The Power of Pets, Place, and Personal Experience: Lauren Castillo on the Inspirations Behind ‘Just Like Millie’

A podcast interview with Lauren Castillo on The Growing Readers Podcast, a production of The Children’s Book Review.

In this heartfelt episode, award-winning author and illustrator Lauren Castillo shares the personal experiences and meaningful inspirations behind her latest picture book, Just Like Millie.

Castillo opens up about how her own childhood, hometown, and beloved pets influenced the story of a shy young girl who finds courage and connection through her new canine companion. From exploring themes of anxiety and friendship to sprinkling in local Easter eggs, Castillo offers a glimpse into her thoughtful creative process and layered approach to storytelling through both words and art. Join us for an intimate conversation that will make you laugh, cry, and fall in love with “Just Like Millie” before even turning the first page.

Lauren Castillo Talks About:

• Her latest picture book Just Like Millie and its themes of shyness, anxiety, courage, and friendship
• Personal experiences that inspired the story, including interactions with a shy child and her own dogs
• Setting the book in her hometown of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and including local Easter eggs in the illustrations
• Dedicating the book to her recently passed dogs and incorporating them into the story
• The power of pets and companionship in helping children navigate challenging emotions
• Her creative process, including using ink, watercolor, and soft pastels for the illustrations
• Capturing the emotions of characters through details in facial expressions and color
• The significance of the book’s endpapers and jacket flap information
• Hopes for how the book will resonate with readers, especially shy or socially anxious children
• Experiences as both an author and illustrator, and how her process differs for each role
• The collaborative nature of creating picture books with a publishing team
• Revisiting her childhood and Nana in her previous book Nana in the Country
• The importance of reading dedications and acknowledgments to understand the author’s heart

Listen to the Interview

Read the Transcription

Bianca Schulze

Welcome to the Growing Readers podcast, Lauren. It is such a pleasure to have you on the show today.

Lauren Castillo

So nice to be here. Thanks for having me.

Bianca Schulze

Well, today, you’re going to talk about your latest book, which is Just Like Millie. But before we get into the book, I would love to learn more about you, the human behind the books. So here’s a random, totally random conversation starter question. If you could instantly become an expert in any skill or field, what would it be and why?

Lauren Castillo

Oh, my goodness. Oh, that’s hard. Actually, I know, I know. I would love to do home renovation. I am not so secretly obsessed with HGTV and home decor, home demos and, remodeling, redecorating. And so, I would love that. I would love especially, more specifically, woodworking, like doing built-ins. Bookshelves, for example. Learning those skills to add to rooms and spaces would be amazing. So, yeah, I’m going to go with that answer.

Bianca Schulze

I love that answer, especially because my husband and I feel the same way. We do try to do some stuff ourselves, but there are definitely jobs, like tiling, where we’re like, okay, we’re gonna get the expert in today.

Lauren Castillo

Yes, yes, yes, yes. I 100% agree.

Bianca Schulze

Well, what’s one thing that you do daily that you think would be the most surprising or the most relatable?

Lauren Castillo

Oh, one thing I’m doing a lot right now is walking my dog multiple times a day. He’s always itching to go out, and I’ve needed a lot of breaks just from work and whatnot. And with the weather getting nicer, I’m constantly out walking my dog. I don’t know if that’s what you were looking for in an answer, but that’s something I feel like every other minute. I’m like, do I have to walk the dog yet? Is it time to go out on a walk? This is a new foster fail in our house, so he’s quite needy, and we’re getting to know each other still. And, you know, he really loves his walks, so that’s a little background there.

Bianca Schulze

How old is he?

Lauren Castillo

He’s three. He was picked up on the streets of South Carolina, and we don’t know much else, so they estimate him to be about three. He’s a chihuahua and pug mix.

Bianca Schulze

Oh, my gosh. So cute.

Lauren Castillo

Yes, he’s quite cute.

Bianca Schulze

I love it. All right, well, now let’s get a little more focused on creating books. What drives you and keeps you motivated to create books specifically for children?

Lauren Castillo

Oh, okay. Well, I think about myself as a young reader, specifically at the age when I started reading picture books and then got into the early grades in school, where the requirements were more focused on chapter books and middle-grade novels. I’ve been thinking about that a lot these days. 

I worked more recently in my career on an early chapter book series called Our Friend Hedgehog, and it’s still going. I’m working on the third book right now, but I was really excited about the format that we ended up going with for this book because, initially, it was meant to be a picture book. The more I was developing it and talking with my editor and thinking about myself as a young child, the more I realized the need for books that kind of hit that mark between picture books and early novels, I would say.

There are a lot of chapter book series out there, but specifically, books that carry a lot of their weight in illustrations, a longer format story, but something that has illustrations on every page. And for me, as a young reader with the struggle to read and just with the love of art and illustration, I really leaned on those pictures. And so I would say working more on those types of stories, those types of books, and hopefully extending the series, Our Friend Hedgehog, and maybe moving into some other series that are for the first to the third-grade reader that is like I was as a kid that really craved something along those lines. So I think these days, that’s what I’m thinking about a lot.

Bianca Schulze

I think that’s so fantastic. I’m a huge fan of picture books, and obviously, there can never be enough picture books, but it always does surprise me on The Children’s Book Review, I get so many books submitted to me every day, and they’re really, it’s that sort of early reader group and easy chapter book. I mean, there’s tons of picture books that come in and tons of middle grade, but that spot, it’s missing quality. So I love that you have a focus in there because that, I feel like, is the sweet spot of really hooking kids to read independently and want to read on their own, not just because they’re being told to.

Lauren Castillo

Right, right, yeah. Keeping an interest in reading, and I think that was a struggle for me and, if I’m honest, there was a long period of time between being a young reader reading picture books and then becoming a young adult who started reading again. There was a long window of time when I wasn’t that interested in reading, and it’s funny to think about me now being an author and illustrator of kids’ lit. I think that was part of it, that I didn’t have those kinds of transitional books to ease me into more novel-like stories. So, yeah, I think so.

I started working on the Hedgehog series in 2016, but I feel like a lot has changed, even until now, with that window of early chapter books. I think that there are more creators making books for that age range, and I’m excited to see that. 

Bianca Schulze

Yeah, absolutely. Well, because once a kid can read an early reader, they do go through them quite fast, and so you want to have the next one ready to hand them, like, here’s another one, here’s another one. Like, feed them cookies. Right? That’s great.

Lauren Castillo

Yeah, absolutely.

Bianca Schulze

All right, well, some say that you need to be a reader first to be a writer and what I love about you is that you do both writing and illustrating incredible illustrations. So, do you agree that you should be a reader before becoming a writer?

Lauren Castillo

Well, I will say it’s certainly helpful because the more books you read, the more you understand more of the technical aspects of writing and creating a book, you know, pasting, depending on what format you’re writing for. Just the structure of books and how stories are created for the page. And I think the more you read, the more you have to reference as you’re doing your own bit of writing. So I would say so, yes. 

When I set out to move from picture books to early chapter books, I went out and, whether it’s online, in the library, or in bookstores, I looked for everything I could find in that age range to see what types of stories were out there. I did this not for my own ideas but more to understand the structure of writing for that age range. So, yeah, I would say that that’s pretty important. 

Bianca Schulze

Yeah, and then you kind of touched on this a little bit: that maybe you struggled a little bit with reading as a kid and that you came to reading again more as a young adult. So, was there a pivotal moment or multiple moments in which you considered yourself a reader?

Lauren Castillo

I think the pivotal moment for me was discovering, this is very specific, Sandra Cisneros, I’m going to butcher her last name, Cinsneros.

Bianca Schulze

I can’t help you.

Lauren Castillo

Oh, gosh, well, her book, The House on Mango Street, is a collection of stories in verse, and something about it really got me into poetry. This is, I would say, late high school, and I really connected with her style of writing, the way that she told stories through her poetry, and how each poem connected to the next. And I just thought it was beautiful. Have you heard of the book The House on Mango Street?

Bianca Schulze

I have heard of it. I haven’t read it.

Lauren Castillo

Okay, so you know who I’m talking about. Okay. I’m sorry, Sandra.

I should know it. I feel ashamed of how to pronounce her last name. But, she’s just a fabulous writer, and so I can remember that memory of reading that specific book. And what’s funny about her writing, too, is actually one of the chapters, one of the poems in that book, became a picture book. So I find that interesting, that connection of poetry to picture books. And that’s the type of picture books that I like to write, very spare, kind of poetic texts. 

And so I would say that was sort of my in to more adult reading material, if you will, or even middle grade. I would go back to middle-grade novels, and today, that’s one of my favorite genres to read, middle-grade novels. So, yeah, I’m not sure if that answers your question, but, that moment sticks out in my mind as when I became interested in reading again as a teenager. 

Bianca Schulze

Yeah, sometimes it just takes that one book that connects with your heart or connects with your mind, and then, obviously, you, as someone who became a creator of books, to notice the connectivity between each poem that she was writing. So I think that was a beautiful answer.

Lauren Castillo

Oh, thank you.

Bianca Schulze

So what does a typical day look like when you’re working on your books? And do you work on book creation every day or just when inspiration strikes?

Lauren Castillo

Well, these days, it’s a little different, because my family’s preparing for a baby. So my days are not the norm at the moment, but I’ll go back to a year ago and share what my typical studio days look like. I have a home studio in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I have a home studio in a three floor, kind of narrow row home right in the city. I’m on the third floor of my studio, and my typical day would be working on my books daily, but that does not mean that I’m doing the same thing every day. It depends on the stage in which I’m at with the book. So, if I’m in the middle of writing a book, I may sit at my desk and do some research for a while on something very specific for what I’m going to be writing or just brainstorm and look through sketchbooks. I may, in the writing stage, leave the house and go to coffee shops or bookstores. That’s where I like to work outside of the house. 

Now, if I’ve moved on to the thumbnailing or sketching stage for a book, I’m usually at my desk, and I’m doing very rough scribbles, probably a couple of hours at a time with plenty of breaks for snacks and walking my dog, as I mentioned before. And that stage can usually go on for two or three weeks when I’m working on sketches for a picture book. And then, if I’m working on final art, I’m often listening to podcasts like yours, or audiobooks are really big for me when I’m working on art because I can do two things at once. I can’t listen to a podcast and be writing, unfortunately, because I do like the stage of writing, but for art making, it’s really fun because I can listen to other things or music while I’m making my art. I’ll usually work on the final art for a picture book for about four to six months, depending on the picture book. 

I work, I would say, five days a week. I try to be a little more structured these days. When I first started out in my career, I was working seven days a week, and I was working super late night shifts and things like that, and I don’t do that anymore. I try to take weekends off unless I have a tight deadline. But, yeah, I try to remain as structured as I can be. I think it’s helpful for me because then I can take a lunch break and then I can stop work before dinner, and I can do other things that I want to do, including reading or just typical adult responsibilities, like chores. So, I would say it really just depends, but I’ll have big chunks of time where every day looks similar if that makes sense.

Bianca Schulze

Absolutely. Well, since I absolutely love babies, I’m so excited for you, so congratulations.

Lauren Castillo

Thank you.

Bianca Schulze

I had this burning question pop up where I was like, you’re preparing for the baby to arrive, so do you have already some books in the baby’s room? And if so, what are those books or are you not there yet?

Lauren Castillo

Yeah, well, we just had our baby brunch/shower, so we did get a number of books as gifts. But also because I’m a huge collector of picture books, we’ve got quite the collection going now. I’ve been joking that I’m not sure how many of the books I’m actually going to share with the baby. Some of them, I don’t want to get messed up. You know, a lot of signed books from other author-illustrators who are friends of mine, but some of them, I had this thought: some of my favorite picture books also come in board books. And because in the early years, board books are going to be the baby’s jam. I added those to our registry. 

So I’ll name it. Leaves by David Ezra Stein is one of my favorite picture books, and so that’s one of them. The Snowy Day, of course. Snow by Uri Shulevitz is another one of my, it’s funny, two snow books, but those just happen to be two of my favorite picture books. Oh, my goodness. We have some classics, you know, Pat the Bunny, some Richard Scarry. Gotta have the classics, Maurice Sendak books. Oh, man, so many. And then, of course, how can I not share some of my favorite current picture books that I already have in my collection? I’m sure I’ll be reading those to the baby, too. Yeah, there’s so many.

Bianca Schulze

Absolutely. I know that the board book that was on repeat in our house, probably the most, was Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann.

Lauren Castillo

Yes, I’m going to write that down because I love that book, and I have it in paperback.

Bianca Schulze

Yeah, and then as the kids got older, her 10 Minutes till Bedtime. And so I still, now to this day, I’ve got an eighteen-year-old, a twelve-year-old and a nine-year-old,  I’m still like, 10 minutes till bedtime.

Lauren Castillo

That’s awesome. I love that. Good Night, Gorilla. Good one.

Bianca Schulze

Yeah, it’s so fun. All right, since you write and illustrate your own books and also illustrate books written by other people, talk to me about how your process or mindset might be different when you’re creating the words and the illustrations versus just the illustrations for someone else’s words.

Lauren Castillo

Yeah, that’s a great question. I actually started my career as an illustrator for other authors’ works. I always hoped that one day I would get to publish my own stories, but I studied illustration. I went to college for illustration, and that was my formal training. So the writing side wasn’t, and that took a little bit longer. For illustrating other people’s books, it always started by me receiving a manuscript by email, and then I would take that manuscript and I would start marking it down. Well, first I had to read it and decide if it was a good fit for me. And knowing it was a good fit for me meant by the time I finished reading the draft, there were images in my mind, and I was getting really excited about creating this book. That was a surefire way of knowing that this was a project I wanted to take on. That’s the first thing. 

Then I take this manuscript and I break it down spread by spread, page by page, figuring out what text is going to be on each page, and I start to do thumbnailing, little squares for those people who don’t know. Think of storyboarding for all sorts of things, for comics, for movies. You do the same thing with picture books. They even do storyboarding for commercials, scene by scene. So laying those out and doing the scribbliest of scribbles for these. Often, only I know what’s happening in them, just to kind of get the pacing of the story down, and then I’ll take those, and I’ll start to refine those sketches so that they’re presentable for my publisher, for the editor and art director who are working on the book. 

Then, maybe there’s some back-and-forth where we change a couple of things, revise a couple of scenes, change perspective, like visual perspective, and things like that. Then I get the green light to go into final art. That was the way I illustrated a number of books before I wrote my first one that became published. And that was Melvin and the Boy in 2011, I believe. 

For many, many picture books, I was solely the illustrator. And then with Melvin and the Boy, it was funny because of what I ended up doing, and I didn’t know how my process would change, but I sat. My ideas come to me, I was talking about this recently, my ideas will come to me all at once, almost. It’s like I have all these bits and pieces of a story that are floating around in my brain for many, many years. And then I’ll wake up one morning, and I’ll just be like, oh my gosh, I have this story, and I’ll sit down, and I’ll write it. And it’s such a gift when it happens. It doesn’t happen very often, I have to say, but it’s almost like my brain’s doing this background work of creating this story, and then it just kind of pours out at me, and that’s been my experience for the picture books that I’ve made to date. 

And so that kind of happened with Melvin. Then, once I sold the manuscript, actually, no, I didn’t sell the manuscript first. First, I shared it. I’m sorry, I have to think back because it was 2011 when I shared the manuscript with my agent because I had an agent for the first time around the time that I started writing. So when I shared it with him, he told me, okay, why don’t you put together a picture book dummy, sketches, and I’ll send this off to some editors. And so, I had never done this before, to pitch a project as an author and illustrator. But basically, all I ended up doing was exactly the same methods that I had done as an illustrator. I kind of separated myself as author Lauren and illustrator Lauren. I gave myself the manuscript, which is already pretty tightly formed and then I sat down. I did the same thing. I broke down the text, I started storyboarding, and then I refined those sketches. And so that’s kind of my process. 

Regardless of whether I write it or somebody else writes the story, it’s consistently keeping myself separate from my illustrator self, separate from the writing, because I know that later on, as you’re making a picture book, sometimes your text may be a little bit on the wordy side, and once you come up with all of your sketches, you realize that you can pare down your text quite a bit. I don’t go back to that until a whole dummy has been sketched out, and then I start to work on the text again. Then there’s a little bit of back and forth, but I would say, for the most part, I try to really nail down that manuscript before I get into the drawing side of things.

Bianca Schulze

Yeah, I love that. So, because I can imagine as you’re illustrating and your illustration shows something that you no longer need the text for when it’s your manuscript, it’s easy for you to get the eraser out or delete it on your computer. But how does that work when you’re illustrating for somebody else and they’ve already, you’ve already been provided with this type supposedly manuscript, but do you ever say, I don’t think we need these words anymore? Or do you just create the art that comes to you and leave that up to the editor?

Lauren Castillo

I mostly leave it up to the editor. There’s been oftentimes I’ll think to myself, oh, there’s probably a couple lines here, some words here that can probably be pared down. And before I would even say anything, the author and the editor who has looked at my dummy have already worked on editing the dummy or the text, if that makes sense. So, yeah, I think, I think there’s been a couple times where I’ve made a suggestion, but often, everybody’s on board with, oh, yeah, we see this, this is something we can pare down a little bit, and it’s cool. It’s such a collaborative experience, working on a picture book or working on a book in general. So, so many different people in the mix. Even copy, you don’t think about copy editors, even art copy editing. It’s such a unique part of the process, so I think it’s a really cool job to be a part of. 

Bianca Schulze

Yeah, and I often feel like the art directors don’t get enough shout out, too, because we often see the illustrations and the final cover and everything, and from the outside, or if you’re not in the industry, the illustrator has done this beautiful artwork, and you assume that the illustrator did all the layouts and everything, but no, there’s so many team members going into the layout and making sure that the art lines up with the page folds. There’s so much that goes into it.

Lauren Castillo

A lot. There’s a lot that goes into it. Yeah, and I do think that so many people don’t get the credit that they should, even if on the copyright page, for example. Yeah, because it’s hard. One thing I will say that I always find so strange is that they often, on the copyright page, don’t put the editor’s name, and I think the editors often have such a big role in the creation of the story. Yeah, it’s unfortunate sometimes. It’s hard. You have to do your research to look it up, like, who edited this specific book anyway? It’s. Yeah, it’s really, you know, to credit all the people that I work with, so I think, yeah, and it wouldn’t be a book without them, you know?

Bianca Schulze

Exactly. And in a novel, the author has that whole section for acknowledgments where they can almost write a whole love letter to everybody. But picture books, early reader books, and chapter books, maybe some chapter books offer that, but.

Lauren Castillo

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Bianca Schulze

Well, Just Like Millie is your latest picture book, and you’ve written the words, and you’ve made the illustrations. So can you share the what or the who that inspired you to write Just Like Millie and explore the theme of shyness and anxiety in children?

Lauren Castillo

Yes. Well, there are a few different moments that, as I said before, with my ideas, there are all these little bits and pieces that kind of come together to form a story. And so one of the experiences I had was hanging out with one of my good friends and her son, a very shy, kind of introverted little boy. And, you know, he was quiet. I was trying to engage in conversation with him, and he wasn’t really interested or I could tell he was just really bashful. And then his dog came into the room, and I immediately saw his face transform. He started basically beaming, and he just started opening up, talking about his dog, talking about some of his favorite things, and it was just a really sweet moment. 

It got me thinking more about the power that dogs and animals have to brighten people’s spirits and make them feel more comfortable in their surroundings. I also thought about myself. We had two senior dogs. They passed away during COVID-19. We moved into this neighborhood, and I didn’t really interact too much with the neighbors, but the more I was out with my dogs, walking them, the more conversations I started to have with other people in the area, in the neighborhood, and made friends that way. And if it wasn’t for my dogs leading me to these conversations, I may not have as much of a connection with some of my neighbors. And so just thinking about the ways in which animals can do that for us and also thinking about my own, you know. 

I was kind of a shy, introverted child myself, and I’m still quite an introvert, especially with this type of career. We sit alone and draw and write by ourselves for so much of the day, right? So, I can totally relate to the little girl in the story of Just Like Millie and her having a hard time wanting to make connections in her new neighborhood, in her new city. So, just thinking about different personal experiences and kind of the pieces all coming together to form this story.

Bianca Schulze

Yeah. I was thinking when you said how when you walk out in your neighborhood with your dog, or you used to have two other dogs as well, how you connect and you start chatting with people. They say that the easiest way to meet new people is with dogs and also with babies. So then I’m thinking of you, and I’m like, oh, well, you’re going to be out walking your dog, you’re going to have your baby in your BabyBjörn or your baby sling or whatever carrier, and I mean, all the people that you’ll probably meet with both the dog and a baby.

Lauren Castillo

Oh, yes, I’m sure. I’m sure I’ll make a lot more new friends that way. Absolutely.

Bianca Schulze

All right, so the protagonist of your book is a shy young girl who finds solace in her new friend, which is her rescue dog, Millie. Shyness and anxiety can be delicate themes to explore in children’s literature, so tell us more about her character and the growth that she has, the girl throughout the story.

Lauren Castillo

Sure. So, in the beginning, she’s just moved to this new city, and a quick shout out to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which is where I live. I put the location of the book as Harrisburg, so it was fun to draw little Easter eggs and favorite landmarks into the story. She moves to Harrisburg with her mom, and she is having a really hard time adjusting. Now, she doesn’t quite admit to that, but her mom is trying in various ways to introduce her to other kids and families in the neighborhood at a bookstore reading, a neighborhood or a neighbor’s get-together, things like this, and she says, no, no, she’s just fine on her own. It ends up elevating to the point of her breaking down into tears, the little girl and the mom sees how hard it’s been for her. 

One day, she wakes up, and the moms arrange a little surprise outing. they go on a walk and end up at a dog rescue. The woman at the shelter introduces her to a dog named Millie. She’s a little shy at first, but they both seem to like one another. Her mom asks if she would like to take Millie home, and she is quietly excited about this. From the moment they leave the shelter, she notices Millie’s demeanor, and she notices how Millie the dog interacts with passersby, and how quickly Millie is able to make friends. And so it’s through the dog’s eyes, I think, that she’s able to kind of learn how to be brave and step out of her comfort zone and make a friend. And so, spoiler alert, by the end of the story, she may learn these tricks and make her first friend in the neighborhood. That’s kind of the gist of her journey.

Bianca Schulze

All right, well, so Millie is a rescue dog, and she clearly, as you just said, plays a really significant role in helping the young girl overcome her fears. So, what do you want everyone to know about your thoughts on the significance of companionship, whether with animals or humans, in navigating challenging emotions? So, what are your feelings about the significance of companionship? Because I feel as though that’s a big part of this and how by having somebody by our side, whether it’s an animal or a human, it can sort of help us overcome whatever our individual challenges are.

Lauren Castillo

Oh, absolutely. Yeah, I guess in this case, Millie is just what she needs to have that kind of support system and that love. Of course, she has her mom, but, you know, this dog’s personality and her energy and enthusiasm are just kind of rubbing off on this little girl in a way that she wants to make a friend like Millie does. It all comes down to an interaction at a dog park. She’s been watching Millie make friends for maybe several days or weeks here, and she just has enough courage in that moment when she sees another little girl and her dog coming into the park. She just has enough courage to take that first step and say hello to that other little girl. I think having a companion, any, if it’s a sibling, if it’s a pet, whatever it is, that companion to lean on and to channel their energies and their excitement about things, it’s helpful.

Bianca Schulze

Yeah, absolutely. It can be so easy to get stuck in one’s head and one’s way of thinking, and sometimes somebody or something else can come into our lives and give us a new lens to look through and see things in a new way, and Millie definitely is that for the little girl.

Lauren Castillo

That’s right.

Bianca Schulze

Well, your illustrations are known for their warmth and expressiveness. I always love the rosy cheeks that you give your human characters. I feel like you and Sophie Blackall, just the rosy cheeks that both of you do, are just, I don’t know, I just love it so much. So for this book, I know you used ink, watercolor, and soft pastels. Do you say pastels or pastels?

Lauren Castillo

I say pastels, but pastels, yeah, you could pronounce it either way. 

Bianca Schulze

Okay, so watercolor and soft pastels, is that your preferred combination?  

Lauren Castillo

It’s always a little different, depending on the book. It’s becoming at the moment, it’s my preferred combination. I have just discovered in the last couple of projects the wonder of soft pastels, and I’m pretty excited about them. I hadn’t really used soft pastels before. Something about being an illustrator, I get antsy using the exact same materials for every project. I really like to switch it up and try new things, and I know often most people don’t notice it, only me, you know, because the end result ends up looking like my work and looking similar to the previous projects. 

But I do always try to find some sort of new art material to bring into the next project, and usually, I pick it, you know, I don’t pick at random. I pick what would suit the tone of this story. And for Millie, using those soft pastels and just that extra kind of, they have quite a vibrancy to them, and that softness because it’s kind of paired with the harder lines in my work, those, like, bolder, thick lines. And so to bring and pair the soft pastels on top, I thought it was a nice combination, so it was just a lot of fun to work that way.

Bianca Schulze

Great. I love your artwork, no matter how you do it. I have no art majors, but I know what I like when I look at it, and I love looking at your artwork, so thank you so much.

Lauren Castillo

I really appreciate that.

Bianca Schulze

Yeah, you’re welcome. Alright, so let’s see. I feel like I’m going to ask you this next. Alright, so I mentioned just a second ago the rosy cheeks, but what goes into visually capturing the emotions of the characters for you?

Lauren Castillo

You know, I think that’s the most important part for me, is to make sure that I really nail the emotions of my characters, and I guess the way that I achieve that is, whether it’s using, well, I try to channel that character, and I look at a lot of, I’m big on reference, whether that’s looking through magazines, looking online, looking at myself in a mirror. I’m big on really doing research, whether it’s for the writing aspect or the illustration aspect of the project, and just really studying those expressions and emotions and then kind of just drawing and redrawing. 

The smallest tweaks of a mouth or an eye or an eyebrow or something like that really can change the expression and the emotion pretty drastically. And it’s kind of crazy because I don’t consider myself a photorealistic illustrator, right? I’m not painting realistic portraits of people. I’m using very simple lines, but I’m trying to get that bigger emotion. So, the smallest little tweaks of the line or even, like you said, the rosy cheeks. Like when the little girl becomes increasingly flustered and upset and eventually has a breakdown, her face is getting rosier. I try to just pay attention to those little details when I’m making my art to drive home that emotion.

Bianca Schulze

Yeah. Well, the setting, you said this just before, is your little city of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. So how fun was it for you to use your town as the backdrop? And when you were saying it before, I was thinking to myself, how cool would it be if there ends up being one of those bronze book sculptures in Harrisburg of the little girl walking Millie outside the library or something? It would be so fun.

Lauren Castillo

That would be amazing. Super amazing. Now I want to propose that to my mayor.

Bianca Schulze

Yeah, you should.

Lauren Castillo

Hilarious. Yeah, so Harrisburg I still feel is a fairly new city to me. I moved here in 2016 after living in New York City and then, before that, in Baltimore. So I’ve been in various places, but Harrisburg was like, I get really excited when I go to new locations, whether that’s on vacation, travels or work travels or whatnot. I am really inspired by the architecture of a city and just the overall vibe of a city, and so I’m really big on location-drawing, and I wanted to pull that into this book, Just Like Millie and, more specifically, Harrisburg, because I hadn’t drawn my city into a book before and I was like, this is the book. This is the book for that. Harrisburg is going to be highlighted. 

So it was really neat because I could go around town and draw some of my favorite locations and then bring it back to the studio to the desk and sit down and try to figure out how to work them into various scenes. And so things like my bookstore, the Midtown Scholar, shout out, they are an amazing independent bookstore up the street from me, and I use their location as one of the settings where there’s an author doing a reading, and I put a little area from the interior in the illustrations. I also drew one of my friends there who is the events coordinator, Alex. I drew him into the story. He hasn’t even seen it yet. I’m excited because I have various friends, either their small business is in it or the person themselves or their dog. I’m excited to package up books and mail them to each person with, you know, find yourself in my book kind of thing. 

So, yeah, it’s just been really fun to do that. The last time I felt like I did that, I guess, was with Nana in the City, which took place in New York, and I was living there at the time. And so that was more universally known, locations like Times Square, for example, and for this one, not as many people will recognize the locations. It’s fun that only the people who live in the central Pennsylvania area are gonna know that this is where Millie takes place. So it’s kind of like a fun little secret, you know? 

Bianca Schulze

Yeah, well, another fun little secret that you, actually, it’s not so secret because you called it out in the book, but you did the dedication in memory of your two previous dogs. And then, on the jacket flap in your bio, it says you modeled Millie and one of her new dog friends after your two dogs. How special was it for you to be able to put them in the story?

Lauren Castillo

It was really special, and it was very cathartic because both of my dogs had recently passed away, and I started working on the art for the book right after that. I was having to look at references of their photos and crying and drawing and I feel like it helped me grieve to work on this book right after their passings for that reason. And now, all I do is smile, and I look at it because I’m like, there are our dogs. There’s Peanut, and there’s Keiko, and it’s fun because I made them be the last dog friends that Millie meets in the books, our other little dog, Keiko, who passed away last, and it was fun to kind of have them reunite there on the page, and now we have it in the book. So, yeah, it’s special that I was able to do that.

Bianca Schulze

Yeah, that’s so fun. I was talking with Kate DiCamillo on the show, and we were talking about how much we enjoy reading dedications and in novels, the acknowledgments. I loved the way she said it. She said she loves to read it because then she knows whose hearts she’s holding in her hands. And so when she said that, and then I read your dedication, and then I read your little mini bio on the jacket flap. So I had read the dedication, I read the story from start to finish, and then I ended with that jacket flap, and just reading that made the book feel even more special to me because, obviously, it’s a Lauren Castillo book. So I know I’m holding your heart, but how much of your heart I didn’t realize I was holding until I read those. And so I just want everybody to make sure they always read the dedications and the acknowledgments.

Lauren Castillo

I also love to read the dedications and the acknowledgments. Yes. Yeah, I agree. I love it; what was the line that Kate said?

Bianca Schulze

Yeah. Well, I mean, I can’t remember verbatim, but it was along the lines of she likes to read it because then she knows whose hearts she’s holding in her hands. 

Lauren Castillo

Oh, that’s lovely. Yeah, leave it to Kate to come up with the perfect wording.

Bianca Schulze

Yeah, I know, right? I love that she talks just as she writes. You know, she’s exactly who you would imagine, at least on the occasions I’ve had to chat with her. 

So, let’s see. Okay, so Millie has the potential to resonate deeply with young readers who may struggle with some shyness as we talked about. When a reader gets to the end, having read it from beginning to end, how do you hope this book has connected with the reader?

Lauren Castillo

I really hope that, whether you’re somebody whose family has just rescued a dog or whether, you know, you’re just a dog lover, or you’re that socially anxious child or adult. I think those are all different ways that I’m hoping people will connect with the story and find their own kind of courage or inspiration or just simply smile at this little girl’s journey and the way that she was able to evolve in the company of this new friend, Millie, and then her new human friend that she makes at the end of the story. So, yeah, I’m hopeful that even if a couple or one child takes something from this book, it will have been worth it. So I’m really excited to get this book into little readers’ hands soon and see what kind of responses I get from it.

Bianca Schulze

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, right from the front cover with that beautiful bronze embossed title on the jacket cover to the end, it is so warm. It is so inviting. I think my favorite moment in the book is the final endpaper. And I’m not gonna say what’s in the final endpaper because I want people to read it and experience it for themselves, but it is just such a lovely, warm, inviting story. Well done.

Lauren Castillo

Oh, thank you so much. Yeah, and those endpapers were a lot of fun to make. I won’t ruin the front and back endpapers for anyone, but it was fun doing the same but different types of imagery in front versus back. So, yeah, if you get the book, definitely take a look at the endpapers and check out the little details in there.

Bianca Schulze

Yeah. Well, we can’t end our conversation, so I want to add one more question here quickly. Just in case anybody missed it, a gorgeous companion to your Caldecott Honor-winning Nana in the City released earlier this year. It’s Nana in the Country. So, do you want to just share a little bit about it and what it meant to you to get to do this follow-up book?

Lauren Castillo

Sure. Nana in the Country just came out in February of this year, 2024. Nana in the City came out in 2014. It was a whole ten years later that this companion book came out and I initially didn’t know that I would be doing a companion book. It was something that, again, was kind of floating around in my brain, I guess, for a little while, and then I just had this aha moment. I want to do a book where Nana visits her grandson who lives in the country. You know, a city mouse, country mouse type vibe. 

So, the book Nana in the City and this book, Nana in the Country, are based on my own childhood experiences. Specifically, the city book was an experience that I had with my own nana. So the nana in both stories is my childhood Nana. Nana lived in the city, and I visited Nana in the city almost every summer and had my own experiences with her. that’s where I learned to love the city. I really was just thinking, especially now that I live in central Pennsylvania and I’m surrounded by farmlands, and Lancaster County is right here, home to a lot of Amish folks and just beautiful rolling hills. I just kept thinking. I think that was probably one of the sparks for Nana in the Country, just my moving to this area and thinking about the landscape, and then, oh, yes, like the boy from Nana in the City lives in the country, and so Nana needs to go visit him in this next story. 

So this book just meant a lot to me because I could revisit these characters, and Nana especially. My own Nana passed away a couple of years ago, and I was really close with her, so just being able to revisit again, I was sharing how cathartic it was to work on. Just like Millie after my dogs had passed away, it was kind of a similar experience with Nana in the Country, actually. And so to get to revisit my Nana’s personality and just kind of who she would be in this instance of visiting her grandchild in the country was just so fun. I actually took a trip to an Airbnb farm in Lancaster, and I stayed there for a few days. I did a lot of research and lots of drawing and writing, and that’s kind of where the story started, so I’m really excited for especially readers who have read Nana and the City to follow up with this book, Nana in the Country. I think, hopefully, you’ll enjoy revisiting time with those characters again, so thanks for bringing that up.

Bianca Schulze

You’re welcome. I mean, I just think whenever any kind of artist, whether it’s a word artist or an illustrator artist, whatever kind of art somebody creates— when they share their heart in that art, then it’s impossible for it not to resonate with people. And so I think that’s what’s magical about what you do, Lauren, is that you do put your heart into it, and we, as the reader, really feel that. So thank you for creating the work that you do, and thank you for being you, and thank you for coming on the show today.

Lauren Castillo

Oh, you’re going to make me cry. For some reason, I’m feeling extra weepy today.

Bianca Schulze

That’s me every day.

Lauren Castillo

That’s funny. Oh, well, thanks for having me and for saying that. And I hope that readers will enjoy the latest, Just Like Millie, and shoot me a message on social media if you liked it or even if you didn’t. Let me know what you like, and I’d love to chat about it. So, yeah, thank you.

Bianca Schulze

Thank you, Lauren.

Read the Transcription

Publisher’s Book Summary: In a gentle story from Caldecott Honoree Lauren Castillo, a shy young girl finds exploring her new city and making friends overwhelming—until a rescue dog helps her uncover the bravery that was always in her.

A young girl and her mother move to an apartment in a new city. Despite her mother’s efforts to take her out, the girl would rather play by herself in their cozy home—she feels just fine on her own. Introductions to children her age have her hiding behind her mother’s legs, and invitations to group activities have her in tears. That is, until she meets Millie, a rescue dog who is not too big, not too small, and kisses her arm when the girl nervously reaches out. With Millie, saying hello to new people isn’t so scary . . . and maybe making a friend isn’t either.

Through emotionally honest prose and soft, expressive illustrations, Lauren Castillo explores one girl’s shyness and anxiety—and how one dog’s love helps her open up—in a warm picture book that reminds readers of how the right companion can make the world feel like a less frightening place.

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Show Notes

Lauren Castillo has illustrated many books for children, including Happy Like Soccer by Maribeth Boelts and Yard Sale by Eve Bunting. Lauren Castillo is also the author-illustrator of the Caldecott Honor Book Nana in the City. She lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania—the setting of Just Like Millie—with her two rescue dogs, who helped her acclimate to the city when she first moved there.

Resources:

Find Lauren Castillo at ⁠laurencastillo.com⁠ and follow her on ⁠Twitter @studiocastillo⁠.

Just Like Millie on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Nana in the Country on ⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠.

Thank you for listening to the Growing Readers Podcast episode: The Power of Pets, Place, and Personal Experience: Lauren Castillo on the Inspirations Behind ‘Just Like Millie’. For the latest episodes from The Growing Readers Podcast, Subscribe or Follow Now.