Picture This: A Conversation With Children’s Author Adria Karlsson
2022
Cambridge-based author Adria Karlsson debuted on the children’s literature scene one year ago with their LGBT-positive picture book, “My Sister, Daisy.” Published by Capstone Editions in September 2021, Karlsson’s story is told through the perspective of Daisy’s older brother. When Daisy informs her family of her gender and new name, Daisy’s older brother must learn to adjust to the change in his family. He grapples with losing a brother, gaining a sister, and ultimately learns that Daisy will always be the same sibling he loves.
Karlsson’s book was personally inspired by their daughter’s transition and the need for more picture books that related to their family’s experience. A year after “My Sister, Daisy,” Karlsson continues to strive for inclusivity of LGBT identities and awareness of difficult topics in children’s literature, insisting that there is no age requirement for visibility.
I met with the full-time author and parent via Zoom on a rainy Wednesday morning. Karlsson took the call from their car — there isn’t a moment to spare in this busy writer’s life. Q. Your website states, “Once upon a time, Adria Karlsson may have been found teaching people, training cats and dogs, or tutoring dyslexic kids, but now they spend their time writing and parenting.” Can you explain how you ended up being a children’s author? A. I kind of came into it backward. Despite the fact that I’d read and collected picture books since I was a teenager, I never thought [writing picture books] was a viable thing I could do. But when my daughter socially transitioned, we looked for picture books that would support our family and many of them talked about standing up to bullies or [overcoming] active bigotry and that wasn’t our experience. Everyone in my daughter’s life was cool with it — we just also had questions. Out of that series of questions came “My Sister, Daisy.” It came together and I was like, “Oh my goodness, this is a thing I can do.” Because I now had a published picture book, it felt like the green light to go ahead and pursue [writing].
Q. What was the publishing process like? And what was your involvement in the illustration of the book? A. [After it was bought] the book went for a whole year untouched and then there was a flurry of back and forths with my editor. The language we use to talk about trans kids and transitioning is evolving so quickly that even though I had been as careful as I knew how to be — a year later the language had shifted and some of the wording in the book had to change. When we finished final edits, I got the first cover design from [illustrator] Linus Curci. I could give feedback and then it was out of my hands again. I didn't have any say in who the illustrator would be, although I did request a trans illustrator. I had strong feelings about [Daisy] not hyper-feminizing because that was the other issue I had seen in books. Kids went from camo jerseys to pink tutus. My kid wore all kinds of clothes before and after [transitioning] and very little changed about her style. I wanted that reflected with Daisy too, and I hoped that by working with a trans illustrator there would be a better understanding of that.
Karlsson’s book was personally inspired by their daughter’s transition and the need for more picture books that related to their family’s experience. A year after “My Sister, Daisy,” Karlsson continues to strive for inclusivity of LGBT identities and awareness of difficult topics in children’s literature, insisting that there is no age requirement for visibility.
I met with the full-time author and parent via Zoom on a rainy Wednesday morning. Karlsson took the call from their car — there isn’t a moment to spare in this busy writer’s life. Q. Your website states, “Once upon a time, Adria Karlsson may have been found teaching people, training cats and dogs, or tutoring dyslexic kids, but now they spend their time writing and parenting.” Can you explain how you ended up being a children’s author? A. I kind of came into it backward. Despite the fact that I’d read and collected picture books since I was a teenager, I never thought [writing picture books] was a viable thing I could do. But when my daughter socially transitioned, we looked for picture books that would support our family and many of them talked about standing up to bullies or [overcoming] active bigotry and that wasn’t our experience. Everyone in my daughter’s life was cool with it — we just also had questions. Out of that series of questions came “My Sister, Daisy.” It came together and I was like, “Oh my goodness, this is a thing I can do.” Because I now had a published picture book, it felt like the green light to go ahead and pursue [writing].
Q. What was the publishing process like? And what was your involvement in the illustration of the book? A. [After it was bought] the book went for a whole year untouched and then there was a flurry of back and forths with my editor. The language we use to talk about trans kids and transitioning is evolving so quickly that even though I had been as careful as I knew how to be — a year later the language had shifted and some of the wording in the book had to change. When we finished final edits, I got the first cover design from [illustrator] Linus Curci. I could give feedback and then it was out of my hands again. I didn't have any say in who the illustrator would be, although I did request a trans illustrator. I had strong feelings about [Daisy] not hyper-feminizing because that was the other issue I had seen in books. Kids went from camo jerseys to pink tutus. My kid wore all kinds of clothes before and after [transitioning] and very little changed about her style. I wanted that reflected with Daisy too, and I hoped that by working with a trans illustrator there would be a better understanding of that.
Q. Connecting to the language edits you had to make, how does writing for a young audience differ from writing for other audiences? A. It’s really challenging [laughs]. The subject matter has to be stated in a way that’s simple enough for kids to understand [while] being extremely careful not to talk down to them. I never want to make it sound like I’m talking to kids — I want it to sound like I’m talking to a person who’s as deserving of this story as anybody else.
Q. Did you feel any pressure taking on a topic that wasn’t widely discussed from an educational standpoint? A. I felt an enormous amount of pressure. It’s a topic that is shifting so rapidly and is so frequently misunderstood that I didn’t wanna put one word wrong. Especially because when [the book] was published I was still only using she/her pronouns so I felt added pressure as a cisgender parent of a trans kid.
Q. There are other books like “My Sister, Daisy” coming into popular children’s literature that discuss LGBT identities and history. Have you been able to find a community in your genre? A. I have and it’s been nice having that. But I’ve also really valued the people that were there ahead of us like Alex Gino and Kyle Lukoff. The way they are willing to put themselves out there and speak to writing about this [subject] has been important to me.
Q. How does being a parent influence your perspective on children’s lit and writing it? A. I had always worked with kids so I already valued what the books did and what authors gave kids by telling these stories. Having my own kids and being more in touch with their reactions to books has made it that much more important. My oldest kid let us know their new pronouns after reading the Kyle Lukoff book, “Too Bright To See.” It was really neat seeing how much of an impact it had on them. It's the emotional connection to the reader that makes it all the more important that we have high-quality books coming out and books that discuss trickier topics. Kids are learning so much earlier and are more involved in activism and I think much of that comes from the literature they’re reading. Q. How was the experience of seeing your book take on a life of its own after it was published? A. It’s been really positive. I understand that it’s going to be used in places as a teaching tool, and I love that. I feel like picture books have such a special place in the world when it comes to taking big concepts and making them accessible. And I love hearing from people that the book meant something to them. [It’s] made the whole thing feel like it’s been worth the three years. Mostly I’m just really proud it’s out there.
Q. Now the classic question: Do you have any new works coming up? A. I have a lot of picture books in process and I have a few that my agent has put out on submission that haven’t been picked up. I would love to say “yeah, totally, I’ve got loads coming out,” but I think I’m still [in a] learning phase. I feel like these past two years have been spent catching up on what I should’ve done before “My Sister Daisy” came out.
Q. How does being a parent influence your perspective on children’s lit and writing it? A. I had always worked with kids so I already valued what the books did and what authors gave kids by telling these stories. Having my own kids and being more in touch with their reactions to books has made it that much more important. My oldest kid let us know their new pronouns after reading the Kyle Lukoff book, “Too Bright To See.” It was really neat seeing how much of an impact it had on them. It's the emotional connection to the reader that makes it all the more important that we have high-quality books coming out and books that discuss trickier topics. Kids are learning so much earlier and are more involved in activism and I think much of that comes from the literature they’re reading. Q. How was the experience of seeing your book take on a life of its own after it was published? A. It’s been really positive. I understand that it’s going to be used in places as a teaching tool, and I love that. I feel like picture books have such a special place in the world when it comes to taking big concepts and making them accessible. And I love hearing from people that the book meant something to them. [It’s] made the whole thing feel like it’s been worth the three years. Mostly I’m just really proud it’s out there.
Q. Now the classic question: Do you have any new works coming up? A. I have a lot of picture books in process and I have a few that my agent has put out on submission that haven’t been picked up. I would love to say “yeah, totally, I’ve got loads coming out,” but I think I’m still [in a] learning phase. I feel like these past two years have been spent catching up on what I should’ve done before “My Sister Daisy” came out.