Embracing Who You Are with Leslie Coleburn and Jilly Goat
- Valerie
- 11 minutes ago
- 14 min read
Award-winning author Leslie Coleburn chats with BookWorthy about her latest picture book, Jilly Goat, about knowing ourselves and loving who we are.
Help BookWorthy make plans and know how to serve your best by filling out the 2026 Listener survey. Click the link, answer 10 questions. I can't wait to hear what you have to say.
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity but reflects the full conversation from the BookWorthy Podcast. Grab a cup of coffee, listen, and read along. This post does contain affiliate links. Thanks for your support.
Valerie - Welcome to Bookworthy, where we talk about the heart behind the books your kids are reading. Today, we're talking with children's author Leslie Colburn about her latest picture book, Jilly Goat. I interviewed Leslie two books and two years ago, back when this podcast was the Again and Again Book Review blog, and I am pleased to have her join me today here on Bookworthy. Welcome to Bookworthy, Leslie.
Leslie - Hi, thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here.
Valerie - You've been fun to watch in your author journey, and so I'm excited to have you here. But we have to start with our random question of the week. And today's question is, if you were the eighth dwarf, what would your name be?
Random Question of the Week
Leslie - Gosh, the eighth dwarf. I love Snow White, and I love Dopey, and I love, yeah, going to Disney World and going on that train, that little train thing. I think that if I were the eighth dwarf, I would either have to be like mama dwarf, because we're moms and we're in the thick of that, or maybe like Dancer. So my second daughter is into line dancing, like country swing and line dancing. And you know, when they're that age, you either join them or you have this distance. So if you want to hang out with your older kids, you've got to kind of jump in with them. So she has taught me some line dancing, and it is so much fun. Like the cowboy boots and the, you know, just really a lot of fun. So that's kind of, I've enjoyed that. And maybe that would be something fun to be.
Valerie - That would be fun to see all the dwarfs going and line dancing while they're singing their songs. Too fun. Well, Leslie, why don't you tell us a little bit about your latest picture book, Jilly Goat?
The Heart Behind Jilly Goat
Leslie - My gosh, I'm so excited about this book. It releases on September 1st, 2026. And it is about a goat on a ranch, and she's a fainting goat, and she is the only fainting goat on the ranch. And so the other goats kind of make fun of her, and she just doesn't fit in with them, and they eat her oats. And there's a wolf on the ranch who was lurking around, and the other goats are scared of the wolf. And so she kind of realizes when they hide with her in the hay that she is not the only one who isn't perfect. And so, yeah, it's about this Gilly goat and what I love about it. There are a lot of things I love about it, but my oldest daughter is an artist. And so she is working on the pictures, and she's really brought Jilly the goat to life. And actually, Jilly goat, the reason that I started writing this book is that my mom, whose name was Jill, passed away about 20 years ago. But you know, we just try to keep her memory alive, and all of the things that she taught me, I try to pass on to my girls. And so this was a really fun way to honor her and keep her memory alive. And she used to teach us that when you fall, like literally when you fall, you have to get back up, obviously, but you can either laugh or cry. And I think in life, we have to remember that too. Life is not perfect, and there are times when we fall, and we have to get back up, and we have to find the humor in it, and it's okay to cry.
Valerie - That sounds like a lot of fun. I love how you've kind of played on the billy goat name that's so common and changed it to Jilly Goat because that just seems fun. It's double fun that your daughter is helping you with the illustrations. That's a fun thing to work together on for sure.
Leslie - Because I have absolutely, I couldn't even draw a stick figure. And so she has this gift, and I just love that we get to work together on something that means so much to both of us. Yeah, it's fun.
Valerie - Very true. Now, do you have any goats of your own that have been a little bit of your inspiration here?
Leslie - No, I don't have any goats. I actually went to a writer's retreat in California at a place called the Oaks Center. And I don't know if you know Bob Goff, but he runs a writing retreat. And so he and his friends were there. And it's not just about writing. They take you down to the animals that they have at the Oaks Center. And there are horses, and then they have fainting goats. And so, as I was there visiting, and looking at these sweet little goats with their eyes. Luckily, we didn't actually see them faint. And the funny thing about fainting goats is they don't actually faint. It's more like their muscles seize up and stiffen, and then they fall over. So they're not unconscious, which I had learned a little bit about them. But yeah, we got to meet these goats. They were kind of the inspiration, and it tied it all together. And I was like, " Oh my gosh, these are so cute. They make great characters.
Valerie - Most definitely. I love how, you know, there's such a correlation between this fainting goat syndrome, in a sense, to our own, you know, lives and that you're pulling in from that and helping us kind of see a little bit of our own struggles as not quite as scary as it has to be or can be because I know we kind of are living in an anxious generation and that is anything and everything kind of makes even children really anxious. And so I love that you're kind of addressing that, it's not so much a bad thing, it's something to work with and to understand about yourself. And I think that's a very amazing thing to give our kids as they're growing up in a world where anxiety is almost a first response.
Leslie - Yeah, and we've all had those times where we don't fit in. And I think that that's OK. When I look back at the times I didn't fit in, there are blessings in that, right? But the end of the book, actually, her fainting saves the day. So I'm excited about that, too. She didn't change who she was. She just worked with who she was and found acceptance in that, too.
She didn't change who she was. She just worked with who she was and found acceptance in that, too.
Valerie - What we all want, right, is to be accepted for who we are and as we were made and to help those around us. Yes.
Leslie - Yes, we are. There's nobody else like us. Yeah, there's nobody else like us, and it's amazing.
Valerie - Very fun. I'm excited about this book. Now we kind of talked about this a little bit, but what do you hope the kids walk away from with this book?
Leslie’s Goal for Jilly Goat
Leslie - You know, I think that our kids, to love books and really learn from books, they have to see themselves in the characters, right? They have to be able to identify with a character who isn't perfect, who doesn't have everything all together, who isn't the favorite or the most popular or athletic or whatever. They're not the most. They have to be able to see themselves in a character. So I would hope that readers can see themselves in this character, Jilly Goat, see that she is not perfect, but she is perfect in who she is, just as she is. That would be my hope. And maybe they would laugh a little bit. There's a, my daughter put a little ladybug on each page, and the ladybug is a character of her own, just because illustrations bring everything to life. So there's a little ladybug in there, and I just hope that our readers will see the little ladybug and get a kick out of her, too.
Valerie - I love little characters like that. I think what Frog and Toad and Little Critter always have are these little mice or spiders moving along in the journey, too. And I love little things like that in books that you can find different every time you read it, and just.
Leslie - Like an Easter egg. Yeah.
Valerie - Yes, yes, add another layer to the story with little things and little surprises. So very fun. Well, Leslie, did you always want to be an author?
Leslie - Oh gosh, you know, I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. So I think that's kind of been the right and that's okay. As our kids grew up, they didn't need us as much. In third grade, I had this amazing teacher. Her name was Mrs. Pickett. And I'm not going to say she made us, but she made us enter a young author's contest. And I remember, you know, it was like my first real writing assignment, and like we had all of the phases and the steps in the writing process. And I wrote, I probably chose poetry because it was so short. Like you didn't have to write a lot. But I wrote a poem and entered it. And I remember getting some sort of recognition for it. Like it won something. Don't, you know, I don't know what it was, but the thing I remember most about it was my dad. He recorded me reciting that poem with his camcorder. And, you know, I just felt like,
I have something to say. So that was my first experience with writing, but I didn't write again until many years later, after my daughters were born. And I started writing those love letters on Mother's Day because I'd lost my mom. And so I was trying to figure out how to celebrate Mother's Day on a day that I was missing my mom, but I still wanted to celebrate being a mom. So I started writing them love letters, and really, the ones that became my first books came from those love letters. And so I just felt like it was a way to remember my mom and take what she taught me and then pass that on to my girls, like a bridge almost. So that's why I really enjoy writing now. I feel like it's a way to leave something with my kids and others, and then other kids too. I want to remind them that they matter.
That's why I really enjoy writing now. I feel like it's a way to leave something with my kids and others, and then other kids too. I want to remind them that they matter.
Valerie - We all need that reminder. I love that, you know, we talked, I think, two years ago back on the Again and Again book review about that first book, then how your mom inspired those little love letters and those little bits of truth that you wanted to pass on to your family and how you're going to continue that throughout all of your books just to communicate this strong heart and love for family and identity in both in God and just value as a human being themselves and so I love what you've done there. Now, what is your favorite book, Leslie?
Leslie - Are we talking about like an adult book or one of all time, or a kids' book? Cause you know.
Valerie - Let's go with all time.
Leslie Coleburn’s Favorite Book
Leslie - All-time favorite book. Gosh, I love it. I'm a Mary Poppins fan. I love Mary Poppins. I love that whimsy and the magic. And I know I talked about my mom, but my mom did not like Mary Poppins. She just, she would not, she doesn't want to watch it or read it. And the reason is, it's like we talked about before, Mary Poppins was perfect. Like, who's perfect? None of us is perfect. So I think that was, yeah. And so that was funny.
Valerie - All time practically perfect in every way.
Leslie - I remember laughing about that with her, like, I know we're not perfect, but look at this. And I love The Wizard of Oz. I just love that. Yeah, I love that. And then I also love, like Gone with the Wind. I think the classics. Love that. That was the first time I was older when I read that. I think I was like 19 when I really sat down and read Gone with the Wind, but it gave such a great perspective of the history of the Civil War, which I wasn't interested in when I learned about it in high school. So I love that I got that perspective, and it got me interested in it, gave me this just this different perspective of it for sure. So yeah, I think those are I like the classics.
Valerie - Most definitely. It's a good thing to like, it's one of those I think we all, whether we've read them in high school or not, you kind of have to Dip your toes in the classics a little bit just to understand kind of a bit of the history of Books themselves and how it's changed over the years and it's always fun. I think was it I read I challenged myself to read a Tale of Two Cities and I learned reading that that you need to give a book at least seven chapters because it doesn't get good until seven chapters in and I was like all right I I made it through this if I can make it through seven chapters and I don't like a book that's when I can put it down give it seven chapters give it a little time too fun now you mentioned your favorite children's book let me know which one.
Leslie - Okay, I'm gonna have to read that one and see and give it seven chapters. So I really love Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. Do you know that one? It's the theme of magic. There's a magic pebble, and when you hold it, you can make a wish. And it's a donkey, Sylvester's a donkey, and he's holding the pebble, and he's out, and he wants to disappear. There's a, I think it's a wolf that comes around, and he's holding onto the pebble, and he makes a wish to turn into a rock.
Valerie - I don't know that one.
Leslie - Well, as he turns into a rock, that pebble falls away, and he can't make a wish without the pebble. And so, of course, his parents miss him, but it has this really happy ending. And yeah, it's just a sweet one. But I think the book that really got me interested in reading when I was in second grade, my teacher, Mrs. Edwards, read the book Ramona Quimby, age eight to us. My gosh, I love that book. And funny thing about Beverly Cleary, the author of that, when she was in first grade, she was on academic probation because she didn't want to read, and it was for reading. But what she said was that she couldn't relate to the characters of the books that she was reading, like the ones where the characters were perfect. And so she created this book about maybe kind of herself when she was at age, like mischievous and, you know, rambunctious and wild. And so she, you know, wrote over like 40 books and sold 90 million copies. And I remember wanting so badly to get that book for Christmas when I was in second grade. Like all the toys, I remembered that book, and I got it. And back in those days, it was like this cantaloupe colored book with Ramona Quimby on the front cover with her hair sticking up all over. And I just was so excited. I think that's probably my favorite book growing up. And then I started to read cause it was a, you know, it was a chapter book, and I was, you know, starting to get into those chapter books. So Beverly Cleary really knew what she was doing.
Valerie - She knew kids, and you know, what is it? Think she even, I think, how was it? The character Fudge in one of her books is based on her son and some of his antics as well. And I just love how she gets the heart and mind of kids. And that's what drags people in, gets them addicted to these amazing characters, and they just fall in love with reading. And I think that's her legacy for sure.
Leslie - I love that. Yeah. None of us is perfect, for sure.
Valerie - That's right, we all have a little Ramona Quimby in us for sure. Too fun. Well, what can we expect next from you, Leslie?
Leslie’s Upcoming Projects
Leslie - So I am working on, after Jilly Goat, I wanna get that launched and get that in as many hands as I can. And then I'm just working on, I am working on more of a 21-day devotional for grief. You know, after losing my mom, I just got stuck. I was a young mom. And so I am working on a 21-day devotional for grief, which is a little bit out of my genre, but I just want to help other moms without moms in their journey and remind them that they matter and that they're right where they need to be, too. So that's what I'm working on next.
Valerie - That sounds exciting and really speaks to your heart and your journey and how God has taken you on a path that not everyone would choose, but to be able to minister to moms who are possibly walking through a similar road. And I love how God turns our hardships into something heaven-sent.
Leslie- He was, and he's always with us, and I think that was one thing that I forgot, and so I want to remind anybody, but especially those who have lost somebody close to them, and it may not even be through death, it may be just through proximity or through maybe illness that they're not alone.
He was, and he's always with us, and I think that was one thing that I forgot, and so I want to remind anybody.
Valerie - Yeah, I think that's a very universal need in our world for certain. So I look forward to hearing more about that. Where can people find out more about you and your books, Leslie?
How to Connect with Leslie Coleburn
Leslie - So I have a website, it's my name, lesliecolburn.com, and then on Instagram and TikTok. Right. And then, yeah, I have my email, we can put it in the show notes too, but yeah.
Valerie - We'll be sure to put those in the show notes. And Jilly Goat comes out here in September.
Leslie - So yeah, if your pre-orders are always wonderful, they always let the algorithms know that people like this book, and it helps other people find it too. So if you jump on and do a quick pre-order, then that comes out on September 1st, which actually is my mom's birthday. So that's kind of meaningful as well. We're just trying it all together. But yeah, that and that website, but also anywhere books are sold, Amazon, Barnes and Noble. So yeah, let's spread the word.
Valerie - I'm very excited, and I can't wait to see Jilly Goat and her fainting through some fun. Well, thank you so much for joining me today, Leslie.
Leslie - Absolutely. Thank you, Valerie. I really appreciate it.
Valerie - My pleasure. Thank you for joining Leslie and me on this episode of the Bookworthy podcast.
Let us know in the comments if you were the eighth dwarf, what would your name be?
Be sure to join the Bookworthy family reading challenge this summer, and we look forward to seeing you more over on social media.
Happy reading!
Comments