You know Leigh Bardugo for her Grishaverse novels. You may even know her for The Ninth House. Now she’s done something that many wouldn’t have expected. She teamed up with Liz Climo, who you’ll know for the Rory the Dinosaur books, to write a children’s book.
Better Pets is a wonderful exploration of finding the right animal for you. Bardugo and Climo chatted with Parade about the collaboration, including how it started and why this story was so important.
There are so many styles of art and cartoon work, so I started by getting to know more about Climo’s style. After all, as I started prepping for the interview, the reason I knew her name finally clicked into place. I’d read the Rory the Dinosaur books to my youngest when she was a toddle.
I started to feel like we were spirit animals for the way of her love for this style of cartoon art came to her, as it turns out that, like me, she had cousins who were either much older than her or much younger than her, and it led to her spending a lot of time on her own at her grandparents’ house.
Photo by Ceren Lee“All the cousins were grouped off, and I was just by myself, so I would sit in the corner at my grandparents’ house and just flip through the Far Side calendars,” Climo explained, “They had a lot of really cool New YorkerMagazine stuff, so I was around that and a lot of cards and comics. My grandmother was also a children’s book author, so she had some really cool stuff in her house all the time.”
It turned out that Bardugo loved Climo’s style, and “thought she would be perfect for [Better Pets].” Bardugo quickly went to her agent to see if The Simpsons storyboard revisionist had the time available to collaborate, knowing that she was a busy woman.
“Meanwhile, I was at my house, reading the email, and couldn’t believe Leigh was interested in having me illustrate this book,” Climo laughed, “It was a no-brainer for me.”
The collaboration dream started from there, and it was a dream. Since the two live in the same city, they were able to collaborate in person. They could take photos of the index cards they would lay out on the table, and discuss in real time about what to do and how things would fit together.
There was a full lesson in trust for Bardugo, who shared that she would “come up with an idea, and Liz would make it funnier.” In the end, the Shadow and Bone author would run a joke or idea by Climo first to see if it was good.
As we got chatting about the book, which follows Yvette and Evan finding the perfect pets for them, we got to the heart of the story. There was a lot of discussion about the type of pets that we already have, and how certain trends on social media or certain expectations of a breed or type of pet can lead to people ending up with the wrong one for them.
Courtesy of MacMillan Children's Publishing GroupBardugo shared how the dog that she has is one that was sent back to the shelter a few times, and it’s due to his reactive behavior because of his life experiences. She and her husband had to build their lives around him, which she doesn’t regret at all.
As someone with huskies who are somewhat reactive, especially one of them toward smaller dogs, I get it. They can’t be boarded, so they need a dedicated and trusted petsitter when we go away, and that’s what Bardugo has found with her dog, Fred.
“I feel like telling this story was a chance to celebrate animals and how much we love them, and how unique they all are. I hope next time there’s an adoption fair that it might make people more open-minded, or it’s a way to talk about finding the right pet.”
For some people, that means a fish, like Trish has in the story, or it could be a snake for some.
“It was deeply inspired by this wonderful creature that came into our lives, who just needed a little extra love and care to become the dog he was supposed to be,” Bardugo continued, “And a little bit by just how much I love word play. I love puns.”
It’s something that she hopes other readers will take from this story, focusing on how all animals are “living creatures with their own needs.” By getting animals for the sake of fancy tricks and social media expectations, or just not meeting the animals at the level they’re at, a lot of pets are ending up in shelters and rescues.
Of course, Better Pets is nothing like the novels such as Shadow and Bone and The Six of Crows, so this was a test to see if Bardugo could write it.
“Picture books are a different kind of poetry to me, and I think they’re an extraordinary art form. They take tremendous skill, and my experience as a writer has been that the shorter the form, the more challenging it is. When writing a novel, I’ve got all kinds of room to play.”
Climo also acknowledged that she took this on as a way to see if she could do it.
“When I read it, I wanted to start working on it right away. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything that has made me so eager to sit down and start drawing. It unlocked a part of my brain from my childhood that I’ve gotten a little bit further away from, like the fantastical way of drawing animals.”
Courtesy of Leigh BardugoTo finish, I had to ask Bardugo about writing the foreword for the 50th anniversary of Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, which turned into a much bigger discussion about where we were and how we felt reading that beautiful tome for the first time.
“I’m curious to know what it’s like to read it for the first time as an adult,” the King of Scars author pondered, “I remember holding the paper back in my hand. It was such a profound experience, and what I say in the foreword, is that everybody who reads the book feels like they’re discovering it for the first time. That Anne Rice wrote it just for them.”
And it’s true. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 50 years since Interview with the Vampire was published, because it still feels like it belongs in today’s world.
Oh, and accepting the chance to write the foreword was a no-brainer for Bardugo, due to the “powerful influence” Rice had on her on her writing and her presence as an author.
“I knew we had to negotiate a deal, but I wrote it right away.”
Better Pets is available now, and it’s a wonderful tale for families to read. The Interview with the Vampire 50th anniversary edition will be published on October 6, 2026.
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