Today is the official publication day of The Cloud That Stuck, wonderfully illustrated by Dorothy Leung, and I’m thrilled it’s out in the world!

Recently, I participated in a panel chat with Charlesbridge editor Gabriela Baron and authors Paloma Angelina Lopez and Lesléa Newman about writing difficult topics in picture books. Here are a few of Gabriela’s questions with my responses.

What is this book about?

In this fiction picture book, Tansy has a cloud stuck over her head, blocking the sun. She yells at it and tries to outrace it on her bike. Everyone tries to help get rid of it. But the cloud won’t budge. Then it rains on her, and Tansy forgets what sunshine feels like.

Inspired by my experiences with mental health, this book is for anyone who has faced challenges beyond their control. Some clouds just won’t go away. But we can find ways to live with them.

In deciding to write these stories, was there a specific child, moment, or experience that made you feel this book needed to exist?

I grew up with a caring mother who was also depressive, anxious, dissociating, and suicidal at times. No one knew that her mental health challenges stemmed from abuse she faced as a child—until I was in high school. In the decades since, as she has gradually come to terms with her past—as much as one can—I’ve become more aware of the intergenerational trauma that impacts my family. For me, it has manifested at various times as depression, anxiety, chronic fatigue syndrome, or disordered eating.

So a series of specific moments in my family life sparked this story. I wrote it for the times as a child when I felt confused by the sudden arrival of mental health challenges within myself and those around me. Why was my mother behaving that way? Why did I not want to get out of bed or go to school? These moments seemed to arrive at random because I didn’t understand their source, and they felt…well…like a cloud that had stuck. This book is my attempt to capture how a moment like that feels and how we can cope with it.

When you began writing, who were you holding in mind—the child, the caregiver, or even both? Why?

I was holding in my mind the child me who was confused, scared, and uncertain about events happening around and within me. I was holding my own daughters in mind as I supported them through their own challenges. I was holding my sister in mind. And of course, my mother. We are all wounded. And we all hold incredible strength.

Were there scenes or themes that required careful revision to make sure they felt honest but appropriate for children?

I discovered that I needed to stay close to the weather metaphor. My scenes needed to stay focused on the child’s experience of overwhelming weather. For example, at first, Tansy tries to shoo the cloud away. She asks the wind to blow it away. She asks her dad to pull it off. Tansy remains active. She problem-solves. Her attempts are child-centred.

I did lose my way with this manuscript for a while when I tried to personify the Wind and the Cloud. The problem was that readers kept asking about their motivations. Why did the Wind blow in the Cloud, then vanish? How did the Cloud feel about Tansy shooing it away? Those drafts strayed too far from my weather metaphor. In the end, wind and cloud needed to be natural, not fantastic characters, to reflect a child’s reality and authentic experience.

What misconceptions do adults sometimes have about children’s ability to handle difficult subjects? And did you feel any tension or hesitation in challenging those ideas through your book?

I think that adults want to protect child readers from harm, and sometimes, they can take that too far. Sometimes, they may block child readers from books with authentic childhood experiences because the adult deems them as too difficult. Other times, an adult’s own biases may get in the way of allowing child readers to self-select books.

I think any subject a child can experience may be explored in a picture book. The question is: How to explore that through the child’s lens? How to care for the child reader?

Imagine if I had found books as a child that had reflected my experiences. They would have been a relief. They would have shown me I wasn’t alone. They would have felt like a warm hug and a supportive conversation. This is why I include the full spectrum of childhood experiences in my books. For the children who need these books.

Writing about mental health for children requires immense research and thought. How did you approach explaining something ongoing and complex in a way that feels accessible and truthful?

First, I want to say that research and thought are partly experiential. Writing about mental health starts with compassion and self-awareness. Creators need to do their personal work as well as their research.

Second, I think writers need to resist conveying a message to young readers and instead leave space for them to intuit meaning from the story events. I prefer to leave a question in the mind of the reader rather than dictating a message to them. What if you faced a problem that couldn’t be solved? How would that feel? What would you do?

I respect that young readers can find their own answers to these questions. But when revising, I also needed to carefully consider what responses my story was pointing to. I purposely crafted an ending where the cloud never went away and never stopped raining. This story has no magical fix. Yet Tansy finds her way forward. She plants a garden and waters it with her raincloud.

What kind of conversations do you hope your stories open between the readers and their adults?

I hope my story opens communication about big feelings. How heavy and endless they can be. How despair can sink in, or panic. And also, I hope it opens questions about what we can do when emotions feel beyond our control. We do have actions we can take to help tomorrow be a better day, even if it’s only planting seeds that will bloom later. If it’s raining, we can wear rain gear. If we’re sad, we can lift ourselves through daily actions and we can reach out to others for support.

In my home, stoicism is a common topic of conversation. The Cloud That Stuck is my love song to stoicism as a way to cope with challenges beyond my control. I hope it sparks age-appropriate stoic conversations between readers and their adults.

What would you say to writers who are hesitant to tackle heavy topics for young readers?

We owe our young readers a true reflection of themselves and their world—through our fiction and our nonfiction. That comes with heavy topics.

Every writing craft decision we make can be viewed by thinking about how it serves either the reader and/or the story. Your book will better serve your readers when it conveys the full spectrum of a child’s life, including difficult experiences. Your book will also better serve the reader when you look at how your craft choices care for the reader as they journey through the story.

If you could tell every child who reads your book one thing directly, what would it be?

I would ask them: What would you do if a cloud stuck over your head and wouldn’t go away? What if it started to rain? And then, I would listen. I bet it would spark a fascinating conversation.

Want more? You can view the “Hard Topics Panel below:

To order The Cloud That Stuck: