked into the very machinery of capitalism. The money-making business of soup takes over his life, his dreams and his nightmares. His coat is no longer so shiny and his eyes lose their brightness. What should Mr Lepron do? Well, this is a fable so I can tell you he doesn’t do quite what the capitalist machine would have him do. Just Imagine

There are several things that drew me to this book. When I was researching Italian children's book illustrators prior to attending the 2024 IBBY Congress in Trieste I saw the name Mariachiara Di Giorgio. I previously read and loved another book by this illustrator - The Midnight Fair. You may also know the famous wordless book Professional Crocodile. 

Next, I saw this book was a 2024 IBBY Honour book for illustration. It has the Italian title: La zuppa Lepron. At the congress there were lots of books on display including all the 2024 honour books and so I was able to see Mr Lepron's Mystery Soup but, because it was in Italian, I could only guess at the story. Opening the book, though, I spied the most delightful endpapers and so when I later saw this book had been translated into English I just knew I had to find it and even buy it. 

See more illustrations from this book here.

Walker Books Australia have the English version of this book [9781529520859] but very strangely I have found it hard to source. Luckily one of our city bookstores did have a copy and because the author's name starts with 'z' it was hidden on a low shelf. Even though the shop had stocked it back in July 2024 it had not been sold. One more thing that made me determined to read Mr Lepron's Soup - I am collecting picture books for older readers (Upper Primary/Elementary and Junior High School) in readiness for a library conference later this year. The age range listed for this book is ages 3-8 but that, in my opinion, totally misses the themes of this book about commercialisation, consumerism, enterprise, exploitation and the dangers of spreading rumours. You could also think about the way social media can inflate or ruin a reputation and there is the issue of the fleeting nature of fame. 

Image Source: Bologna 2022

Zoboli’s lengthy, descriptive text, translated from Italian, and Di Giorgio’s watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil art, together infuse Mr. Lepron with a deep humanity and construct a compelling, dreamy world that harkens back to the past in its tone and look but, with its nods to the all-consuming nature of capitalism, feels grounded in current realities, much like their previous collaboration, Professional Crocodile (2017). A clever, compassionate, and elegantly wrought reminder to do what makes you happy.  Kirkus Star review

Publisher blurb: Mr Lepron lives in the forest and has a toasty warm home and many children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Oh, and he adores vegetables and making soup. Mr Lepron also enjoys napping and he always dreams of being a famous chef, cooking his magnificent soup. After his vivid, fantastical dreams, Mr Lepron's soup tastes out-of-this-world irresistible. So irresistible, that Mr Lepron becomes famous. So irresistible, that Mr Lepron opens a soup factory that starts working around the clock. But as his dreams turn to nightmares about the factory, Mr Lepron's soup loses its magical flavour, and he realizes that what matters most in the world is not fame and riches, but time spent with his beloved children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, playing, laughing, napping and, sometimes, cooking his soup ... with love.

Beginning with the title you could talk to your group about the name of the hare Mr Lepron. In French hare if Lievre; in Italian it is Lepre; in Latin it is Lepus; and the Spanish is Liebre. One reviewer also noted the eyes of the hares throughout the book look startled as though they are on alert for predators. And if you look closely at the cover it does resemble a can of soup. 

When you open this book take a moment to think about the official Mr Lepron portrait opposite the title page. Older students could compare this with the portraits of actual people (known and unknown). 

Image source: Topipittori

Think about the opening words of this book: "Mr Lepron is a very handsome hare with a bright, shiny coat and lovely, long ears." Do looks equate with success? Why has the illustrator used this pose? 

... this is what happens until Lepron decides to follow his fantasy, that is, to want the whole world to taste the soup. Thus he opened an industrial plant, where, however, the initial success was quickly followed by the awareness that the soup made in this way could not maintain the same flavor, since the vegetables would have to be available all year round and the preparation would have to be mechanized. ... A story that makes us reflect on the simple pleasures of sharing, of waiting for the times of nature and of the reward and gratification we derive from it. ... Lepron's dream had never been to earn, but to make his autumn soup known in the world. Instead, the soup produced in his factory, canned and designed to have a long shelf life, had nothing to do with the delicious taste of the original soup and this had made him sad.

Another reviewer commented: Lepron's dream of greatness, which does not foresee the times of nature and the importance of human work, instead turns into an ugly reality, so much so that even his dreams change and become disturbing. Fortunately, he decides to follow his heart, close the factory and make peace with himself.

This Reviewer links the illustrations in this book especially the pantry and kitchen scenes with the work of Beatrix Potter and Jill Barklem.

Giovanna Zoboli is the author of over 30 picture books, including Professional Crocodile, illustrated by Mariachiara Di Giorgio and The Big Book of Slumber, illustrated by Simona Mulazzani. Giovanna is also the co-founder of an Italian children's publishing company where she is currently editor and art director.

Mariachiara Di Giorgio is an illustrator, storyboard artist and concept designer from Rome, Italy. She illustrated Midnight Fair, a wordless picture book with a storyline by Gideon Sterer, which won the 2022 Yoto Kate Greenaway Shadowers' Choice award. Her first picture book, Professional Crocodile, was also wordless, with a storyline by Giovanna Zoboli.

Companion books to read after Mr Lepron's Mystery Soup:

Read more here.

Finally, not to trivialize the themes of Mr Lepron's Mystery Soup but my friend from Kinderbookswitheverything has a Pinterest collection of picture books about soup. Stealing the vegetables from the farmer's fields also made me think of this book for young readers - The Vegetable Thieves.