Jack's FAQ's

She sure did! 2020 Covid Lockdown was the perfect time to write and illustrate Silly-Yak, so much so that she got it mostly done in 3 months!

Jack the Silly-Yak is for anyone who wants to learn more about invisible illness' in Australian Kids or who just loved to have fun, be creatve and silly! Jack and Alex have met and shared Silly-Yak with schools, pre-schools, libraries, Coeliacs, friends and families of Coeliacs and even kids who just love to have fun.

Coeliac Disease (C.D) is a chronic auto immune disease. When those with C.D. eat gluten their immune system thinks it is bad and tries to get rid of it. However in the process of trying to eliminate the bad gluten it also causes damage to the small intestines and more specifically the Vili, which are used to absorb nutrients. It is a life long disease and cannot be cured however by taking gluten out of our diets we can get back to being our silly selves!

We are so glad you asked! Yes, Alex is working away on more stories about Jack's Friends who live with all kinds of invisible chronic illness', like IBD, ADHD, Liver Disease and more! Have a recommendation? Send Alex an email!

Alex was diagnosed with C.D at 13 along with Ulcerative Colitis (U.C) and was then officially diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (P.S.C) at 21. It is her experience with chronic illness that inspired Jack The Silly-Yak.

You can come along to a Jack the Silly-Yak event (see meet Jack page) or go to credited websites like Coeliac Australia for more detailed information about this disease.

A Big Yak is what the Silly-Yak team call adults that are connected with Silly Yaks aka Kids. This term helps to include all guardians, parents, grandparents, foster parents and so on of any gender or cultural background.