. . . That Adults Might Need to Hear, Too
When I first started writing How to Host a Unicorn, I thought I was making a one-off book playfully (and absurdly) based on Dag’s real-life meeting with Nikita Khrushchev at Sochi. In almost no time, I realized that there was room for a Dag the Unicorn series. How to Host a Unicorn is still in the illustration process but the storyboard I’ve seen is so adorbs. I cannot even. 🥰
But I thought I was creating gentle, whimsical stories for children. And I am. But what surprised me—and maybe shouldn’t have, in hindsight—is how much these books have spoken back to me.
Children’s books have a secret superpower. They look simple. Sweet. Short. But if done well, they contain multitudes.
Writing them has taught me more about:
- Patience, because you can’t rush a story that wants to bloom slowly.
- Precision, because every word has to earn its place. Books for kids are not War and Peace.
- And above all, playfulness, which is funner to tap into than you’d think when you’ve spent years in meetings about hiring metrics and HR bottlenecks. 🫤
So ostensibly, these stories are for children—but they speak to adults too.
Dag the Unicorn, for instance, isn’t loud. He’s not the flashiest character. He doesn’t do backflips or shout catchphrases. But he’s steady. He’s kind. He listens. He sets a good example without lecturing. And that resonates with adults who’ve been told their quietness is a flaw.
Sometimes, grown-ups need reminders too:
- That you don’t have to be the loudest to be important.
- That taking a moment to sip tea and read a book is not a waste of time.
- That not everyone at the picnic will respect your blanket space—and you’re allowed to gently reinforce your boundary anyway.
The truth is, writing children’s books has helped me reconnect with my own inner child, the dreamer who believed in unicorns and loved storytime and felt more at home in a tranquil moment than in a busy crowd.
And maybe, just maybe, if an adult picks up one of these books during bedtime reading—or while borrowing it “just to preview it first”—they’ll find a little message tucked in there for them too.
After all, stories don’t always shout. Sometimes, they whisper. And those whispers? They stay with you.
Decoding the Unicorn: A New Look at Dag Hammarskjöld and Dag’s Magical Castle are available on Amazon!
This content was published in The Unicorn Dispatch on April 16, 2025. To join the mailing list for updates and reflections, please click here: https://sara-causey.kit.com/2d8b7742dd