The Picture Book Buzz - Interview w/ Lee Wind and Kelly Mangan

Lee Wind’s superpower is stories – true and fictional – that center marginalized kids and teens and celebrate their power to change the world. Closeted until his 20s, Lee writes the books that would have changed his life as a young Gay kid. His Masters Degree from Harvard didn’t include blueprints for a time machine to go back and tell these stories to himself, so Lee pays it forward with a popular blog with over 4 million page views (I’m Here. I’m Queer. What The Hell Do I Read?) and books for kids and teens.

With day jobs for the Independent Book Publishers Association (as their chief content officer) and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (as their official blogger), Lee’s superhero job is storytelling to empower readers to shine with their own light.

Lee is the author of Love of the Half-Eaten Peach illustrated by Jieting Chen (2024), A Different Kind of Brave (2024), The Gender Binary Is a Big Lie: Infinite Identities around the World (2024), No Way, They Were Gay?: Hidden Lives and Secret Loves (2021), Red and Green and Blue and White illustrated Paul O. Zelinsky (2021), and Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill (2018).

​Kelly Mangan is an author and illustrator of picture books, middle grade, and young adult stories.

Though originally from the south, she now resides in snowy Vermont with her partner and two kids. When not writing or drawing, you’ll likely find Kelly weaving on a rigid heddle loom, reading The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, or watching Star Trek with a cup of Earl Grey, hot.

This is Kelly’s illustrator picture book debut. Her debut middle grade novel, Maeve Mulvaney Has Had Enough released on April 29th from Holiday House.

Their new picture book, Like That Eleanor: The Amazing Power of Being an Ally, releases on June 3rd.

Welcome Lee and Kelly, thank you so much for stopping by to talk about yourselves and your book.  

Hi, and thanks so much for this opportunity.

Tell us a little about yourself. (Where/when do you write or illustrate? How long have you been writing or illustrating? What is your favorite type of book to write or illustrate?)

LEE - I generally try to write in the morning when I'm fresh... this means I get up really early and aim for an hour of creative time before I start my day job. I don't always get the full hour (life is busy and sometimes complicated) but consistently grabbing even 12 minutes a day really adds up! As to how long I've been writing, I remember being 15 and instead of getting a 'real' summer job I somehow convinced my parents that I would spend the summer writing a novel. I didn't get very far, and it was a lot harder than it seemed, but I guess I've been playing around with writing for a long time. When I came to Los Angeles in 1991, I spent years writing screenplays for movies that were never made. That wasn't very satisfying, and when my husband and I had our daughter, I changed my focus to writing books for kids and teens.

How fun it would be, I imagined, to share a picture book I had written with my kiddo!

There was a steep learning curve, and I give a lot of credit to the education I received from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (and also from reading hundreds -- no exaggeration -- of kid lit books!)

And sharing my first picture book with my daughter was fun, but that didn't happen until she was 18 years old! Actually, Like THAT Eleanor is my first picture book with a two-dad family, like ours, and she's 21 now.

I think a lot about writing as paying it forward...

KELLY -  I’ve been writing children’s books for about eight years now, and I’ve been illustrating for about four. All of my work—writing and illustrating—is done at my dining room table, so I can keep an eye on my two kids and make sure the little daredevils aren’t launching themselves into space. My favorite kinds of stories to create are the kind that encourage kids to be their authentic selves— especially if adults are telling them that who they are is wrong.

It is so wonderful to meet you both! Thank you for sharing "why" you write, in addition to your writing journey. Who was your favorite author, illustrator, and/or your favorite book as a child? 

LEE - When I was little, I was slightly obsessed with Go, Dog! Go! by P. D. Eastman - a subplot in an easy reader!

As I grew up, I was drawn to science fiction and fantasy more than history - in some weird way, it was almost easier to connect with characters in completely different worlds than it was to connect with the folks in history.

Part of that, I'm sure, was being gay, and not really seeing any reflection of who I was or might become. And part was that history in the books I encountered was presented more like medicine. Something 'good for you' but not particularly entertaining, relevant, or empowering.

Maybe as a direct result of that, when I write today I challenge myself to take inspiration from history and work it into a story that is entertaining, relevant, and hopefully empowering for readers. 

KELLY -  As a kid, my favorite illustrator was Rien Poortvliet. The book Gnomes, that he and Wil Huygen did together, was a source of endless fascination for me. The visual world he built was so rich, warm, and lived in. You believed that that world truly existed. 

My favorite author was Tamora Pierce. I’ve always loved fantasy, and I especially loved Tamora’s books because of the strong, smart, and brave girl characters in them who figured out how to save themselves.   

Lee, I love how you incorporated facts about Eleanor Roosevelt into a modern child's life! Kelly, talk about kindred spirits, I remember pouring over the Gnome book and I also adore all of Tamora Pierce's books! Lee, what was the inspiration for Like That Eleanor: The Amazing Power of Being an Ally? 

LEE - So, in doing the research for my nonfiction book for readers ages 11 and up, No Way, They Were Gay? Hidden Lives and Secret Loves I learned so much about Eleanor Roosevelt. (Eleanor was married to FDR but had a decades-long love affair with another woman, Lorena Hickok.) Eleanor was a pretty amazing ally to so many others who didn't have her privilege, and she did all these cool things.

Here's one: When she became First Lady, only men reporters were allowed to cover the President's press conferences. This didn't sit right with her, so she decided to hold her own weekly meetings for the press - just for women reporters! This forced a bunch of news outlets to hire women reporters so they would have access to what the First Lady was saying!

Parallel to this, I was thinking about how kids see unfair things happen all the time, and the challenge is: how can they make things more fair? They're just kids.

These two seemingly separate things simmered for a long time, and then I thought, what if there was a little girl whose dads named her after Eleanor Roosevelt? What if she saw unfair things happening at her school? What if she wondered how she could help? What if the solution was something she's inspired to do by the stories her dads shared with her about Eleanor Roosevelt being an ally?

That's when it all started to come together!

Such a great premise! And it came together so beautifully with Kelly's illustrations. Kelly, what about the Like That Eleanor manuscript appealed to you as an illustrator?

KELLY -  I adored Eleanor the second I read it. I have an activism background (Before my kids were born, I worked as a labor and community organizer), so after I finished Lee’s manuscript I said, “Oh my god, I can’t wait to work on this!”

In the book, Eleanor recognizes that unfair things are happening but isn’t sure what to do. That’s such a universal experience! Many adults struggle with the exact same thing! So, I love the message that it doesn’t take a huge act to have a huge impact. You don’t have to be famous. You don’t have to be perfect. You just have to care enough to do something. We can all be allies in our day-to-day lives.

So glad they chose you to be the illustrator. What is a (or the most) fun or unusual place where you’ve written a manuscript or created an illustration?

LEE - I write on planes - Wi-Fi is silly expensive, so I treat every plane flight like a writing retreat. Five-hour flight? That's a four-and-a-half hour writing retreat!

KELLY -  Over the Pacific Ocean! A couple years ago I took a 16-hour flight to Australia, and I ended up getting a fair amount of illustration work done. Although, I have to say, airplane turbulence is an annoying obstacle to contend with when you’re trying to draw a straight line.

Wow, I don't often get the same answer in a double interview. Lee, what was the toughest part of writing Like That Eleanor? What was the most fun?

LEE - The most challenging part was balancing the history with the ongoing story of child Eleanor wanting to make things more fair. I hope I got it right!

The most exciting moment was seeing Kelly's illustrations that brought the story and characters to life! It was (and remains) thrilling.

I think you nailed it! Kelly, what’s the hardest part of illustrating picture books? What was the toughest part of illustrating Like That Eleanor specifically? What was the most fun?

KELLY -  The toughest part of illustrating Eleanor was the historical pages. We’re talking not only about trying to capture the likenesses of real people (which is hard anyway), but famous people at that! There’s an added level of pressure to get it right. I had to do a fair amount of research to make sure my illustrations were as accurate as possible: What sorts of clothes were people wearing during the period? What sorts of hairstyles did they have? Did men wear beards? What sorts of microphones did reporters use? What did the buttons on Marian Anderson’s dress look like on the day she sang in front of the Lincoln Memorial? These portions of the book really pushed me out of my comfort zone as an illustrator, but I’m so happy with how they turned out.

For me, the most fun part of illustrating Eleanor was designing her character, her interests, and figuring out how to weave those throughout the book. I also love designing plaids and will slap them on virtually everything. It’s either a strength or a toxic trait, depending on your point of view.

HA! I think you did a great job with the historic illustrations. And thanks for giving us a glimpse into the research and thought process required to get it right. Lee, did anything surprise or amaze you when you first got to see Kelly's illustrations? What is your favorite spread?

LEE - I loved how Kelly gave each of Eleanor's dads so much personality, with their own hobbies and passions, and made each of the kids in school, and Eleanor, feel 'real'! 

Text © Lee Wind, 2025. Image © Kelly Mangan, 2025.

All the illustrations are amazing, but if I could only pick two to call "favorite" I'd select: Eleanor and her Papi almost touching noses – the love is palpable. I'd also choose the final spread of all the kids playing together in our happy ending. There's some fun subplot things Kelly did with the art (who's playing soccer now?) that I adore. I'm a sucker for a satisfying subplot, even in picture books!

This is a great image, and I chuckled when I saw that subplot. Kelly, is there a spread of which you are especially proud? Or perhaps is your favorite spread? 

Text © Lee Wind, 2025. Image © Kelly Mangan, 2025.

KELLY -  I’m particularly proud of the illustration where Eleanor, Robin, and Bryce sit in the middle of the classroom and beckon Star over. Star is wearing a sweater with the colors of the nonbinary flag on it, and they’re making a heart symbol with their hands in front of it. It’s a small detail with a double meaning: it’s their way of saying ‘thanks for having my back’ to their friends, but it’s also an affirmation of pride for who they are.

Star’s character is styled after my own nonbinary kiddo, so I especially like all the illustrations with them in it.

I adore the kid's actions but am equally impressed with the teacher's dawning of understanding. How long did it take from the first draft to publication for the text and illustrations of Like That Eleanor?

LEE - I had to look this one up. My first draft of Like That Eleanor (it had a different title back then which was a bit of a plot spoiler, so I won't share it here) was in June 2021. So, almost exactly four years.

Believe it or not, that's pretty fast for a traditionally published picture book!

I wasn't sure I could find the right publishing home for a book this quirky - a mix of a 'today' plot and history? A picture book with so much subplot? But Adam Blackman and Maria Dismondy of Cardinal Rule Press really 'got' it, and the final book is everything I hoped it might be.

KELLY - The illustration timeframe was very tight. I had about eight weeks to get it all done.

Wow, Kelly that is really tight! Yeah for Cardinal Rule Press. What's something you want your readers to know about Like That Eleanor? 

LEE - I want kids -- and their adults -- to know that we can all help make the world more fair. Sometimes it can be as simple as being a friend. Sometimes it takes being brave to stand up for a friend.

Being there for each other, that's how we build community. And that's something we can all do. As the subtitle says, we can all claim "The Amazing Power of Being an Ally."

KELLY - You might notice that the colors purple, white, gold, and black are repeated all throughout the book. That’s because they are the colors of the nonbinary flag!

Thank you for both for these insights. Kelly, many illustrators leave treasures or weave their own story (or elements) throughout the illustrations. Did you do this in Like That Eleanor? If so, could you share one or more with us?

KELLY - Eleanor Roosevelt was really into knitting. You’ll find many historic photos of her at various events with yarn and knitting needles in hand. Even her official White House portrait included her knitting. So, I decided to give young Eleanor a similar hobby—crocheting—which she, in turn, teaches to other kids in her class. I liked the symbolism of gathering different strands together to make something beautiful, in the same way that a good ally will gather people together to make change.

What an awesome analogy! Are there any new projects you are working on now that you can share a hint or tidbit with us? 

LEE - I have another picture book coming out this year in November, also inspired by history – but not famous people history. It's something that happened to me. I'm Jewish, and when my husband and I first dated, we went on a vacation. It was the first night of Hanukkah, and I'd remembered to pack candles, but forgot to bring a menorah. There was nowhere to get one, so we had to improvise. We'd packed stuff for breakfast, so I took a banana, peeled back part of it, and stuck two candles in. It was a Banana Menorah!

 Now, Banana Menorah is going to be a picture book! It's charmingly illustrated by Karl West, published by Apples and Honey Press. It's another story with a two dad and little girl family, and knowing families like mine will see themselves reflected in it brings me so much joy. 

KELLY -  My debut middle grade novel, Maeve Mulvaney Has Had Enough, released in April from Holiday House. It’s a story about a girl learning how to productively channel her anger and anxiety into making change.

I’m also out on submission right now with a humorous picture book that I authored and illustrated, about a girl who’s so fed up with grownups telling her to smile that she decides to go on strike. It’s called Flora’s Perfectly Fine Face. Fingers crossed that my quirky story finds the right publisher!

These all sound fascinating! I can't wait to read them. Last question, what is your favorite National Park or Forest, regional park, or city park (anywhere in the world)? Or the one you’re longing to visit. Why? 

LEE - I love the beach right here in Los Angeles. We live in a city with so much culture, with so many passionate, creative people, and we have this amazing beach right here. I'm so grateful every day. (And I’m doubly grateful on days I see sea lions or dolphins!)

KELLY -  I’m a huge fan of our local Oakledge Cove, in Burlington, VT. Finding a rocky outcrop where you can sit and dangle your feet in Lake Champlain, while staring across the water at the Adirondak Mountains, is a gorgeous way to spend a summer afternoon.

Thank you, Lee and Kelly, for sharing with us a bit about yourselves and your newest picture book.

To find out more about Lee Wind, or to contact him:

Website: https://www.leewind.org/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/leewind.bsky.social

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamleewind/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leewind

To find out more about Kelly Mangan, or to contact her:

Website: https://www.authorkellymangan.com/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/kellyamangan.bsky.social

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heartnsnark/