Hà Dinh and I have been friends on instagram for a while, and I loved her picture books. Now she has come up with a new chapter book series, Ly-Lan and the New Class Mix-Up (Zonderkidz, 2025), illustrated by Tracy Nishimura Bishop. I am excited to welcome Hà to Cynsations to share all about it.
Hi, Hà! Your story, Ly-Lan and the New Class Mix-Up, in the Ly-Lan chapter book series, is about a child finding her way into third grade and discovering that change can be a good thing. What was your inspiration for this story?
Hello! Thank you so much for this opportunity to share about Ly-Lan and my new chapter series. The inspiration for the first book and series came from my childhood, children, and students. As an immigrant child who knew more English than most of my Vietnamese friends who came to America after me in the 90s, I was often asked to translate for them. This experience, along with others from what I saw as an elementary teacher and mom, inspired the storylines for Ly-Lan and all of her adventures in school.
You have written picture books, too. How did you go about choosing the chapter book format for this story?
As a former elementary teacher, I loved reading chapter books with my students and dreamed of writing a series myself. When the idea of Ly-Lan came to me, I knew right away that the format of a chapter series was perfect to help me introduce Ly-Lan to the world and readers into her world.
This book is all about problem solving, and it was fun to see how each character approached the problem differently. How did you manage to create unique personality types for Ly-Lan, and her friends Cece and Jimmy?
Writing the personality for Ly-Lan came very naturally to me because she is the embodiment of me as a child. It brought back so many fun childhood memories and how I tried so hard to solve problems on my own. As for Cece and Jimmy, they were inspired by bits and pieces of my children and students mixed together. My goal was to make these characters lovable, relatable, and memorable.
What do you want readers to take away from this chapter book series?
Ly-Lan is filled with kindness, joy, creativity, and perseverance. I hope readers feel empowered to help their friends at school whenever possible and persevere when they are faced with challenges.
What was your research process for this project?
I did not have to do any research for this project since they are based on my lived experiences and what I have observed as a mom and teacher in an elementary school.
How do you celebrate success?
I celebrate by sharing my stories with young readers as much as I can through book launches, story times, and author visits. Bringing my stories to children truly makes my heart so happy, and that is the best way for me to celebrate when my books are published.
What do you love most about the creative life/being an author and being an educator at the same time?
I love that the work that I do as an educator goes hand in hand with my work as a children’s book author. All of my stories are inspired by childhood experiences, and seeing how it relates to young readers and how much they love the stories makes being an author so rewarding.
What are you working on next?
The Moon Lantern, that is coming out on September 4th of this year. It is a story inspired by the Vietnamese Moon Lantern Festival with a twist on an old tradition.
I also have some other picture book projects that I have in the pipeline. Thank you so much for letting me share more about Ly-Lan! I can’t wait to share more about her and her world with readers everywhere!
Cynsational Notes
Hà Dinh wanted to be an author from the moment she first held a book in her hands. In addition to her writing, she is the founder of the Happy Days in First Grade Teaching Blog and an educator. Hà hopes to inspire children to share their own stories and make a positive impact in the world. She lives with her husband and two children in Texas.
Suma Subramaniam is the author of several children’s books including the V. Malar series (Candlewick Press, 2024, 2025, 2027), My Name Is Long As A River (Penguin Workshop, 2024), and Crystal Kite Award Winner, Namaste Is A Greeting (Candlewick Press, 2022). Her poems have been published in the Young People’s Poetry edition of Poetry Magazine from Poetry Foundation. She is a volunteer at We Need Diverse Books and SCBWI Western Washington. When she’s not writing, she’s blogging about children’s books. Suma has an MFA in Creative Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Learn more at https://sumasubramaniam.com.