Creator Corner: Author and Illustrator Thao Lam

Welcome to Creator Corner, a blog series where we interview the creators of our recent and upcoming books. For this post, we interviewed Different Good author and illustrator Thao Lam, whose book is publishing October 20, 2026!

Owlkids Books: Thao, what is your favorite thing about writing and illustrating children’s books?

Thao Lam: My favorite thing about writing and illustrating children’s books is finding creative solutions to problems. A story can take so many different directions, and as a writer or illustrator, you have some control over how the story unfolds.

I both love and fear the creative process. It requires a great deal of trust—in yourself, your editor, and ultimately, your readers. I never quite know where a story is going to take me, which makes the process exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. And when it’s finally done, I feel an enormous sense of relief.

But that uncertainty is also what keeps me going. I thrive on the creative challenge and love figuring out what a story needs, one problem at a time.

Owlkids Books: What was the inspiration for writing this book?

Thao Lam: My daughter’s pockets were always full of treasures she found along the way—sticks, trinkets, feathers, but mostly rocks. Rocks of every shape and size. More than once, I forgot to check her pockets before tossing her clothes into the wash and would hear the familiar clunk, clunk, clunk of stones tumbling through the spin cycle.

One day, she proudly presented me with a handful of “gems”—carefully collected gravel from our neighbor’s driveway. It was an incredibly thoughtful gift, though together we decided the gems should find their way back home.

Those little pockets full of rocks made me want to write a book about stones. After all, rocks come in all shapes, sizes, and textures, and like our children, each one is a gem. Some sparkle, some are rough around the edges, and some take time to reveal their beauty, but every one is precious in its own way.

OKB: What was the most enjoyable part of bringing this story to life?

TL: The most enjoyable part of bringing a story to life is solving the creative problems along the way. It feels a bit like solving a Sudoku puzzle—each piece needs to find its place, and sometimes the solution isn’t obvious at first. There’s a lot of experimenting, questioning, and trusting your instincts. Then, when everything finally comes together, there’s a wonderful sense of satisfaction. Taking something that began as an idea in your head and slowly turning it into something real is one of the most rewarding parts of the creative process.

OKB: What was the most challenging part of the process?

TL: The most challenging part of the process is the creative problem-solving. I rarely know exactly where a story is going, and it often goes through many iterations. More often than not, the finished book takes a complete 180 from the idea I originally pitched to the publisher.

From beginning to end, I’m feeling my way in the dark. There’s a lot of experimenting, questioning, taking wrong turns, and learning to trust your instincts. Sometimes the process feels like stumbling around until you finally find your way—and there are definitely a few bruised knees along the way.

But that uncertainty is also what makes the creative process so rewarding.

OKB: What do you hope readers will take away from this book?

TL: Different Good is meant to be shared and read aloud. I imagined a child and their grown-up reading it together, laughing and chuckling along the way. I want readers to feel encouraged to be over-the-top, silly, and playful with the story.

I also don’t want the story to end on the last page. I want the conversation to continue—to encourage them to wander beyond the words and pictures.

In many ways, I wanted to recreate my own memories of reading with Maddie, when we would inevitably veer off from the story, make up our own conversations, and follow wherever our imaginations took us.

Thank you so much Thao for taking the time to do this interview and creating a wonderful book! We hope readers enjoy Different Good as much as we did!

Pre-order your copy today!