Katrina Swenson's Debut: Love for Love, Grumble

Hi Katrina,

Let's chat about Grumble! Can you give us the scoop on your debut picture book, Love, Grumble? 
​Grumble, a grumpy troll, totally dislikes traditional displays of love on Valentine’s Day, but when the neighboring village speaks his love language by giving him the gift of solitude, he realizes that “they changed how they love so that love doesn’t stink!” Grumble tries to return the favor to comic effect and the ultimate lesson that “Love can be shown in a whole bunch of ways.” 

Author: Katrina Swenson
Illustrator: Charles Santoso
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pub Date: November 24, 2026

What an enticing cover! Grumble has shelf-appeal written all over him! What do you think kids will love most about the book?
The big, lovable grump of a troll and the child villagers, alongside the rhythmic, fun-to-read-aloud text, are perfect for kids!  They will appreciate the silly language and grouchy characterization, as well as Grumble’s ill-fated and funny attempts to speak the villagers’ language of love. They will also appreciate the “feisty and funny” (--Kirkus) illustrations, which are so COMPLETELY lovable!  

How will end-of-day, grumpy parents relate to this book?
It was really important to me to write a book that adults could appreciate, too.  If you are called upon to read a story seventeen times a night, it helps if it’s a story you’re into.  I know there were some books that I just LOVED to perform as I read them when my kids were small, and I like to think that helps them learn to love stories, too.

I think adults will appreciate the language and characterization, as well as the faithful rhythmic beat of the text that is fun to read out loud; but mostly, I hope they will find value in the nuanced message about connection.  You don’t have to change who you are to connect with your community, and your community doesn’t need you to change to be in community with you.  Instead, everyone can grow and learn to be more intentional with each other.  Also, Charles’ illustrations are adult-friendly, too! I personally appreciated the stress-eating troll in one vignette.  Relatable.  
 
That is a beautiful message. I like the idea that we don't need to change, but appreciate each other's differences and unique qualities. What did you learn by working on this book?
Honestly?  That author talent is just a small piece of the overall puzzle in the creation of a picture book.  Pure happenstance gets first billing.  Who knows how sometimes we query just the right person at the right time to start that cascade of yeses that results in a published picture book?  Then there is an entire team of people, from agent to editor to illustrator to book design team to sales team to reader, who are integral to the creation and success of a book.  So while I am proud of myself for this success, I’m also mostly just filled with gratitude for all the things and people that had to come together and believe in this project to bring this story into the world.  Not to MENTION the people, like critique partners,  who believed in the story and contributed to its development before any agent or editor ever laid eyes on it. There’s a whole lot of people and gifts poured into this, and I’m so grateful. It’s OUR book, now.

Does Love, Grumble hold any secrets? 
It’s me, hi, I am Grumble, it’s me.  Anyone who knows my family and learns about Grumble’s personality usually has some guesses about who my character model was. But they are usually wrong, because that character is modeled after…me, actually.   I initially started this story when I wanted to enter Susanna Hill’s Valentiny challenge, but I was super not into Valentine’s Day (or saccharine displays of affection).  So I wrote an anti-Valentine’s Day story, and loved it.  Ironically, the whole experience of bringing Grumble into the world has sweetened me on Valentine’s Day, after all.  Now I’m super into it (even if my conversation heart earrings read, “EW”)! 

Ha, ha! I love that you and Grumble have a parallel transformations!
Finally, can you share your reactions to seeing the illustrations in full color?
I like to flatter myself that the writing craft is reasonably good (fingers crossed), but even if you’re not into trolls or rhymes or love, I think this story is worth reading just to see Charles Santoso’s luminous illustrations, tiny details, and ways that he uses color, environment, and the passing of the day to reflect emotion and growth. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been on a walk and seen the color of the sky at sunrise or sunset and thought, “That EXACT color is in the final spread!” I don’t know how he does it! While I’ve always loved and respected illustration (obviously), I’ve learned so much about the narrative function of illustrations in picture books through this process, and I read picture books even more deeply now.  

Thanks so much for sharing. I had the pleasure of reading an early version, and I am thrilled that Grumble and his neighbors will be spreading their version of love in bookstores soon! 

Preorder your copy today!
LOVE, GRUMBLE 

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​Katrina Swenson majored in English (writing emphasis) and Spanish at Loyola Marymount University and has a graduate degree in Counseling from Gonzaga University. She now lives in Olympia, Washington, with her husband, two kids, and a small clowder of cats. She spends her free time writing poetry for kids, and Love, Grumble is her picture book debut.

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Connect with the creators on IG.
Katrina, Charles, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

​Leave a grumble in the comments!

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