By Grace Allen

Wrentham resident Karen Savage recently released a children’s book, “Something Stinks Around Here,” which deals with issues of exclusion and diversity through the lens of a character named Little Squirrel.

The Site Lead for GSK, a global biopharmaceutical company, Savage has been in the biopharmaceutical industry for over 25 years, focused in leading the manufacturing operations of vaccines and therapeutics. 

She and her husband Mike have two children, ages 10 and 7. They have been Wrentham residents since 2010. 

Savage agreed to answer some questions about her new book for readers of Local Town Pages. 

Is this your first book? 

This is my first book! I am thrilled to see my ideas and story formed into a published children’s book. 

What inspired you to write a children’s book, especially this one? 

I was transitioning between companies and had time to reflect on my past experiences as a leader and where I had seen challenges of exclusion for myself as well as for other colleagues. I wanted to be sure that wherever I landed next professionally would be a place of belonging. Coincidentally, at the time, my children were at an age that they would share frequent tidbits from their day. “No one talked to me at lunch today” or “I spoke up about my idea but no one listened.” On the positive side, a lot of times I would hear that my children helped someone feel included. This felt encouraging!  Candidly, these are like moments from executive meetings! So, I began to write and discussed a lot of content with my kids about the characters and how they would feel from Little Squirrel’s perspective. 

Who is the target audience of this book?

An audience could be any parents who may have a hard time starting the discussions about exclusion and who need a little squirrel to get the conversation going. Children aged 4-8 also are a good target audience. They are impressed by the garbage truck and the butterfly seems to be a big hit too! 

In the book’s introduction to parents, you write that the book is based on your own experiences. Can you elaborate a bit? Are YOU Little Squirrel? 

I am not Little Squirrel and that was intentional. I think that more recently diversity and inclusion efforts have increased in companies. I feel that to truly embed inclusion we need to begin with the next generation--our children. So no, Little Squirrel is not me but could be any one of our children shaping the future.

How do you hope the book will impact readers?

I hope the book helps parents reflect and support their children in discussing a difficult topic. I hope that children will be able to share more openly with parents/caregivers about feeling excluded or where they can help other children. In this way, we can promote and spread kindness and inclusion well before they get into the board room! 

You have a discussion section in the book. How do you envision this section being used?

This section provides guidance for parents to open discussions and glean more of what is happening in their children’s lives. 

Who illustrated the book?

Ben Lew is the amazing illustrator of my book. He brought the story and characters to life in a magnificent way. I was astounded at his creativity and how connected he was with the story using illustrations. 

For more information about Savage and her new book, visit https://www.karensavage.com.