A thin cry was heard from the middle of the road.
Someone stops walking for a moment.

People walking their dogs, the woman who caught the dog,
The twin brothers who brought the box, the man who shared some milk while drinking tea… … .
They quietly and carefully caress a life.
And finally, the kitten is named Amber.

A story about stopping, listening, and being present.

As the title suggests, this book is not “a story about a kitten.”
That doesn't mean cats don't appear.
It's a story about people reaching out to each other, a story about a community that works together to create a better world.
The world is still a place where it's easy to feel alone, but this book shows us how we can be "together."

A narrative that denies and reveals the story

Randall de Seve chose to reveal the story through 'denial'.
As the phrase “This is not a story about one kitten” is repeated, the focus of the story gradually shifts from one life to the hearts of those who observe it.
The author asks 'how to look' rather than 'what to look at'.
The narrative of this book is based on the author's real-life experience of rescuing a starving and frightened cat.
However, the writer did not directly depict that scene as a ‘cat rescue story.’
Instead, I paid attention to the pauses, gazes, and movements of the people surrounding that moment.
Rather than who saved the cat, the story focuses on how they came together.


So this book is not just a story about one kitten, but a story about people who listened and moved together.
The essence of this story is the process of each person's small actions coming together to embrace one life, that affectionate chain.
Through this narrative, writer Randall de Seve quietly invites the reader to “become a part of this story.”


The screen created by our gazes towards each other

Carson Ellis is a children's book author known for his folk art sensibility and lyrical restraint.
As shown in its previous work, "Hola Hola Choo Choo Choo," it excels at capturing the "small, quiet movements of the world."
The author focuses on atmosphere rather than events, relationships rather than characters, and breath rather than voices, and this perspective is fully carried over into this work, “This is not a story about a kitten.”
In this book, Carson Ellis structures the screen around relationships rather than specific characters.
The flow of gaze between dogs and people, people and people, and cats and the world reveals their connections to one another.
Rather than depicting dramatic moments like rescue or emotional outbursts, the author captured the moments when they gave their hearts to each other.
In the calm colors and soft, rounded textures, the characters' relationships slowly grow, inviting the reader into those emotions.


Community responsiveness, solidarity of care

In other words, this book is a story of a 'rescue cat', a story of a 'caring human', and more broadly, a tribute to the sensitivity and solidarity of the community.
This small book, where words and pictures reflect each other, contains the method of making the world a little warmer and living as "we" rather than alone.