Meet the Author: Julie Schanke Lyford
By Rebecca Bauer
Julie Schanke Lyford is the co-author of Katy Has Two Grampas which was released on March 1st. Julie introduced herself as a queerspawn, as her father, co-author, Robert Schanke came out in the 80’s. While the term queerspawn threw Julie at first, given the negative connotations historically associated with the word queer, she’s come to embrace the identity.
Based on a True Story
The inspiration for Katy Has Two Grampas came from Julie’s own life experiences. Her father has been with his husband for 35 years now, and Julie’s kids don’t know what life is like without gay grandpas. “To them, it’s normal,” Julie said, “and that’s what we try to show in the book.” Just like in the story, Julie’s daughter, Katy, had a lisp and it was hard to understand her at times. At school, when shared about a visit to see her Grampas, the teacher corrected her, assuming she meant Grandpa and Grandma.
The teacher was apologetic, and Julie understood it was an honest mistake, but it highlighted for her the assumptions that people make every day. “That’s why we wrote the book, to change assumptions” she shared. “People assume if you’re talking about grandparents it’s a male and female, but it can be two grandpas, it can be two grandmas. We’re trying to change assumptions.”
Representation Matters
Julie emphasized that representation in children’s books matters because everyone deserves to see themselves in stories. When children see themselves and their families represented, it reinforces that these families exist. Julie and Robert chose to put their photos at the end of the book to reiterate that point. Not only are there kids’ with two grandpas in picture books, they exist in real life, too, and the Schanke family is just one example!
In addition to validating families who look like the Schankes, there’s a lot to learn from the story beyond LGBTQ+ inclusion. “One of the things we did intentionally was we didn’t majorly focus on the Grampas’ story,” Julie noted. “It’s more that Katy’s scared to talk in front of the class and terrified of being made fun of.” When Katy was young, she would opt to not speak at all. Julie wanted to write a story that would help kids understand the importance of perseverance. “You can overcome things, whether it be a stutter, or that you’re shy. Just because you’re scared doesn’t mean you can’t overcome it,” she shared.
Finding a Role for Everyone
Julie felt strongly that this was her family’s story and all of her family needed to be included. Deviating slightly from the real life events, Julie wrote Madi’s role into the story, so both of her children could be featured. She and Robert even found a way to include Julie’s mother, Ruth. If you look on the page where the grandparents come to the classroom, the woman on the edge of the page, talking to Katy, is her grandma, Robert’s ex-wife. “We both wanted to be sure to include her in the book,” Julie noted. “Our family’s story wouldn’t be what it was, if she and my dad didn’t get along the way they do. They created a family unit for everyone.”
A Few Fun Facts
Julie’s family is a fan of another Pride & Less Prejudice favorite, Heather Has Two Mommies. In fact, Julie revealed that it helped to inspire their own title!
Julie enjoys Easter eggs in stories and chose to include a hamster that rolls through the book on 8 different pages -- can your kids find them all?
Julie has generously donated copies of Katy Has Two Grampas to Pride and Less Prejudice.
