writing inspiration – Jen Carney

Why do you represent a foster family in The Day My Dog Got Famous?

It’s no secret that I’m passionate about the representation of different types of families in children’s books. Indeed, a conversation with my son about the lack of positive representation of children with same-sex parents in upbeat books was my starting point for my debut series, The Accidental Diary of B.U.G., which has been praised for its accessible, age-appropriate inclusion – shortlisted for the national Polari Prize and winner of the Sparks Children’s Book Award. (You can read about that conversation in this blog post.)

In my latest series, I’ve represented a foster family. Specifically, a blended foster family headed up by two mums.

The series starts with The Day My Dog Got Famous which tells the story of Ferris (the mums’ birth child) and his mission (with the help of his newly-placed foster sister) to make his dozy dog more like the cartoon canine he draws for fun. Why? So he can beat his boastful next door neighbour and her uber-talented poodle in an online pet-popularity contest.

Teacher feedback: “The Day My Dog Got Famous doesn’t just show the wonder of dogs but presents a sensitive window into the life of a foster family, as well as the emotions of a young boy who has to deal with children coming in and out of his home for varying lengths of time.”

Real-Life Inspiration

I was inspired to write this series by my sister who, in addition to having four of her own children, has fostered for over 20 years. And by my nephews and niece who, like my protagonist, Ferris, have generously opened their lives and their hearts to welcome foster children into their home for various periods of time.

Through funny capers with dogs, cartoons and comic strips, The Day My Dog Got Famous explores some of the emotions experienced by birth children who are part of blended families: frustration, connection, love and loss.

Teacher feedback: “…not just a fabulous story but one that is highly inclusive and one that balances humour with heartache to absolute perfection.”

Representing Children in Foster Care

A mother through adoption myself, and a previous panel member for both fostering and adoption agencies, through the series I’ve also dipped into some of the reasons children can find themselves foster care, how they feel, and the repercussions that can ensue – all at a level that children will understand.

In book one, The Day My Dog Got Famous, the family provides respite care for a child whose regular carer is in hospital.

In book two, The Day My School Exploded, the family are fostering a child who has been removed from his mother and separated from his brother, and is soon going to be living with a relative.

Book three will focus on a child who is looked after under a Special Guardianship arrangement and comes to the Fosters (yes, the main family are called Foster as well as being foster carers!) for a respite placement.

All three books include a long-term foster child with additional needs to represent the sad fact that such children often remain in the care system for longer than their peers. (I’m an experienced parent to a wonderful child with special needs. Showing that children with additional needs are much more than just their difficulties was also important to me when writing this series.)

The message that family is often bigger than biology is seeded through the series.

Parent feedback: “Where the book tips the line to excellent is the touches of diversity and the truths of human life…Ferris having a ‘hard to place’ foster sister, and two mums, and what that impact that has. It looks at the how and who can be in care, for respite or permanent – and what that looks like for existing children.”

Why represent foster families in children’s books?

It’s always about mirrors and windows for me.

REPRESENTATION – the mirror

Representation is the key to successful reading for pleasure – a well-known indicator of a child’s future life-chances and well-being.

In the UK alone, there are almost 54,000 foster families and approximately 70,000 foster children living with them.

These children deserve to see themselves in a funny book. As do the many birth children living in blended families.

2. EMPATHY – the window

Providing a sneak view into the life of someone else gives children with little (or no) experience of foster care the opportunity to learn about other children’s lives. This helps them to build empathy as they broaden their understanding of the world.

The Day My Dog Got Famous is out now and available via Amazon, Bookshop.org, independent bookshops, chain bookstores and libraries.

The Day My School Exploded will be released on 6th February 2025 and is available to pre-order now.

The third title will follow in February 2026.

What inspired you to write the B.U.G. series?

It was a complaint from my son when he was about eleven that drove me to write the first draft of what has since been published by Puffin as The Accidental Diary of B.U.G. series.

At the time, the only kinds of books he’d read independently were laugh-out-loud funny, highly accessible to even the most reluctant reader, and (more often than not) heavily illustrated. (I’ll blog about my experience of the power of funny books for reluctant readers in a subsequent post.)

His complaint: Why do the main characters in these types of books never have two mums or two dads?

After failing to source him such a book, I figured I’d write one.

In all honesty, my initial draft was for his eyes only. Avoiding his reading kryptonite of text-heavy paragraphs in favour of interactive pages, doodles aplenty and gags about spellings, I created a protagonist whose life vaguely represented his reality (adopted by two mums) and I was overjoyed when he told me he loved it.

Mission accomplished!

Or so I thought…

A couple of years later, I shared the manuscript with my then eight-year-old daughter and was thrilled to see her as engrossed as my son had been. It was when she expressed how much she’d love all children to have access to a mainstream ‘laugh about it in the playground’ book that illustrated how perfectly ‘normal’ ‘different’ families actually are, that I knew I needed to try my luck at finding a publisher!

Positive representation, I’ve learned, matters enormously to all children. At the time of my son’s complaint, our bookshelves were sagging under the weight of books featuring children who had been adopted and children with same sex parents. The problem was, they were all picture books we’d shared when our children were small, non-fiction books a little too earnest in their ‘you’re so special’ message, a bit depressing, or contained too many emotional triggers.

We also had plenty of books that featured families very similar to ours as a matter of fact – manic parents making questionable packed lunches, children recounting school mishaps, curious family anecdotes and so on. But none of the main characters ever had same sex parents.

It was the light-hearted humour, combined with the honest, matter-of-fact, ‘this is who I am’ nature of Billie, the protagonist of The Accidental Diary of B.U.G. series, that my children took to. Not only did it satisfy their hunger to see themselves in a book, it enabled them to verbalize how a book like mine could fill the gap they were both acutely aware was missing from their peers’ libraries – a funny ‘middle grade’ read that would incidentally expose all children to the normality of everyday life of our kind of family.

The Accidental Diary of B.U.G. and Basically Famous are available to buy now. The third in the series, Sister Act will be published on 3^rd February 2022.

I really enjoyed reading the adventures of Billie Upton Green (not Bug!!)! Billie is a delightful and relatable character, and her escapades are both funny and heart-warming. I particularly enjoyed the inclusivity in the text, and it’s a real joy to see such positive LGBTQ+ representation in children’s books. Jen has written a real treat for younger readers, and the artwork is fabulous, too!
― L. D. Lapinski, author of The Strangeworlds Travel Agency

Readers will love Billie’s adventures, and her funny, doodle-filled way of sharing them, as much as they love the Dork Diaries or Wimpy Kid stories, and it’s great too to see such a warm celebration of diverse family life.
― LoveReading4Kids

Carney’s lively, upbeat Billie is a welcome inclusive addition to the world of illustrated diaries. Her two mums feel like people I know, her weariness at explaining their existence just as familiar – and Billie herself is a treat, from her passion for biscuits to her determined pursuit of the school thief. Fun, funny, and deceptively clever.
Susie Day, author of Max Kowalski Didn’t Mean It

A brilliant, hilarious and heartwarming book! I’m pretty sure if I’d read this as a child it wouldn’t have taken me quite so long to understand and accept my own queer identity. Amazing for normalising same-sex parenting and adoption, completely laugh-out-loud funny and a feast for the eyes with lots of fun and engaging doodles. I loved it!
Abigail Balfe, author of A Different Sort of Normal