(How) Can we read? Interview with Lisl Detlefsen

I won’t even pretend I don’t have a soft spot for Wisconsin authors and illustrators, because of course I do. This is my home, and while I am entirely okay with it remaining wildly underrated (keep flying over — please!), I’m proud of all the amazing things there are to be found in this state, children’s book creators included. (It’s my dream to interview as many of them as possible.)

Lisl Detlefsen first came across my radar via her outstanding book Right This Very Minute: A Table-to-Farm Book About Food and Farming, no doubt because I was in the throes of trying to teach my children where our food comes from. (Out of the many titles I collected for this endeavor, Right This Very Minute, along with Before We Eat: From Farm to Table by Pat Brisson and It’s Milking Time by Phyllis Alsdurf, rose to the top. I am working on a mini issue on books about farms and farming, coming out in July, where I’ll share more of my most-recommended in this category.)

Right This Very Minute by Lisl Detlefsen

Detlefsen’s books in general are a fantastic place to start if you’re interested in reading more about agriculture — Time for Cranberries and Farm Boots both offer engaging glimpses into life on working farms (I highly recommend the latter for anyone with toddlers) — though her talent goes beyond agricultural topics, with titles like Catkwondo 😂

I love how unique her topics are, but my favorite part about Detlefsen’s work is that the messages of all of her books are relatable, supportive, and loving — she doesn’t ever preach or talk down to her young readers, but rather, invites them into experiences that might be familiar (or might not) with compassion and understanding.

Here’s a little more about Lisl:

Lisl H. Detlefsen is is the author of a growing number of picture books, including the upcoming At the End of the Day, illustrated by Lynnor Bontigao, a free-verse story about how even a day filled with frustration can end with love and the promise of tomorrow. She lives on a family-owned cranberry marsh near Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin with her husband, two sons, and two cats.

1,2,3, Jump! by Lisl Detlefsen

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How long have you been writing for children, and what called you to this work?

I have always loved books and storytelling, a love I know came from my mom, who read to me every day. While I sold my first book in 2013, I’ve essentially been writing for children since I could hold a crayon. Before I could write myself, I would dictate my stories to my mom, who would write them down for me on typing paper, leaving room for me to illustrate, too. Wanting to me a children’s book creator is the first “job” I ever remember saying I wanted as a kid, and I feel incredibly lucky that I have the opportunity to live out that childhood dream!

A number of your books are focused on agriculture. Is this a case of “writing what you know,” or did you set out to be an agvocate, through picture books?

Growing up, my family was not involved in agriculture, so I didn’t have that knowledge of — or even appreciation for — agriculture and all the work that goes into it until I met my now-husband, a fifth-generation cranberry grower. I think growing up outside of that world, but now having my life revolve around it, put me in the perfect spot to see why it’s so important for people to appreciate farming and understand where our food comes from.

My first book, Time for Cranberries, was very much inspired by my life on the cranberry farm and talking to readers about that book served as fuel for telling more stories about agriculture and becoming a proud agvocate.

Yeah, we have a lot of cows (and mink!), but did you know more cranberries are grown in Wisconsin than any other state?

Can you recommend any other children’s books about agriculture that you think are particularly well done, or do a great job of portraying farming, whether it’s running a dairy operation or a cranberry farm?

One of the publishers I’ve worked with, Feeding Minds Press, has a small but growing list of books dedicated to telling the story of agriculture, including a few of my own! I’m particularly drawn to titles that tell the story of agriculture in different ways: I love Lisa Amstutz’ Applesauce Day, which is lovely and lyrical. Michelle Houts’ Barn at Night feels both current and timeless in its depiction of a farming family as they care for their animals. Janice N. Harrington has several picture book biographies about unsung ag heroes, including Buzzing with Questions: The Inquisitive Mind of Charles Henry Turner.

Tell us a little about At the End of the Day — the genesis of story, etc. What was your favorite part of writing and creating this book?

At the End of the Day actually began with me hearing that phrase endlessly repeated by news pundits during an election year. It occurred to me how it’s a lovely phrase yet was losing all meaning in being repeated so much. What does matter at the end of the day?

I then thought about how as kids — and parents! — there are often “two shifts,” the school or workday, and then all the chaos that follows it: music lessons, sports, dinner, bedtime, etc. I wanted to explore how all of those “second shift” activities, while fun and important, can also be exhausting or draining at times. Yet, at the end of the day, that wind-down time with a bath and a book and a lot of love can help things feel right again.

Honestly, I loved writing the book, and then illustrator Lynnor Bontigao brought new excitement to the project with her visual plot-line, which I adore (but will not say too much about as I want readers to see it for themselves!)

This is a question I ask everyone I interview: what are a few titles, recent or otherwise, that have stood out to you as being so excellent you wish they were on the shelf in every home and classroom? 

Oh, so many choices!

I think Chirp! Chipmunk Sings for a Friend is a perfect picture book. Author Jamie A. Swenson is a dear friend, but I believe I would love this book regardless — Scott Magoon’s illustrations are the perfect pairing for the text, which is such a beautiful story of friendship and singing your own song, even when it’s a sad one.

Rebecca Stead’s When You Reach Me is one of my all-time favorite middle grade novels, and I think Jarrett J. Krosoczka’s graphic novel Hey, Kiddo should be required reading for basically everyone.

I have a love of verse novels, and two that have had the most impact on me are Cordelia Jensen and Laurie Morrison’s Every Shiny Thing, which is told in both verse and prose, and Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam’s Punching the Air.

I think all of these titles are critically important for helping readers gain empathy and understanding for others.

What’s next for you? Are you working on anything new you can tell us about?

While At the End of the Day came out April 23, I have two fall titles this year, too!

Still There Was Bread (HarperCollins) is coming out in October, and I am so excited to share this one! Illustrated by the incredible David Soman, this book is a slightly fictionalized account of my family’s pull-apart bread recipe, and how it has sustained us through good times and bad, including the depression, the polio epidemic, and COVID. My great-grandma’s recipe is even included in the book.

November will bring Each Day is a Gift (Beaming Books), beautifully illustrated by Natalia Vasilica, which is the perfect gift book and is focused on the idea that while each day holds something new and sometimes unexpected, we have the choice of how to accept and use the gift of each day we’re given.

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Micro review: At the End of the Day by Lisl Detlefson, illustrated by Lynnor Bontigao (2024)

My absolute favorite part of Detleftson’s newest title is her clever, heartwarming spin on the phrase “at the end of the day.”

I, for one, am often dangerously close to d-o-n-e DONE at the end of the day, so when the narrative covers, with incredible compassion and clear personal experience, how difficult the end of the day sometimes is inside a family and a home, it offers unexpected relief — oh, it’s not just us. (Add to this Bontigao’s warm, honest digital illustrations inspired by her own life — see the mother in her combat uniform, both on deployment and coming home — and it’s more subtly powerful than it first appears.) But when the story goes on to show all the good things that can happen at the end of the day as well — the small pleasures and expected joys, and the reassurance that all that really matters at the end of the day is love and family — there’s a welcome sense of comfort, maybe even redemption (ha!)

This is a gentle and empathetic everyday read-aloud, but I can also imagine pulling it out during times when family life has been particularly tense, stressful, or challenging of late — and we all have times when that’s true, at least if you’re living with other humans.

Highly recommended.

(Here is a photo of my dear friend and children’s author Laura Bird, Lisl, and me at the launch of At the End of the Day at the fabulous Mystery to Me in Madison, Wisconsin.)

Fabulous children’s authors Laura Bird and Lisl Detlefsen, and moi

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Want to win a copy of this book?

Lisl has generously offered to give away a copy of At the End of the Day, along with some cute swag (see below), to one lucky Can we read? subscriber!

The giveaway will close this Sunday, May 26th at midnight (12:00am CDT). I’ll contact the winners on Monday.

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A big thank you to Lisl for granting me this interview and her generosity in doing a giveaway.

For more information about Detlefsen’s work, visit her website or sign up for her fun newsletter, which features bookish content and, my favorite section, Cranberry Corner. And, of course, be sure to seek out her books at your local library and bookstore, or order online.

Thanks for reading today, and always,
Sarah

P.S. Bookshop.org links in this post are affiliate ones — meaning I get a tiny commission if you use any of them to make a purchase. I appreciate your support!