Katie Kirby is the author and illustrator of the bestselling Lottie Brooks books, an illustrated series for pre-teens filled with friendships, embarrassment and fun. From first boyfriends, to stolen diaries, Lottie experiences all the highs and lows young girls do at her age.
Despite being a mother of two boys (14 and 12) Katie has a unique understanding of what young girls are worried about. She didn't raised teen girls, but the writer draws on her own formative years as inspiration, along with the huge amount of feedback she gets from Lottie fans.
Having spoken to countless parents and young girls through fan mail and at book events, she's learnt that female friendships are one of the biggest sources of stress for pre-teens. 'There's lots of ranking within their friendship groups. There's often that one friend who kind of rules the roost and is the kind of leader of the gang and dictates who's friends with who.' A kind of 'mean girl' energy she summarises.
Also, 'obviously kids that age worry about what they look like and how they're perceived, like being popular and that kind of thing. And so I'm quite conscious not to overly dwell on those issues, and give them weight.'
Although Lottie experiences stress and worry, Katie makes sure the books end on a reassuring note or find humour in the problems that arise. Ultimately, the message is 'we all get things wrong, and she always comes out smiling and laughing on the other side. The learning is that it's never really going to work trying to be something that you're not'.
Throughout her books she tries to teach readers 'you don't have to be the the prettiest, coolest, most popular, sportiest person. It's best to kind of be yourself and make mistakes and find people who love you and support you, no matter what.'
One of the issues she's torn on, both as a parent and a writer, is how to navigate phones though. 'It's really tricky, because obviously my kids have got phones now and we're hearing a lot more on the downsides and people pushing back on waiting to get phones later on.' But rather than outright banning phones, she suggests 'healthy management'.
'I think it's about setting boundaries and also learning, teaching and allowing kids to realise that they get to a point where it's not making them feel good anymore. And I often just think, if it's not making you feel good, then put the phone down and do do something separate.'
Katie thinks her young audience find the books reassuring, especially the fact that Lottie faces the same dilemmas they do. In fact, many readers have told her it's really disheartening to realise Lottie isn't a real person. 'They feel like she's real. So when they're reading about her it's like talking and reading about a friend.'
That feedback is really important to Katie. 'I found a lot of comfort in books when I was that age. And so I wanted to kind of do my own kind of modern take on some of the books that I used to enjoy reading.'
The paperback of The Completely Chaotic Christmas of Lottie Brooks is out now.